Can the "B" Team Raise its Game to Compete at Premier League Level?

If you have been following this series, you will know how it works. We select a single letter from the alphabet (in this case “B”) and try to pick a first 11 and hopefully some squad members too, selected entirely from players whose surnames begin with that letter and who currently ply their trade in the English Premier League.

Team B turns out to be surprisingly strong, let’s take a look.

Goalkeeper – Begovic (Stoke City)

Defenders – Baines (Everton), Wes Brown (Sunderland), Bacuna (Aston Villa), Bardsley (Sunderland)

Midfield – Ben Arfa, Gareth Barry, Ross Barkley, Chris Brunt (West Brom)

Forwards – Benteke (Aston Villa), Bony (Swansea City)

Subs and squad players – Boruc (Southampton), Buttner (Man United), Bruce (Hull City), Bennett (Norwich), Briggs (Fulham), Baker (Aston Villa), Britton (Swansea), Bentaleb (Spurs), Bannan (Crystal Palace), Bent (Fulham), Bellamy (Cardiff City), Berahino (West Brom), Demba Ba (Chelsea), Borini (Sunderland), Bendtner (Arsenal)

Perhaps the most noticeable thing about team B is the strength on the bench, particularly in forward positions. The manager could effectively start with a different strike force every week and still be a threat.

This is an all-round solid team rather than being particularly spectacular, although the strength and power of Benteke and Bony is likely to cause any defence some problems. Midfield has a nice blend of experience, hard graft, vision and skill, although the 4 starters shouldn't have too much trouble holding down their positions.

So, what do you think? How do you think the A Team would fair against this B Team?

Football Alphabet 2013/2014 - B for Bale, Benteke and Bony

BALE – the 2012/2013 season saw Gareth Bale establish himself as a sporting superstar! Frequently referred to as the 3^rd greatest player in the world, behind only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo the Welshman had a terrific season for both club and country.

£60 million is considered to be the ballpark fee for any club wishing to prise Bale away from Tottenham Hotspur and there are only a few European clubs that can afford that sort of money – so although there is plenty of time before the transfer window slams shut at the end of August, there is a good chance that Gareth Bale will once again be able to strut his stuff on the Premier League stage.

The defender-cum-midfielder-cum-attacker will have all eyes on him during the new season to see if he can replicate his form of last year in which he scored 21 league goals and was crowned Player of the Year by both his fellow professionals and the sports writers. One of the hallmarks of greatness is consistency, something both Messi and Ronaldo have proved over a number of seasons. So, if last season was Bale’s first truly world class season, he now has do it again and again to be heralded in the same breath as other legends of the game.

BENTEKE and BONY – Christian Benteke and Wilfried Bony will both be interesting this coming season. Benteke has finally agreed to stay with Aston Villa and if his mind is on the game and Paul Lambert manages to strengthen Villa up a bit, we could witness something really special from the big Belgian. In the scoring stakes, only Robin Van Persie, Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale scored more than Benteke last time out.

Meanwhile, Wilfried Bony is a 24 year old Ivorian striker who has signed for Swansea. While Michu was rattling the goals in from whichever position he played in, the Swans were clearly lacking an out and out striker. Michael Laudrup clearly believes that Bony is the answer. With 46 goals in 65 appearances for Vitesse Arnhem and 8 for his country in just 20 appearances, the pedigree certainly seems to be there. If he handles English football like that other great striker from Ivory Coast, one Didier Drogba, Swansea could improve on an already impressive first season in the Premier League.