Breaking Down The Premier League Contenders and Pretenders Midway Through The Year

So it's almost (or it is depending on when you're reading this) the winter break. The points separating the top teams in the Premier League are slim and this is turning out to be one of the most exciting seasons in a while. So let's look at the contenders and pretenders in the Premier League as it stands right now.

The table is as follows right now:
1. Arsenal - 35 pts
2. Liverpool - 30 pts
3. Chelsea - 30 pts
4. Manchester City - 29 pts
5. Everton - 28 pts
6. Tottenham - 27 pts
7. Newcastle - 26 pts
8. Southampton - 23 pts
9. Manchester United - 22 pts
10. Swansea - 19 pts
11. Aston Villa - 19 pts
12. Hull City - 18 pts
13. Stoke City - 17 pts
14. Norwich - 17 pts
15. West Brom - 15 pts
16. Cardiff - 14 pts
17. West Ham - 13 pts
18. Fulham - 13 pts
19. Crystal Palace - 13 pts
20. Sunderland - 8 pts

The point spread of the Premier League in the top half of the table is pretty even, which makes for a fun second half of the season, hopefully.

Contenders

Arsenal: Arsenal coming into the season would have probably been dubbed "elite pretenders" the perennial 4th place finishers have had a flying start to the season and have found themselves at the top of the table for almost the whole year so far. Arsene Wenger looked to be on the hot seat coming into the year, but now he looks certain to be offered a new contract this season. The addition of Mesut Ozil plus the improved play of Aaron Ramsey, Olivier Giroud, and the whole defense has seen Arsenal seemingly take the step towards a title.

Manchester City: The team from the blue half of Manchester are up to their normal tricks, scoring lots of goals at home and trying to grind games out away from home. Sergio Aguero is firing on all cylinders, while support players such as Yaya Toure, Jesus Navas, and the reinvigorated Samir Nasri have City in great position should they stay in the top 5 going into the winter break. The keeper situation may cause problems for City, but new boss Pellegrini will find a way to make it work out.

Chelsea: Can you ever count out a Jose Mourinho squad from an EPL title challenge? The Special One returned to London this season and has had a pretty good start to the season, even if he wouldn't tell you so himself. He still hasn't lost a game as manager of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and with his midfield playing so well you almost forget that their strike force is abysmal, almost.

Everton: What the heck? Who would have thought Everton would be on a contender list for EPL title challengers? Well they are on mine, solid back to back performances against Manchester United and Arsenal have morale higher than ever for the Merseyside club. Amazingly they have only lost 1 game so far this season. The on loan duo of Lukaku and Deulofeu are proving to be great pick ups for Everton and Roberto Martinez is looking more and more like a managerial genius each week.

Pretenders: 

Manchester United: Don't get angry, United fans. You had to see this one coming. Manchester United are a shell of themselves compared to last season. No Sir Alex to be that rock on the sidelines and David Moyes is looking out of his league managing one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) club in the world right now. All eyes are on United to see how they battle during the second half of the season. If they add some quality in the midfield during the January transfer window we could be talking about a completely different United team.

Liverpool: Liverpool are having one of their best seasons in recent memory, but I still don't think they're good enough to put them into the contender discussion. They have the best strike duo in the league with Suarez and Sturridge, but that will only carry you so far. I see Liverpool trailing off into 4th this season. But even if that is as high as they finish, that is a great success. Brendan Rodgers should be everyones Manager of the Season so far.

Southampton/Newcastle: No disrespect to either club, both are having phenomenal seasons considering where most expected them to be this far into the season, but there is no real threat to the top teams in the league coming from either.

So there you have it. My contenders and pretenders so far in the Premier League. What do you think? Did I miss any team that should be on either list? Let me know in the comments below or on twitter @theinformsoccer

Best and Worst Case Scenarios For The United States World Cup Draw

By now most of you should have seen the pots for the World Cup 2014 draw. If you haven't you can view the pots and the reasons teams ended up in what pots here.

Many, like myself, looked at the pots and thought, well this could either go terribly wrong or amazingly well for the United States. The USA has the possibility of drawing a very daunting group of death, but also the possibility of drawing a group they should cruise out of. Here are the best and worst case scenarios.

Best: The best draw for the US would come with them ending up in a group comprised of Switzerland, Algeria, USA, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Switzerland is easily identified as the weakest of the Pot 1 teams and every country in the other pots will be itching to have them drawn into theirs. Algeria is ranked 26th in the world and look to be this years whipping boys out of the tournament. The USMNT has already defeated Bosnia-Herzegovina recently and that was not on US soil. So their chances of coming up big against them again are very high. That group would give the US the best chance of getting out of the group stage on top. Alternates for a good draw for the US out of each pot are Colombia out of Pot 1. Nigeria, Cameroon, or Ecuador out of Pot 2. Croatia or Greece out of Pot 4.

Worst: Now comes the part every United States fan is dreading will not happen, the USMNT drawing the group of death. Lets start with Pot 1. Basically every team besides Switzerland and possibly Colombia in this pot will cause huge problems for the USMNT. It's evident the United States doesn't have the talent to match those teams at full strength, so drawing Spain, Germany, Brazil, Belgium, Argentina, or Uruguay could spell a sure loss in the games they play against them. Out of Pot 2 it has to be Ghana. The USMNT could find themselves in yet another matchup against Ghana, and that team is one that will haunt the USMNT. The US will also want to avoid the Ivory Coast. While vastly underachieving in the big tournaments so far, they are a team full of talent and capable of being a dark horse in the tournament. From Pot 4 its Italy, Netherlands, and Ronaldo...I mean Portugal. All three of those teams have deep squads and the ability to go deep in the tournament. The US would do well to avoid them if possible.

Now with that over I must say this, the best and worst draws are all in your own opinion. The USMNT is a scrappy team, they like to play the underdog role. In my opinion those are the best and worst scenarios for the USMNT. Yes, they are capable of showing up at any given moment and producing a win for a ages against a top team, but in the World Cup everyone is playing at their absolute highest level. No harm in the USMNT to want to avoid some of the more dangerous countries and watch them knock each other off.

What do you think? What are the best and worst draws the USMNT could get?

Manchester United are back?

Over the last couple months the team once feared throughout, Manchester United, lost some of its mystique as being one of those teams you feared playing. Lackluster results against some mediocre teams and a blowout against cross-town rivals Manchester City saw the Red Devils at mid table and looking pretty ordinary.

Many were calling for David Moyes' head and rightly so, no fan of a hugely successful team wants to see them play average football and come away with average results. Talks of a dispute between star Wayne Rooney and the fact that Manchester United was failing to bring in any big name stars in the summer was troubling.

Fast forward to the present (November 28 as I write this) and Manchester United are doing pretty well for themselves, all things considered. Sitting in 6th at the moment they aren't exactly where many wanted or predicted them to be come this close to the winter break, but they have been building momentum. In their last 3 games in the Premier League they have come away with 7 points and haven't lost a game since a shock 2-1 defeat to West Brom. So what has changed since that embarrassing defeat?

When the season kicked off you could tell that not everyone was buying in to David Moyes' system, and that showed in their losses to Liverpool, Manchester City, and West Brom. They didn't have the usual attacking threat that we are accustomed to seeing from them and their biggest addition in the summer, Marouane Fellani, wasn't bringing much to the team at the time. Fast forward past that last defeat, United have looked like a completely different team: confident in attack, their defense while only keeping 4 clean sheets in the past 10 games has looked a lot better, and midfield play has gotten significantly better also.

The fixtures up next for United are tough. Their next four games are away to Spurs, home against Everton, home against Newcastle, and home to Shakthar. All of those are lose-able games, but also winnable if you are United. At this point in the season last year United was on top of the league and looking like they were unbeatable, now they look mortal but seem to have some of the magic left. Can they make a run at a top 4 spot? I say yes, they might squeak in the number 4 spot, but the competition at the top of the table is stiff and United will have to be firing on all cylinders to keep pace in the Premier League.

What do you think? Are United finding their stride? Will they finish in the top 4? Should David Moyes be fired if they fail to make it to the Champions League?

Quick Take on Adnan Januzaj

There's been a lot of negativity and bad blood brewed over the past few days after Jack Wilshere stated that, in reference to the thought of Adnan Januzaj getting called up for England, “The only people who should play for England are English people,” after a training session this past week. Many seem to agree with him in believing that people not born in England should not play for the national team.

That argument can be made and have quite a strong backing, but times are changing and Wilshere needs to recognize and accept that. It's not a secret the England squad is lacking in, well, something. The young talent in England just isn't up to par with what we see coming through the ranks of other big name countries and that is widely recognized. With the proposed pursuit of Januzaj, it shows that England are ready to follow in the footsteps of other countries that are making the most of out of finding ways to get players that qualify to play for their country to do exactly that.

A prime example is the United States. Jürgen Klinsmann had been criticized early on for using many players that qualified to play for both Germany and America and persuading them to play for his United States squad. Many thought he was overlooking some of the young prospects that were born and raised in the United States, but now he has silenced those critics by qualifying the USA for the World Cup in Brazil. He also has kept the core of the team (at least for now) American.

So where is the harm in being open to letting naturalized citizens play for your country? It shows diversity, willingness to accept change, and if it doesn't work out you drop them from them team. Seems an easy enough solution. Look at all the players that could have played for other nations but chose to play for the one they do now, many of them are excelling. Lukas Podolski, Mario Balotelli, Danny Welbeck, etc. all of these players could have picked another country to play for yet didn't.

If Janujaz gets called up to England when the time is appropriate and chooses to play for them then his peers need to accept it and welcome him into the team with open arms. The idea that a player must be born in the country to play in the country is a dying one. Times are changing, it's about time we all accept that.

World Power Rankings 9/23

Recently on the latest episode of the tbrfootball.com video podcast my friend Nate and I gave our takes on the top 5 teams in the world right now. This was based off of the Power Rankings done by ESPNFC. We both had the same 5 teams in almost the exact same order. My list looking like:

1. Real Madrid
2. Bayern Munich
3. Barcelona
4. Manchester United
5. Arsenal

With his list looking like:

1. Bayern Munich
2. Real Madrid
3. Barcelona
4. Manchester United
5. Arsenal

I think it's time to revise the list after Manchester United got totally dominated by Manchester City and I'll tell you why my list is the way it is.

1. Bayern Munich - Now in the upcoming episode I said Bayern Munich would only move up to number 1 over Real Madrid once they set a lineup, well this weekend against Schalke they played so well and dominated the game that I can't justify making the only reason they get to move up being a set lineup. Bayern played almost perfect football, controlling the tempo, passing crisply, attacking and defending with ease, and just making Schalke look completely inferior. Bayern are catching fire at the moment, with 7 goals in their past 2 games. Can anyone stop a fully realized Bayern side? Probably not, and early in the seasons of world football it looks increasingly likely the European Champions will repeat for the first time ever.
2. Real Madrid - Real Madrid get bumped down to number 2 on my list for really only one reason, the quality of the team they beat this weekend wasn't enough to keep them from holding off Bayern. a 6-1 win at Galatasaray in the Champions League followed by a 4-1 win over Getafe have Real Madrid flying right now. They are my picks to win La Liga and make a Champions League final unless paired up with Bayern in the Semis.
3. Arsenal - This is going to be the most controversial spot on my list, but Arsene Wenger's side are playing as well as any team on the planet right now. A great 2-1 win in Marseille was followed up by a good 3-1 win over Stoke City this weekend. Mesut Ozil leads the EPL with 3 assist and has only played 2 games in the league. Olivier Giroud is looking reliable, Flamini has added some fight to the midfield, and their back four are playing in top form. 
4. Barcelona - Now some might call me crazy for placing Arsenal ahead of Barcelona in my power rankings, but right now I feel that there is just something missing at the Nou Camp. Again, you might think I'm crazy after back to back 4-0 wins, but I just feel like Barcelona aren't playing to full power. Their back four is suspect, and that right now is my main concern with the Blaugrana. 
5. Napoli - Big spending Napoli make an appearance in my top spot this week. A win over AC Milan where Pepe Reina became the first keeper to ever save a Mario Balotelli goal and a good win over Champions League runners up Dortmund have Napoli in good form, and Gonzalo Higuain looks the deadly striker that many knew he would be. How long Napoli can keep up their great form remains to be seen, but they're my wildcard pick for the Serie A title this year. 

And there it is, my top 5 in the world as of September 23rd. What do you think? Am I crazy for putting Arsenal ahead of Barcelona? Should Man City be in the list after decimating Manchester United? Let me know in the comments below or on twitter @theinformsoccer.

The Boot Room Video Blogs

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know you can check my buddy Nate and I out on YouTube at youtube.com/clsoccer2012 making our weekly video blog for The Boot Room, my more professional site!

Here is this weeks video, if you like it please thumbs it up, subscribe to the channel, comment, and share the link!

Mesut Ozil: The Pressure is On

Arsenal fans were crying out for a signing, and it seemed as though the club were going to have another disappointing transfer window. And then it happened.

Soon after Gareth Bale completed his world record move to Real Madrid there were grumblings about what stars Madrid would be willing to sell to cover the cost of Bale. Di Maria, Benzema, and Ozil were all names thrown out as potentially expendable. One club linked to all of the names was none other than Arsenal. Arsene Wenger's lack of spending was the butt of every transfer market joke this summer, and then he broke the club record transfer fee.

Ozil was announced with less than an hour left in the transfer window, and though Ozil wasn't the signing that was needed, he's the signing every fan of the club wanted. A marquee, big money move by a club being slammed for not being able to attract top talent.

It seemed Ozil saw the writing on the wall with the transfers of Isco and Bale. That coupled with the fact he was regularly not finishing games and being subbed off with a good portion of the games he started remaining made it most likely an easy choice. Fans of every other team in La Liga should be rejoicing right about now, according to Squawka Ozil created 91 scoring chances last season. He is arguably the best playmaker in the world right now, and his ability combined with the likes of Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere, and the other attackers on the team could be deadly. Not to mention he will likely make Olivier Giroud look even better than he has already this season.

Now, as amazing as the signing of Ozil is, it doesn't completely make us forget what Arsenal lack. They still need a box to box midfielder, another center back, and a second striker. But we can't dismiss that Ozil will make the Arsenal attack something that has to be looked at closely and feared by all defenses.

Does Ozil make Arsenal a title contender this year? No, not at all. As amazing as he is he won't make up for the deficiencies the club still have. But, he will invigorate the clubs fans with a feeling of, "this is the start of something special." A player like Ozil is the perfect building block for Arsene Wenger, and maybe the first real step to Arsenal finally ending the silverware drought.

For a more tactical look at how Ozil will effect Arsenal check out this post.