Jamie Carragher has warned that Manchester City's guilty verdict will instantly change expectations for Liverpool and Manchester United, piling pressure on head coaches Andoni Iraola and Michael Carrick.
City were found guilty of breaking the Premier League's financial rules between 2009 and 2018. The club used "sham" contracts to disguise over £830million of funding and could face relegation, a huge points deduction, an unlimited fine or a transfer ban.
City maintain their innocence, have appealed the decision and are confident of receiving a full exoneration. But, for now, the possibility of them being kicked out of the top flight is being considered.
Instant power shift
Carragher is convinced that City will be relegated and that it will completely reshape the Premier League, piling expectation onto the elite clubs who have been underperforming but hiding behind City's dominance.
"City have been a valid excuse for narrowly losing titles and trophies. For others, they have been a convenient one," he wrote in his column for The Telegraph.
He added: "For Liverpool, Chelsea and United, the timescale to become title challengers changes the moment City hear the outcome of their disciplinary hearing. The power shift will be instant and dramatic."
Pressure on Iraola and Carrick
Carragher argues that, once City are out of the way, Iraola will have to close the gap at the top of the table or face being sacked. The former Bournemouth manager has stressed that he is embarking upon a project at Anfield, yet Carragher feels that excuse won't stand for long.
"We are not in a world in which Iraola can talk about long-term projects," he wrote. "Once the two immediate obstacles to another Liverpool title in the near future are reduced to one, there will be an expectation for his side to make haste."
Liverpool are one of the clubs who have been most impacted by City's cheating, having finished second behind them on three occasions in recent years. Carragher has urged the club to use that "grievance as a source of motivation".
Meanwhile, he says that City being removed from the picture will heap pressure onto Carrick to deliver for demanding owners Ineos. "No one thinks Michael Carrick’s squad are equipped to compete at the very top yet," he wrote.
"Remove City, and growing agitation about how Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Ineos hierarchy are going about their business will go up another notch."
"Having two teams that look well ahead of the rest can be a useful shield for coaches or directors trying to buy time to catch up, especially when there are long-standing allegations that one club are breaking the rules."
