Premier League Football Alphabet - Norwich, Negredo, Ozil and Oscar

Some letters of the alphabet lend themselves better to this Premier League football series than others. “N” and “O” might be slight on quantity but there is plenty of quality to make up for it.

N

Norwich City are the only team to fit into this particular chapter and despite 3 wins in their last 5 games (they won only 2 of the first 10) this could be another season of struggle for the Canaries. Those recent wins have taken Norwich up to 14^th (at the time of writing) with 17 points from 15 games and they have 4 points between themselves and the bottom 3. In the summer, Grant Holt was sold to Wigan and in came 3 new strikers in Gary Hooper, Johan Elmander and Ricky van Wolfswinkel. These 3 new arrivals all came with good pedigree and hopes were high that the goals would flow and this might keep Norwich away from the relegation scrap. Van Wolfswinkel picked up an injury, Elmander has yet to score a league goal and Hooper after a slow start is now showing signs of promise with 3 goals in his last 5 appearances.

In their next 10 league matches, the Canaries only face 2 of what might be considered top 6 sides (Man United and Everton), so this will be an absolutely crucial period in which points must be won. If you look at their last 4 fixtures of the season, it’s not difficult to envision a zero return from them – Liverpool and Arsenal at home, Manchester United and Chelsea away! So, where will Chris Hughton’s team finish this season? For me, they will avoid the drop – but only just.

Manchester City brought in 4 or 5 big name signings in the summer and so far it is only Alvaro Negredo that seems to have really justified the cash outlay. He has 6 goals to his name already and in recent weeks has been linking up well with Sergio Aguero (who admittedly has been hogging the limelight with his prolific goal scoring) and it seems that the manager has settled on these two as the best partnership for now. Negredo scored goals throughout his time in Spain’s La Liga and has a record of almost 1 goal every 2 games for the national side – although he is not used with any particular frequency. I think the Premier League will see a lot more goals from this Spanish International.

O

Arsenal bought Mesut Ozil at the end of the transfer window and despite only one league defeat at the time, there was a certain doom and gloom surrounding Arsene Wenger and the Emirates Stadium. It’s a signing that has quite literally transformed the atmosphere around the Gunners. They are playing great football, sit clear at the top of the Premier League and have a number of players in terrific form, including Ozil. The German international has brought a confidence to Arsenal that hasn’t really been present since losing Van Persie and perhaps even Fabregas before that.

Another two “O” players definitely worth a mention here are a Brazilian and an Argentinian Italian. Chelsea’s Oscar has been terrific so far this season. He was good in spells last year but now looks like he has truly settled in England and is really showing his qualities. Dani Osvaldo was certainly a big signing for a club the size of Southampton. He was a regular goal scorer in both the Spanish and Italian leagues before joining the Saints. Osvaldo has had a relatively slow start to his career on the South Coast but fans who saw his goal against Man City recently will begin rubbing their hands in anticipation of the kind of player they now have at their club.

Premier League Football Alphabet - "H" for Hull City, Hazard, Hernandez and Half Time

Johnny Howson deserves a mention in this part of the alphabet simply because he scored the winning goal for Norwich City today in their 1-0 victory at Stoke City. The win takes the Canaries onto 7 points from 6 games and 15^th position in the Premier League table at this early stage of the season.

Hull City – The Tigers took 3 seasons to fight their way back into the Premier League after their relegation in May 2010. Although they have tasted defeat twice in 6 games (away to Chelsea and away to Man City) it’s been a hugely impressive start to the season, with not only 3 league wins under their belts but also progression through 2 rounds of the League Cup. From the moment that new signings Tom Huddlestone and Jake Livermore were introduced after an hour (already 2-0 behind) of their opening day defeat at Stamford Bridge, Hull have played some terrific football.

Steve Bruce has assembled a decent looking squad and you would think that if they keep picking up points against teams that are supposedly meant to finish in the lower reaches of the table, then Premier League safety will be assured. A note of warning, however, in 2008-09 the Tigers enjoyed a similarly excellent start to the season and only escaped relegation on the last day of the season.

Eden Hazard – It’s fair to say that Hazard had a terrific first season in the Premier League with Chelsea, weighing in with 9 goals and 11 assists and a host of man of the match performances. It’s probably also fair to say that the skilful Belgian hasn't yet come to life under new manager Jose Mourinho. It’s early days though and there is plenty of time yet for Hazard to begin tormenting defenders once again. For a player that is still only 22 and with 38 international caps already won, we have yet to see the very best of this talented winger.

Javier Hernandez – Chicharito is rated very highly by just about everyone in football and in his first 3 seasons at Manchester United he averaged very close to a goal every 2 games. The problem for Hernandez may well be Man United. With Wayne Rooney, Robin Van Persie and others as attacking red devils, his starting opportunities are always going to be limited. This season could be the most important of his career; he is 25 now and should be approaching his most productive years as a footballer. The Mexican international (35 goals in 53 appearances) needs either a sustained run in the United team or to look for pastures new (possibly even as early as January) because even though he will never be a doubt for the Mexico World Cup squad (should they qualify) in Brazil 2014, he will want his fitness and form to be in good order. Watch this space!

Half Time is very important in any Premier League match. If you are at a game, these are the very precious 15 minutes when you get to stamp the feeling back into your feet, get a hot drink and get the smart phone out to scan the rest of the half time scores. It’s also the time to dream that you can get back into a match that you are losing convincingly, if only the manager well reshuffle the pack or the time to panic if you have dominated the first half and only have a 1 goal lead. It’s also usually the time when your club tries to outdo itself with some particularly bad half time entertainment!