Which Teams are Going To Be The Surprise Packages of The PL Season?

For those who religiously follow the Premier League every year, one discernible trend is that a team or two in each season surprise the footballing audience and exceed all expectations in terms of how they play, the results they fork out and the position in which they ultimately finish. On a European level there is a similar pattern annually where teams emerge from some of the best leagues in the world and impress us football fanatics unexpectedly by playing football that can only be described as eye-candy. These teams in Europe become the 'hipster' teams that most football fans in the world (bar the teams' rival fans) develop a soft spot for on top of the team they support, almost like adopting a pet in addition to the one you've adored and cherished from childhood. Recent 'hipster' teams include the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Athletico Madrid, who have appealed to many aficionados in the past few years, emerging as two of the Europe's elite playing some of the most attractive football you're ever likely to see being played with players like Reus, Lewandowski, Hummels, Costa and Koke etc making a name for themselves globally in the process. 

Last year in the Premier League, Southampton were the stand out surprise team in the league, playing a tika-taka like passing game under Mauricio Pochettino with the help of youthful exuberance in the shape of the likes of Luke Shaw and Nathenial Clyne - they took the Premier League audience by storm. The previous season of 2012/13 was their first season back in the Premier League and they managed a very respectable 14th placed finish but in the 2013/14 season, they upped their game tremendously and dazzled their way to an 8th place finish behind the then reigning champions Manchester United. The way they played was even more impressive, with the likes of Lallana, Rodriguez and Lambert, Southampton gave us England fans some hope that we as a nation are capable of pulling off a tika-taka, fast-paced, high energy passing game like those awfully good Spaniards. Getting results against Liverpool, Man United and Man City along the way, continually endorsing a refreshing brand of fearless football in the process, The Saints were marching all the way into the Top 4 in the first half of the season demonstrating how impressive they really were. 

So which teams are going to be the surprise packages of this year's Premier League season? 

 One team that could have a change of fortunes from a season which left their faithful craving for more, is Newcastle United. Last season, Newcastle despite finishing a respectable 10th, The Magpies didn't 'wow' their fans because their season was littered with some dismal performances. The 3-0 home loss to bitter rivals Sunderland was a hard pill for Magpies' fans to swallow and there was a stage in the season where Newcastle incredibly suffered 6 consecutive defeats up against the likes of Swansea and stoke. This summer with all of the marquee signings made by the likes of Real Madrid and Chelsea, Newcastle's transfer business has slipped under the radar, there are no stand out names but Newcastle have had one of the most astute windows by any team this summer in my eyes. The acquisition of Siem De Jong was an intelligent one, he can bring back to the Newcastle midfield and attack the dynamism they lost with the sale of Cabaye as he has a superb range of passing and shooting abilities which he has displayed at Ajax, despite the slightly underwhelming stats of 7 goals in 19 games. He can play in central midfield, in the hole or even up front  and it is this versatility on top of his high work-rate which in my opinion will make him an asset to the team wherever he is played. They also signed Daryl Janmaat, a right-back, who will seamlessly slot into the position left by Mathieu Debuchy, as he showed exactly what he's capable of in Brazil marauding up and down the right hand side with great energy, he was pivotal to the success of Louis Van Gaal's Holland. The signing of Emmanuel Riviere is an exciting one, again even though his record isn't eye-catching with 13 goals in 36 games last year, he was one of the most highly rated prospects in Ligue 1 and finished Monaco's top scorer ahead of Falcao and James Rodriguez. His blistering pace and swagger up front will be an exciting prospects for Magpie fans, compared to Thierry Henry, he will be wanting to prove himself capable of scoring consistently to live up to the hype he has created for himself. Arguably the most exciting signing is Remy Cabella from Montepellier, he got 14 goals and 5 assists whilst creating 81 chances on the way in the league last season - an impressive return for an attacking midfielder.

He was on the radar of Manchester United and Arsenal last season just showing what kind of an impression he was making in European football, he's the type of player fans pay to see, someone who loves to dribble and unleash his box of tricks on defenders. Cabella resembles Magpie legend David Ginola's stylistically with his dynamism and creativity, in fact he has the potential to be one of the players of the Premier League season if he adapts to the English league. This summer on top of bringing in exciting new talent they've got rid of deadwood like Marveaux and S. Ameobi, I think if the new players can integrate well and gel quickly, it's going to be season where Newcastle could push up the table by challenging for Top 8 and impress us with some stylish football. 

This season, I feel the biggest change of playing style will come in the shape of Stoke City and their reputation of being a hoof ball, rugby team will be forgotten. For years under Tony Pulis, Stoke City were renowned for being a team that solely bullied and muscled teams with their height and physicality with disregard for actually playing football. However that stereotype of being an 'anti-football' team will change, as we've seen glimpses of last season under Mark Hughes, Stoke are in the process of adopting a fast-flowing passing game with tactical fluidity. Teams always need to adapt to times, even Barcelona's seemingly unstoppable tika-taka game came under serious question and scrutiny when the Barcelona team were embarrassed 7-1 on aggregate by Bayern Munich a couple of seasons back. With the new signings and new philosophy installed by Hughes, Stoke are certainly going to surprise a few in the manner in which they'll stroke the ball around on the floor. Stoke's main issue last season was the distinct lack of goals scored, with just a meagre 45 in the league, they managed only 2 more than 17th-placed West Bromwich Albion and still somehow managed a 9th place finish. Now they may well have solved that problem with the signing of Bojan Krkic - a former Barcelona number 9 who's arrival at the Britannia has bought excitement and optimism amongst The Potters' fans.

Even though his career has stagnated in recent times with 26 goals in 104 games for Ajax after just 4 in 24 appearances for Barcleona, he was once hyped as the best young players from the Barcelona academy making his Champions League debut aged 17 and he's still only 23, hence with the right management he could definitely flourish in the Premier League. He's already shown signs of being one of the buys of the summer dazzling in pre-season with 3 goals in 3 games, he could be the bargain of the window at £3m, because his trickery and pace can definitely trouble defences on a consistent basis and fill the goals void for Stoke City. Mame Biram Diouf is another signing in addition Bojan that will bolster Stoke in attack, with a more potent goal-scoring record with 25 goals in 57 games for Hannover will be wanting to prove United fans wrong in the league after he was considered a flop at Old Trafford. Diouf and Bojan are comfortable on the ball, their presence in front of goal will help the creative sparks Arnautovic, Odemwingie and Ireland floruish and their additions will help Stoke adapt quickly to the new fast-paced attacking game that Mark Hughes wants Stoke to endorse whilst simultaneously making it a philosophy that works at the club. The pragmatic signings of Premier League veterans Steve Sidwell and Phil Bardseley will strengthen the squad further. It's a new era at the Britannia, with a drastic change in style of play and the ambition to push into the Europa League positions, Stoke City have the potential to be a surprise package for football fans this upcoming season.

Like Crystal Palace showed last season, promoted teams can shock both the Premier League stalwarts and fans alike by looking incredibly comfortable in the top flight after 8 years in the Championship. Palace finished a very impressive 11th in their first season back in the Premier League, we could something similar with Queens Park Rangers. The last time we saw QPR in the Premier League, their club was marred with controversy and misdemeanor with ill-discipline on the pitch in the shape of a mountain of red cards and had players who were excessively high paid but poorly motivated. Looking back retrospectively, if the players like Samba, Granero, Mbia and Cesar were actually motivated and cared to work hard for QPR, they wouldn't have dropped to the Championship because the quality was there but their desire wasn't. This season they have the same manager with bags of Premier League experience Harry Redknapp but the big difference is that this team can actually be called a team because there is unity in this squad now after the owner Tony Fernandes shipped out many of the foreign exports who were clearly playing for money and not QPR. This time, they've made some more astute signings that could really propel the QPR team to Premier League safety.

The signing of Steven Caulker could be one of the most important made by any Premier League team this season, Caulker last season was one of the best centre-backs in the league and was highly underrated as he was strong, comfortable on the ball and brilliant in the air providing several headed goals for Cardiff. Rio Ferdinand, who has been arguably one of the centre-backs of the last decade in the Premier League still has fuel left in the tank, his acquisition on a free transfer maybe a smart one as he and Caulker will form a very solid partnership at the back. Jordon Mutch is another signing that will improve QPR's squad in the midfield, as he showed with Cardiff last year in the Premier League with 7 goals and 5 assists from the middle of the park. Mauricio Isla is a fantastic coup for The R's on loan, he is a very versatile player with great pace, most likely he will be deployed as a right wing-back for QPR like has played with Chile and Juventus. Isla was very impressive at the World Cup for Chile and his signing alongside the other defensive signings suggest that Redknapp will play the adventurous 3-5-2 formation this season. I feel Charlie Austin is going to be another Rickie Lambert, a striker that has scored a bucket load of goals in the lower leagues and  then comes to the Premier League and continues to be a deadly striker scoring goals aplenty. Rickie Lambert scored a bundle of goals for the likes of Rochdale and Bristol Rovers in League 1 and 2 and has since netted 28 in 2 seasons for Southampton. Austin was playing non-league football for Poole Town 5 years ago, now he's going to play in the Premier League, last season in the Championship he was on fire scoring 17 in 31 games. I think we will see another fairytale like story with Austin netting many times for QPR with his physicality and strength being adept for Premier League football. Him and Remy behind he tricky Junior Hoillet could be quite a strikeforce if they can stay fit and motivated, with the combination of pace, power and trickery they have the potential to fire QPR up the league table with consummate ease. With an attack that has goals in them and a defence that looks solid, QPR could surprise many bookmakers and fans by not only staying up but by finishing in the comfort of the Premier League mid-table. 

Whether these teams do become the surprise packages of the season or not, one thing is for sure, with the amount of quality throughout the Premier League outside of the 'big guns', I believe we can still label the Premier League as the most exciting, competitive league in World Football. 

By Hesham Bilal-Hafiz (@hesham786)