True, didn't see the full stop. But I don't know why you'd be OK with 9th/10th. It's not an issue of being entitled to a high position, but when you finish 5th (yes, surpassing expectations but still deserving to be there), having kept your squad together and made a couple of additions, then 9th/10th is surely a failure. What you do in Europe and the domestic cups could of course influence how you see that league position.
The more you think about it, the more you wonder whether there's a realistic chance of Newcastle or dare I say it Everton making a run for that 4th place. The top 2 will be the 2 Manchesters. Chelsea are likely to be 3rd IMO. But 4th... yeah, Arsenal are favourites but when you think about it - has anyone strengthened from last year?
Arsenal themselves have lost their captain who carried them last year, and possibly losing a good first-choice midfielder in Song. Spurs have lost a very good manager and replaced him with an as yet unproven manager in this league. Modric will be a massive loss for them, little doubt about that, and they start the season with a questionable strike force (or lack of). Liverpool still have plenty of s**** floating about their side with Gerrard increasingly unable to carry them.
Newcastle and Everton have kept their squads together (with the exception of us selling a potentially very good player who wasn't starting) and made a couple of additions, with one or 2 quality additions to possibly come. Of course our s**** start needs to be drastically improved but I don't think it's too out there to suggest either team could finish 4th.
Don't get me wrong, the other teams still have lots of quality players but you can be optimistic.
