The bold prediction thread from 9 months ago. Your thoughts?

I mean, it's super easy to say all of that with the benefit of hindsight. Here's the counterpoints:

  1. Nobody had Chelsea as title contenders after the utter disaster of last season. Even most Chelsea fans thought a successful season would be getting top 4 rather than a title challenge. Most thought it would take another year for Conte to be in a title race, or that there's this horrible issue with the player attitudes at Chelsea that would make Conte rip his hair out. I remember so many people saying he was another Mourinho with his intensity and the hire made no sense.

  2. By that logic, shouldn't City and PSG have won or even gone to a CL final in recent years? I get that the CL is obviously much harder, but spending a lot money doesn't automatically equate success. I mean, look at how United have struggled these past few seasons to get top 4 despite their transfer windows. I will agree though that United winning the EL isn't extremely bold, but it's still kind of bold considering many doubt Jose after last season and the fact that Liverpool didn't win last season despite being richer than Sevilla.

  3. Oh, come on. Arsenal had qualified for the CL and gotten top 4 for 20 straight years. Even if you thought this was the season that breaks the streak, that's still a bold prediction. This is easily your weakest argument for why this wasn't a "bold" prediction.

  4. Agree with you that saying Bayern are CL contenders is not bold. Same with Juve, to a lesser extent. They were always seen as much more of an outside shot than Bayern.

  5. This isn't super bold, but it's still kind of bold because that means you're betting against a Barcelona side with Messi, Neymar, and Suarez up top. Nobody thought the midfield was going to be so bad it was going to hold them back so much. Besides all of that, Real Madrid still could easily not win the league.

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