Can Premier League Team "C" Challenge and be Champions?

Team C probably has the largest squad of any of the teams in this particular series and with so many options, you could arguably play a number of different formations and styles. Let’s have a look at the starting eleven that I have selected, then we can argue about who should have been included later.

Goalkeeper: Cech

Defenders: Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Seamus Coleman (Everton), Coloccini (Newcastle United), Gael Clichy (Manchester City)

Midfielders: Santi Cazorla (Arsenal), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Coutinho (Liverpool), Cattermole (Sunderland)

Forwards: Andy Carroll (West Ham United), Peter Crouch (Stoke City)

Squad Players/ Reserves: Cuellar (Sunderland), Chico & Canas (Swansea), Collins, Collison & Carlton Cole (West Ham), Caulker, Cowie & Campbell (Cardiff City), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Cameron (Stoke City), Chiriches, Capoue & Chadli (Spurs), Clyne, Chambers & Cork (Southampton), Cleverly (Man United), Clark (Aston Villa), Chester (Hull City), Chamakh (Crystal Palace), Cisse (Newcastle United)

There shouldn't be any arguments with the goalkeeper. Not only is Petr Cech the only “C” goalkeeper available but at the age of 31, still has plenty of years at the top left in him and there is no denying Cech is still a great goalkeeper.

The defensive unit is also very strong with plenty of interchangeability on the bench but Cahill and Coloccini are a pretty solid unit. Seamus Coleman has arguably been the best fullback in the Premier League this season, so gets the nod and I have opted for Clichy over Ashley Cole at left back. Neither of them are regulars for their clubs any more but with Clichy being 5 years younger, that’s my choice. Vlad Chiriches and Steven Caulker are able deputies in the centre back position.

In the starting positions in midfield, we have passing ability (Carrick), flair (Cazorla and Coutinho) and ball winning ability (Cattermole). Capoue and Chadli of Spurs are high profile alternatives, but neither have set the world alight this season during Tottenham’s stuttering campaign. The same could be said of Tom Cleverly and his season at Old Trafford.

With capable passers and creators in midfield, you would hope there would be plenty for Andy Carroll and Peter Crouch to feed on but might two tall strikers limit the team’s style of play? Possibly, so Frazier Campbell or Papiss Cisse could step in and replace one of the big men if it all got a bit predictable.

What do you think? Is this the right starting eleven or would you change things up a bit?

Battle of the Managers - Pellegrini, Pardew, Poyet, Pochettino and Pulis

Have you heard the one about the Englishman, Welshman, Chilean, Argentine and Uruguayan? We don’t have a punch line for it yet but each of them are making their own headlines in the English Premier League this season.

It’s probably fair to say that Manuel Pellegrini has the biggest job – at least in terms of expectation levels – with a Manchester City team that underwhelmed in the league last season (after being triumphant the year before) and totally flopping in the Champions League. Phase one of Pellegrini’s plan has already been accomplished with City finally reaching the knock-out phase of the Champions League. However, in the Premier League, there is a little more work to be done. At the Etihad Stadium, they have looked every inch title contenders and are scoring goals galore but on their travels they have won just 2 of 8 games.

Tony Pulis is both the newest manager to join the Premier League battle this season and perhaps the most experienced. He led Stoke City to promotion from the Championship in 2008 and turned the Potters into a team that were really difficult to beat, especially at home. 5 seasons later and Stoke were still in the top flight and had enjoyed a season of European football but Pulis and the club parted ways at the end of the 2012/2013 season. He has now taken on the unenviable task of trying to keep Crystal Palace in the Premier League after an abysmal start to the season under previous boss Ian Holloway. Pulis is no stranger to a relegation dogfight and if anyone can get those red and blue football scarves waving again, it’s probably him.

Many people predicted doom and gloom for Alan Pardew and Newcastle United this season but they currently sit just 4 points behind Liverpool in second place. It seems that Pardew doesn’t really have an average season at St James’ Park, it’s either really impressive or awful! Last season was pretty dire, so the Magpies seem to be running to form again this year with a really decent start. There are probably eruptions (Joe Kinnear?) waiting to happen though and a bad run could soon bring them all to the surface again.

Has Gus Poyet walked into a job that is going to prove to be beyond him? Steve Bruce, Martin O’ Neill and Paulo Di Canio have all flirted with relegation at the Stadium of Light in recent seasons and Poyet has inherited a really difficult situation at Sunderland, with a squad that isn’t really his. Just 2 wins in his first 8 league games in charge and the Black Cats are now rooted to the bottom of the league. Whereas Crystal Palace were probably simply hoping to stay up this season, for Sunderland fans, after money was spent in the summer, expectations were and still are much higher. A tough task for Mr Poyet!

Although plenty of money has been spent both during their ascent to the Premier League and their current 2 year stay, how many people genuinely thought there would be quite so much progress at Southampton FC? Many people felt that Nigel Adkins was hard-done by when sacked midway through their first season back in the top flight, but while there might still be some sympathy and appreciation for the great job he did, most Saints fans are now more than happy with their new man, Mauricio Pochettino. They are playing exciting attacking football, they are genuinely competing (on the pitch at least) with the big clubs and are perhaps now being seen as European hopefuls rather than relegation contenders.

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.