After all the excitement of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign, our football writers reveal what they’re looking forward to next season.
Adrian Clarke
Arsenal’s next phase
I cannot wait to see what Mikel Arteta does to try and take Arsenal to the next level in 2024/25.
To wrestle the title away from Manchester City’s grasp, it feels like accumulating more than 90 points will be essential, so what will he change tactically or personnel-wise to further improve his outstanding young side?
Arsenal’s strategic approach was more varied this season than ever before. They can now easily adapt to matches differently – playing on the front or back foot, passing long or short – and even though Arteta’s 4-3-3 is a regular formation, the shapes that emerge within that framework are often diverse.
The one area where they maybe fall short is on the counter-attack. Arteta’s side break well, but at times the side lacked a devastating punch on the counter, particularly in big matches like the ones away to Man City and Bayern Munich. They couldn’t find the hammer blow.
For this reason, I expect a speedy striker to be brought in, and possibly a quick right-sided forward too – someone who can cover Bukayo Saka.
Recruitment in recent seasons has been excellent, with proven Premier League talent brought in to supplement the group. This policy has borne fruit, so do not be surprised if Arsenal shop locally again.
In addition to those two forward options, I would envisage the club trying to recruit a new back-up goalkeeper, an emerging young left-back and a top-class central-midfielder orchestrator, to beef up the middle. Somebody with great energy who also offers a range of classy distribution from deeper areas would fit the bill.
Year on year Arsenal have developed under Arteta. It is exciting to ponder how they will improve next season, because recent history suggests they will.
Homegrown talent sure to blossom
Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Saka were directly involved in a combined 85 Premier League goals this season, scoring 57 of them.
EA SPORTS Player of the Season Foden has only just turned 24, while the other two members of this trio are 22.
While we know that every player peaks at their own unique time, there is a very strong likelihood that all three will kick on and become even better attacking midfielders throughout the next 12 months. Year-on-year improvement is the norm for them.
Foden, now an established Pep Guardiola favourite, has seen his goal tally rise from nine to 11 to 19 across the last three seasons.
Saka, despite being double-marked by opponents in most matches, has continued his upward curve too, going from 11 goals in 2021/22 to 14 and now 16.
Palmer, who never got enough playing time to score a Premier League goal for Man City, has an impressive base of 22 from his debut season at Chelsea to build upon come August.
His performances this campaign were so good that he was named Hublot 2023/24 Young Player of the Season.
Palmer’s calm temperament and stellar technique will hold him in good stead as he naturally matures across the next few years. Providing he stays fit, another 20-plus goal haul is definitely not beyond him.
Add into the mix burgeoning midfield talents Kobbie Mainoo and Adam Wharton, 21-year-old defender Jarrad Branthwaite, plus 23-year-old Anthony Gordon and 25-year-old pair Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze and next season is looking especially exciting for English talent that is yet to hit its peak.
Adrian Kajumba
How will McKenna fare with Ipswich?
Kieran McKenna has been a man in demand after leading Ipswich Town to promotion.
The 38-year-old has performed miracles to guide Ipswich from 12th place in League One up to the Premier League for the first time since 2002, via back-to-back promotions from the third tier to top flight.
His team have moved through the divisions playing an exciting, free-flowing brand of football, and their two promotion campaigns have been full of goals (193), points (194) and entertainment.
His achievements at Ipswich have led to considerable interest from other clubs, but he has chosen to stay at Portman Road, signing a new contract.
McKenna’s attempt to replicate his Football League success in the Premier League and prove exactly why he has become so sought after will make him one to watch in 2024/25.
Jackson and Hojlund primed to kick on
Chelsea and Manchester United scoured the globe and decided to put their faith in two young strikers last summer by signing Nicolas Jackson and Rasmus Hojlund respectively.
Both players were put in positions of huge responsibility, tasked with shouldering the burden of scoring the goals for two of Europe’s biggest clubs despite their relative inexperience.
At differing times it seemed like too much was being asked of them. At others they found themselves much-maligned. But in the end, they finished their first seasons with respectable returns.
Jackson, 22, scored 14 Premier League goals and 17 in all competitions, with not one being a penalty. The latter figure is more than Chelsea icon Didier Drogba’s 16-goal tally in his first season with the Blues.
Hojlund scored 16 in all competitions. Fifteen of those came in the Premier League and UEFA Champions League, from a combined xG (Expected Goals tally) of just 11.1.
Ninety-nine players had more Premier League shots than Hojlund’s 38 this season, and his 10 goals came from only 20 attempts on target. His shots-on-target percentage of 52.6 per cent was the joint sixth-highest in the division. All these statistics point to an efficiency in front of goal.
Jackson and Hojlund have room to develop, unsurprisingly given their age. But they have also shown many encouraging signs. Enough to suggest that, eventually, they could be long-term solutions. Enough to give their clubs food for thought when weighing up how they improve their attacks this summer.
The pair should be far better off now after all they have experienced – positive and negative – in their debut Premier League campaigns. It will be intriguing to watch them try and build on them.
Will Lopetegui meet expectations at West Ham?
After four-and-a-half years of David Moyes, a new era has begun at West Ham United.
Moyes has departed having led West Ham to successive top-seven finishes in 2020/21 and 2021/22, three consecutive European campaigns and, biggest of all, the club’s first major trophy for 43 years, the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Such achievements were not sufficient to appease some.
The style of football and West Ham’s at-times cautious approach invited criticism from certain quarters. But the phrase “be careful what you wish for” will also have cropped up in many debates about whether the time was right for West Ham to move on from Moyes.
They have ultimately decided to do just that, turning to Julen Lopetegui.
Lopetegui will bring a trophy-winning pedigree having won the Europa League with Sevilla and silverware with Spain’s youth teams. But will his style satisfy the West Ham masses?
Lopetegui did not have too much of a chance to show what he can do in that sense at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
He took over at Molineux in November 2022 when Wolves were bottom. His task was simply to keep them up, which he did successfully before leaving on the eve of the following season.
But the expectations will be higher at West Ham. Time will tell if Lopetegui can meet them.
Alex Keble
Slot’s challenge in replacing a legend
History tells us Arne Slot has a daunting task ahead of him.
What happened after Sir Alex Ferguson left Man Utd and Arsene Wenger left Arsenal is instructive, even if Slot inherits a better squad and more-organised upper-management than Moyes did at Old Trafford or Unai Emery did at Emirates Stadium.
Replacing a club legend of so many years is incredibly difficult – as is managing Liverpool, a unique behemoth of a football club that has always required of its managers total buy-in to the culture of the city and its fans.
If that wasn’t enough to worry Liverpool supporters, Slot takes on one of the biggest jobs in the world having never managed outside the Netherlands. The Eredivisie is ranked the sixth-best league in Europe.
But there are just as many reasons for optimism. Slot is by all accounts a charismatic leader and superb tactician who excels at coaching young players, and he played a thrilling brand of Klopp-like, high-pressing football at Feyenoord.
Plus he takes on a strong squad full of potential, while Liverpool have moved quickly to restore the background team that moved on when Klopp consolidated power at Anfield.
The club is well set up to hit the ground running. Nevertheless, Slot is undoubtedly a gamble – and historical precedent says he has a greater chance of failure than success.
Arteta’s last chance to beat mentor Guardiola?
Arsenal’s year-on-year improvements under Arteta suggest he will be at the helm for a while to come and that, eventually, the Gunners will end their decades-long wait for another Premier League title.
But 2024/25 might be Arteta’s last chance to topple his friend; to usurp his old mentor Guardiola.
Over the last seven years only once has Guardiola missed out on the Premier League title. That was in 2019/20, and Liverpool had to win 26 of their first 27 Premier League matches to break Man City’s stranglehold.
Arteta will badly want to match Klopp’s feat and stop City from winning five titles in a row.
“That’s not progress, that’s history,” was Arteta’s defiant analysis of the Gunners winning a club-record 28 Premier League matches in 2023/24, yet the fact he can make history but still miss out on the trophy will hurt all the more.
Things will get easier when Guardiola is gone – which could be soon. During Man City’s title celebrations he said he was “closer to leaving than staying” when his contract runs out in 12 months’ time because motivation is difficult to find when “everything is done”.
Long-term, that’s good news for Arteta and the rest. But the Arsenal manager would love to complete the journey from apprentice to master.
As for Guardiola, a possible final season brings with it unique challenges, as Klopp has discovered – and saying goodbye at the Etihad Stadium without major silverware to flaunt wouldn’t bear thinking about.
Can INEOS start to transform Man Utd?
Since INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe completed a 27.7 per cent purchase of Man Utd in February, they have moved quickly to change the culture after years of stagnation.
On the pitch, it has taken a while for there to be anything to celebrate – United slumped to their lowest-ever Premier League finish in 2023/24, before ending the campaign on a high by winning the FA Cup.
Off the pitch, the hard work really starts now as INEOS begin their first summer in charge of football operations. Turning this ship around is probably the most difficult job in world football and all eyes are on Ratcliffe.
He has to get the manager decision right. He has to get the first summer transfer window right. He has to oversee a 2024/25 campaign of significantly greater promise and direction than the one that preceded it.
In other words, there is no margin for error, which is not to say the Man Utd fans won’t be patient but rather that Ratcliffe only gets one chance at a first impression – on prospective coaches if he decides to make a change, on prospective players and on the media.
Never mind the structural changes behind the scenes, what will count is what happens on the pitch in 2024/25.
Ben Bloom
What can Glasner achieve over a full season?
Back when Oliver Glasner was appointed in February, Crystal Palace fans could have been forgiven for willing the season to end. The six wins accrued under Roy Hodgson were always likely to keep them out of the relegation battle, but security was in short supply.
Yet by the time of the joyous final-day 5-0 rout of Aston Villa, no one wanted the fun to end.
Glasner’s impact was monumental, instilling a sense of freedom, belief and attacking flair that Palace have rarely seen.
In 13 matches at the helm, his side lost just three. They scored five goals against West Ham, four against Man Utd and ended the season unbeaten in seven matches, winning six of them. It was a spectacular start to Glasner’s tenure. But now the questions begin.
The sample size of the Austrian’s time at Selhurst Park is incredibly small; the true test will come over the course of a long season, especially now expectation is higher than ever.
Much will come down to whether he can retain his key players, whose performances have attracted numerous suitors. Eze, Michael Olise, Jean-Philippe Mateta and even winter signing Wharton could all be in demand this summer.
Glasner says he is “very confident” they will stay “because they have contracts here”. He added: “We showed them that we have ambition, showed them how we want to play, which path we want to go down, which journey we want to ride together and that they can play a crucial part in it.
“If something else happens then it’s part of football, but then Crystal Palace can build a new Selhurst Park because it would be a lot of money.”
Can Emery maintain Villa’s progress?
Hopes were high at Villa Park ahead of 2023/24 after Emery had taken Aston Villa from the depths of 16th to finish seventh in his first season in charge. Somehow he has managed to exceed those hopes.
Guardiola was named Barclays Manager of the Season, but Emery must have been the closest of challengers for the crown.
Just five years after Villa were playing in the Championship, they have managed to survive the gruelling task of Thursday-Sunday football to finish fourth, their highest Premier League position since 1995/96. Champions League football beckons.
They have also played in their first European semi-final since 1982, reaching the last four of the Europa Conference League, where they lost to eventual winners Olympiacos.
Emery did not have it easy, either. Injuries meant Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings were near-permanent absences. Jacob Ramsey only managed 16 league appearances. Boubacar Kamara was ruled out from February, and the season ended with Matty Cash, Nicolo Zaniolo and Emiliano Martinez unavailable.
It was no surprise that Villa suffered a dreadful final few weeks when their squad was down to the exhausted bare bones, but thankfully all of the hard work had already been done.
With no expectation of major transfer outgoings over the summer, supporters will now want Emery to show that this season was no one-off. So long as Villa can fight off any suitors who have an eye on taking the manager.