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Former England striker Michael Owen says major question marks remain over Chelsea and Manchester United and predicts both clubs will finish outside of the Premier League top four.
Chelsea ended last term impressively after an immensely disappointing few months under Mauricio Pochettino, winning five games on the bounce to finish in sixth place.
However, the late-season resurgence was not enough to save Pochettino’s job and the Blues begin the 2024/25 campaign against reigning champions Manchester City with Enzo Maresca at the helm.
United, meanwhile, ended last season way down in eighth – their worst ever showing in the English top flight – but Erik ten Hag managed to survive the sack after steering the club to an unlikely FA Cup triumph over Pep Guardiola’s City.
The pressure is likely to mount on Ten Hag once again should the Red Devils get off to a bad start and the Dutchman will be desperate to lay down a marker at home to Fulham on Friday night.
And while United and Chelsea have invested heavily in the summer transfer window, Owen is confident fans of both teams are in for yet more disappointment over the coming months.
‘Chelsea were getting some consistency under Mauricio Pochettino and then they changed their manager, there is still a huge question mark over Chelsea,’ Owen told OLBG.
‘You don’t know what to expect and you don’t know what’s going to come from the new manager. It’s even different to teams like Newcastle who you expect to have a strong season and Tottenham who can blow anyway one at times.
‘Manchester United were one of the first teams that I discounted for the top four to be honest. I’m surprised they didn’t change their manager when they were changing an awful lot in the summer.
‘As I’ve said before, I don’t think Erik ten Hag is the right man for the job personally.
‘The other frustration is that they have gone and signed players and now Leny Yoro is out injured for the first chunk of the season which is pretty demoralising for Manchester United fans and the club.
‘There’s not been enough of a change out there on the pitch for me to believe there is going to be much of a change to their fortunes this season.
‘They’ve had a couple of years now under Ten Hag, if we were going to see improvement it would’ve been after six or seven months – not two years. I don’t see any change.
‘They keep throwing money at players, but they’ve been doing that for 15 years now and it’s never worked. Why would it work now?’
Should results spiral at Old Trafford, Owen can envisage assistant manager Ruud van Nistelrooy taking over the reins from fellow countryman Ten Hag.
‘It’s an interesting situation for Ruud van Nistelrooy at Manchester United, because if it’s five games, 50 games or 500 games, Erik ten Hag will go at some point,’ Owen continued.
‘When it does happen the club will look for a new manager and because that takes time, there is often an interim coach or a caretaker while that search happens.
‘So if Van Nistelrooy doesn’t leave before Ten Hag, you would think that he would get a handful of games as manager like Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick have done in the past.
‘Even Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was temporary and he did well enough to buy himself more time and eventually they had to give him the job.’
Owen went on: ‘It doesn’t take a genius to work out that having been a manager and now being the assistant manager at his former club, Van Nistelrooy could get to manage Manchester United at some point.
‘But I think at this stage he’s obviously coming to the club to help Ten Hag change their fortunes around, I don’t think he’s got eyes on that prize just yet but in the future I definitely wouldn’t be surprised if he got to manage the team for a handful of games.’
As well as Chelsea and United, Owen expects Newcastle and Tottenham to come up short in their pursuit of a top-four finish this season.
‘After the top four, I’ve gone Newcastle fifth and then I’ve gone Spurs sixth and then United in seventh and Chelsea in eighth but they could have a good season,’ the ex-Liverpool, United and Real Madrid forward added.
‘There is more of a question mark over Chelsea but less about Newcastle, Tottenham and Manchester United, I’m expecting to see similar seasons from them.’
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