Our season next year won't be determined by our games against the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea. It will be determined by the games against teams like Bournemouth, who we beat in the cup.
Two other points. First, most of our struggles over the past few months have come against teams that play an ultra-defensive low block and seek to hit us on the break. We're unlikely to face that very often in the PL - almost every team we play will fancy their chances against us, even at the KP. This will give us more space to play our own game. Yes, we'll be on the end of some thrashings, but I can see us picking up a decent amount of points against teams outside the top six.
Second, we won't have the same squad. There will be lots of new faces and we'll be able to target players who are better suited to Maresca's preferred style than some of those we currently have. Yes, we clearly won't have an open cheque book, but if we're smart about it I think we'll be able to recruit some very decent players who are either out of contract or who have a year left and will be available on the cheap. If we augment that with some smart scouting overseas, I think we'll be able to build a squad that survives.
