The 'surprise' teams this season

What do you reckon then?

EPL:

Aston Villa - could well get 5th spot

La Liga:

Sevilla: With a bit of luck could come third

Serie A:

Palermo - a spot in the CL could be up for grabs

Bundesliga:

Werder - could win the title

Anyone want to write anything about particular teams go ahead...

West Ham-what the fuck are we doing??

Sampdoria-actually won a league game in 10 months

Eredivisie - Roda JC

Tweedledum wrote:

La Liga:

With a bit of luck could come third

Who?

Surprise sides doing well this year are between Everton, Villa and Reading.

Aston Villa

I know most of you probably watch the EPL, but this is for those of you that don't or that haven't seen Villa yet.

Last season they were managed by David O'Leary - they played bland football and usually lost.

This summer, their old Chairman has left and been replaced by an American businessman - its not as if they have splashed the cash though.

They only made one signing this summer - Stilian Petrov for £5m - the big difference though has been the signing of Martin O'neill as manager.

Under him they have been playing some fanstastic football, adopting a similar formation to Barcelona.

Their best players have been Mellburg and Laurson in defence - forming a typical Scandanavian partnership, Petrov, McCann and Davis in midfield - McCann is defensive (Edmilson), Davis is the drive and engine (Iniesta) and Petrov is the creator and potential scorer (Deco). In addition there is rookie Agbonlahor and Luke Moore who play either side of Juan Pablo Angel.

All in all the squad is pretty good but the manager has raised the level - needless to say though, there is a lot of room for improvement - most specifiaclly the right back.

they also severely lack squad depth.

It could be Deportivo in Spain. They have been crap lately but Caparros is a very good manager and he has had a full year to right the ship, so-to-speak. They've managed to get rid a lot of the dead wood like Tristan, Scaloni, etc. I was impressed with their victory over Villarreal. That's the only match of theirs I've seen so far this season but they seem to have a good mix of players.

What happened to Tristan?

he used to be so good and then mid-career he flunked

Wouldn't say that Werder is the surprise team of the Bundesliga season, that's not accurate. We've been amonst the top 3 for over 3 years now, we probably have the strongest squad ever, so it's only natural for us to be seen as realistic contenders for the title. If anything, we have underperformed so far.

Nürnberg must be the surprise team of this season. Great coach, good football. If they continue like this, they'll be amongst the top 5 at the end of the season. That's quite an accomplishment for a team that was struggling to stay in the first division for so many years.

For those who are watchers of la liga Sevilla coming 3rd wouldn't be much of a surprise to be honest

Messiah wrote:For those who are watchers of la liga Sevilla coming 3rd wouldn't be much of a surprise to be honest

They are UEFA cup champions after all...

I think Zaragoza might end up as a surprise package.. their squad is very good and once they really gel.. who knows???

In France the surprise team is Nancy, they are third and playing pretty well. They beat Schalke04 in the U.E.F.A cup. Don't think their run will last though.

For once I agree with Mestalla. Sevilla aren't really a surprise package.

Same with Everton - every other season they play well.

Palermo could do alot better than a CL place aswell if they stay injury free.


Recreativo Huelva will be the surprise team. Sinama > All

How has Sinama done for them so far Welshy?

Scored a goal at the weekend in their win.

Anything else?

How are Palermo a surprise?????!!!

The trident attack is one of the best in the league - take your pick: Di Michele, Amauri, Caracciolo, Brienza. Plus Bresciano and Diana providing deeper cover.

The central pairing of Corini and Simplicio is one of the most tactically intelligent in the league. With Corini you have vision, a superb range of passing, impeccable set piece ability and a supremely intelligent player. With Simplicio, power and mobility. Both score goals from midfield.

When Bovo returns from injury, you have Barzagli and Bovo at the centre of defence Pisano is an exciting prospect at left-back, Zaccardo is a different player for club than country.

Both Keepers, Fontana and Agliardi have provided excellent competition - if you exclude Agliardi's antics against Catania

Palermo for relegation

It was just a guess.

Who would your surprise team be then Pirlo?

Livorno?

Alive and Kicking wrote:In France the surprise team is Nancy, they are third and playing pretty well. They beat Schalke04 in the U.E.F.A cup. Don't think their run will last though.

Lots of surprise teams: Toulouse, le Mans, Marseille to a certain extent...

Tweedledum wrote:It was just a guess.

Who would your surprise team be then Pirlo?

Livorno?

Livorno are pretty good anyway

Hmm...the way things are going at the moment its quite hard to tell..Messina and Empoli are going strong....Don't rule out Samp now we have a win either!

italian_hammer(DEANO!) wrote:Palermo for relegation

Hows your 'mistress' Deano?

You sound like a man who has been caught out cheating on his wife and who is now furiously denying rumours of an affair and waging a smear campaign on his whore!

Pirlo wrote:

italian_hammer(DEANO!) wrote:Palermo for relegation

Hows your 'mistress' Deano?

You sound like a man who has been caught out cheating on his wife and who is now furiously denying rumours of an affair and waging a smear campaign on his whore!

na i was only joking....I hope Palermo beat Newcastle...The west ham, palermo scarf i have will be worn that night

Tweedledum wrote:Anything else?

Joint top scorer in a team that's 7th in the league. According to planet football he hasn't started a match yet either.


Much better than Charles "assist to the opposition" N'Zogbia.

blutgraetsche wrote:Wouldn't say that Werder is the surprise team of the Bundesliga season, that's not accurate. We've been amonst the top 3 for over 3 years now, we probably have the strongest squad ever, so it's only natural for us to be seen as realistic contenders for the title. If anything, we have underperformed so far.

Nürnberg must be the surprise team of this season. Great coach, good football. If they continue like this, they'll be amongst the top 5 at the end of the season. That's quite an accomplishment for a team that was struggling to stay in the first division for so many years.

Thats show a lack of knowledge about teh Bundesliga , anyway all the best to Nürnberg, regular relegation candidates are really up for it this season.

Tweedledum wrote:It was just a guess.

Who would your surprise team be then Pirlo?

Livorno?

I'm surprised at Torino's bad start to the campaign, but then as anyone will happily tell you, they have Zacc as manager, so nothing is a surprise there!

I'm not really surprised by anyone yet, although Messina have made a good start, and i expected that Fiorentina would start better. Plus i think that we should have obtained MAXIMUM points.

I don't think you can really say for sure until at least the 10th round of matches, early tables are always 'false' representations.

italian_hammer(DEANO!) wrote:

Pirlo wrote:

italian_hammer(DEANO!) wrote:Palermo for relegation

Hows your 'mistress' Deano?

You sound like a man who has been caught out cheating on his wife and who is now furiously denying rumours of an affair and waging a smear campaign on his whore!

na i was only joking....I hope Palermo beat Newcastle...The west ham, palermo scarf i have will be worn that night

Good to hear mate

I will hope to return to Palermo for this match with Newcastle, i am a lucky mascot for them, i have NEVER seen Palermo lose at Renzo Barbera!

Pirlo wrote:

italian_hammer(DEANO!) wrote:

Pirlo wrote:

italian_hammer(DEANO!) wrote:Palermo for relegation

Hows your 'mistress' Deano?

You sound like a man who has been caught out cheating on his wife and who is now furiously denying rumours of an affair and waging a smear campaign on his whore!

na i was only joking....I hope Palermo beat Newcastle...The west ham, palermo scarf i have will be worn that night

Good to hear mate

I will hope to return to Palermo for this match with Newcastle, i am a lucky mascot for them, i have NEVER seen Palermo lose at Renzo Barbera!

you shouldnt have gone to the match last week then!!!

@ obispo

how many goals does 'joint top scorer' entail?

1 goal? 2?

Pirlo wrote:

Tweedledum wrote:It was just a guess.

Who would your surprise team be then Pirlo?

Livorno?

I'm surprised at Torino's bad start to the campaign, but then as anyone will happily tell you, they have Zacc as manager, so nothing is a surprise there!

I'm not really surprised by anyone yet, although Messina have made a good start, and i expected that Fiorentina would start better. Plus i think that we should have obtained MAXIMUM points.

I don't think you can really say for sure until at least the 10th round of matches, early tables are always 'false' representations.

Spot on

Catania and Atalanta have had quite good starts aswell. And with Fiorentina's dodgy start, aswell as Parma's, they've both given themselves something realistic to hang onto.

Calgari struggling is perhaps a little surprise. Given Giampaolo's miracle with Ascoli last season, I would have expected a slightly better start.

Tweedledum wrote:@ obispo

how many goals does 'joint top scorer' entail?

1 goal? 2?

2.

That's as many as Thierry Henry, in less games, and he hasn't had the benefit of penalties. Face it, he's playing well.