a bit further down the table. Focus on some of the European
hopefuls which teams might want to sneak into the Europa
League. Have dreams of European qualification, such a big deal
for them, attracting players for the next season,
getting extra revenue
and just having
that aura thing. We're a European team. We are going to
be playing midweek and that is a lot for that is a big deal
for a lot of these teams in the Premier League and it's quite
close. There's a lot of teams
we've seen swapping around those spots in the last few years.
And I'm going to start Nick Mandola with your beloved
Newcastle. United are superb finish to last season spent
Bachman's coming at centre-back. They spent big on
him. It looks like they may spend big late in the window.
Do you think they can keep that positive momentum going and do
you think they can challenge for seventh top eight spot?
Because everybody thinks that anyhow is going to do that. You
look at the
betting markets and there's a lot of money on newcastle's.
Maybe sneak into that top six or seven conversation. Are you
that confident about Newcastle this season? I'm not.
That confident, but I am confident in the reason is
mostly because, and you guys know, I had a
love, love love, but I wish he wasn't our manager relationship
with Steve Bruce and they have a manager now, and
the fact of the matter is, I say it that way because I'm not
telling you any how is a genius, but he's an actual
manager. He's got a plan here
and the collection of talent half of what happened last year
that made them better. Obviously, they bought Bruno
gamer rash, who's incredible. I mean, just a very good player.
I think who continue to make his mark. But really the pieces
were being put in real soccer places.
They were really being put in place has to succeed
and they will be a lot better. I also like that for, you know,
of course, being that Newcastle was the Nouveau riche. They
were linked with a lot of names that there wasn't really any
smoke behind them, but any name that there was
has been a smart one Ashworth
coming over from Brighton, his
has made them pushed a lot of the right buttons
and even now when they're talking about a Verner loan
or they're talking about buying Maxwell, cornet,
From from Burnley, 415 million,
they're not being drawn out to these crazy prices that we
thought. So, they've addressed centre-back, they've addressed
Centre mid. They've address goalkeeper. When they had
a pretty good goalkeeper to start with. And if they can get that
front three humming,
there's reason to think they will absolutely be in
the discussion.
It's just a matter of. Is it too soon against these teams
like West Ham and Lester and Brighton, who have gone through
the battle little bit now and who have had that experience?
I have a colleague from the hockey side of things, we
always say, the playoffs are a process.
When you get into the playoffs, you have to experience them
before. You really start, making a run,
unless you're an MLS. And this is my question, here is
the process here for Newcastle. I think
at some point there will be some growing pains because all
these players came here expecting to play in Europe.
Yeah that's very true. I mean trippy I coming in Nick Pope's
a great song and it's kind of just that next tier of players
and that building slowly and steadily to be a Lester
Be a West Ham be in that run of clubs, just underneath the top
six and they're looking looking very set, especially with some
of the attacking players. Callum, Wilson, sent maximum
Alma runs looked really good
in preseason. So
yeah, it's going to be a good season on tyneside.
I definitely think. So,
going down to the other end of the country, brightened down
the South Coast. Andy, I mean, they lost the Asuma the battle
to keep
marku Korea which looks like I'm not going to Chelsea
some big losses there. But you think they may be Be able to
reinvest that and maybe some
better editions up top, which is where they've struggled
the last few seasons. Actually put away, the copious amount of
chance, is they create game after game? If there could be
more clinical? I mean, they're lovely to watch
the Brighton could be a team that really breaks into the top
six or seven, right. I mean, on paper, we look at their body of
work over a season.
There are very few reasons to say why
they cannot finish in the European spots.
I know this is going to be unpopular amongst us just
the three of See her. But I think I think there's always a lot of
teams that have the potential to do that and I think we kind
of
talk ourselves into some of them and brighten probably
being an example
of having a better chance to do that than they really do.
Simply for the way that they play, because it is fun to
watch, it is aesthetically pleasing, it is the right way
to play it is. Good possession, it's good football.
But if you don't have one of those kind of clinical
Strikers, a goal scorer didn't even have to be a striker.
Could be Mohamed Salah who plays off of one of the Wings,
but if you Look
go around Europe and go around the Premier League especially
the teams in contention for that have
just an identifiable
who is the man up top, and they don't have that and I don't
know how a club of their size with their resources is going
to file. You have to almost unearth who's going to be
the next breakout star. Maybe like an dis Mi us are from a few
years ago,
when he came over, made his way to Watford, to seem like they
might have one on their hands and he might still kind of be
that type of player, but you need you need to hit on someone
that you're not supposed. You, I think
at one of those goal scoring positions. And so I just
it's going to be the same thing again this year. It really is
it's going to be really good stuff from Grand Potter's team
because that's just what they do. And we're going to have
the same conversations and September and October and
probably January, and March, is
this season could have been so much more with just a little
bit more ahead. I think that's, that's just kind of their fate.
And I think that's a great fate to have, to be pretty
comfortably every season. A mid-table premier league side,
even if you Don't really have a realistic opportunity of making
that next step forward. Yeah, bright and establish
a mid-table. I think they're going to make a big push for
your this season. We love callable here at PST
Leicester city. No new arrivals as of yet. Kasper schmeichel,
looks like he might move on your retail. Ermine's Wesley
for Farner James. Madison are attracting big bids.
I mean, this is a big few months for Lester, right? Nick
in terms of the project on the Brendan Rodgers obviously they
won the FA Cup. They've gone far in Europe
for a club of their size.
In the resources. Almost feels like they've hit their ceiling
and they're a bit lost and they're just wandering around,
trying to figure out what's next.
So if they lose, those players is Lester. Actually a team that
could
in theory, drop out of European contention and just be,
you know, in mid-table, or maybe even
further down, do
what we expect in from the foxes, this season
here. The worry with them is the same word that I might have
for a Brighton or a number of these teams where a very good
player or two or three becomes four becomes five, Five and
look, they've signed smartly,
and Andy. And by talk about this all the time when we kind
of tech so, Lester's interest in this player, they must be
a good player. The identification is key, but
I just kind of look around and how many these players are
not disillusion, but a little distractive, a little off of
their goals. Also
I don't mean to cut this short but guys
is Jamie vardy going to be able to keep running that much
forever. He might be an alien he's fueled by like Twinkies
and rocket fuel But I start to wonder at some point.
This is a big task for Brendan Rodgers and this is why they
signed him and a big test of his mettle. Yeah. I mean
father. I think it's vodka-soaked Skittles is this
you know
what it was?
But yeah it's big. They can't keep expecting him to perform
Miracles week in week out, can they? So I do worry about
Lester a little bit this season, Andy West Ham, United
spent big in the summer,
a guards been hurt in preseason, their big
centre-back arrival, so that that hurts. It's West Ham
massively. That was an area where they needed to upgrade,
but schematic coming in from sassuolo,
Italian International Striker, they spent big on another
Striker once again, West Ham. I mean this is a solid unit.
They've managed to keep it together. Declan rice is still
around,
but
what do you think they can do this season? I guess it all
depends on how seriously the going to take the conference
league, right? It don't take it that seriously.
I can see them being in and around the top six, maybe even
the top four again because they are a horrible team to play
against and like Nick mentioned earlier, they got
the experience.
Variants of having these top six push season after season
now.
Yeah,
it's interesting. You bring up the recruitment because I think
it ties together nicely. The point on the Leicester there
that Nick made. And while I was really high on the signings
they made last summer, I think they missed on most of them, at
least in year
one, and maybe it's a bounce-back time
and it feels like West Ham.
Anytime, they go for a big-money signing.
It feels like those are the ones that they get wrong. And
those are the ones you can't get wrong. If you're going to
push to try to, you know, put yourself into the conversation
for those.
Top spots in the Premier League. Obviously they've hit on
you know much more bargain signings like Jared Bowen
bringing him in but side been Rama is probably going to leave
the club for next to nothing. They spent 30 40 million on him
just a couple of years ago. Sebastian I'll are who
you know had a very
brief stint at the club before being moved on as well and
it just feels like maybe it's that position. It's obviously
hard to find those Elite goal scorers because everybody wants
them and there's so few of them to go around, but they have to
start hitting on their big signings if they're going to
make
Next Step. Otherwise
they're just a little bit more defensive
you know, they're the David Moyes version of what brighten
our underground Potter. Is there going to be a solid team
and they'll be tough to beat?
But they'll beat themselves enough times in a season that
they can't. Realistically. I think being you can be
considered a threat for one of those top six spots. So it's
going to be interesting though to see which team can break in
and qualify for Europe from that batch of teams
and over. At pro soccer talk with NBC sports.com. Will keep
you updated with all the latest news from those European
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