Premier League Unfancied XI

This is a starting XI that any Premier League manager could hope to buy for a budget of 100-110 million pounds, and still reasonably expect of them to at least finish in the top half of the table, and fight for the Europa League at the very least. The criteria for inclusion in this list is that the player must not have had a single transfer fee of more than 6-12 million pounds in their career (depending on playing position), and they must be playing for a team that did not finish in the top 7 of the league last season.In deciding the XI, once the player is deemed to be within budget, considerations of comparative transfer fee vs performance will not be made and only ability and performances play a role. This team comprises mainly of players who have been solid, if somewhat unspectacular professionals in their career thus far, and have featured in this year’s Premier League, irrespective of which league or division they played in till last season.The team will line up in a 4-1-3-2, and will be set up with the aim of taking the game to the opposition, both physically and stylistically. Keep in mind that the performances of the player over their career are of more importance than their performances this season solely, or in other words, if a player has been objectively a more consistent/better player over the course of his career, he will more likely be included despite not having had that great a season. Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the author and do not reflect those of the site

#1 Asmir Begovic (Goalkeeper - Stoke City)

Hailing from the war-ravaged nation of Bosnia & Herezgovina, Begovic is one of the genuinely underrated goalkeepers of the world, not just the Premier League. Having escaped the unrest at the age of 4 to migrate to Germany from the erstwhile Yugoslavia, Begovic was trained in Canada and made a few appearances for them at youth level before moving to England with the youth setup at Portsmouth.

Having graduated, he was sent out to various clubs on loan as David James continued as their no. 1 goalkeeper. He was signed by Stoke in January 2010 for 3.25 million pounds, where Danish international keeper Thomas Sorensen was initially no. 1, but constant injuries gave Begovic the opportunity to usurp the starting berth.

Although he had a few shaky turnouts including a 5-0 loss to Bolton, his class eventually shone through as he was named Stoke’s Player of the Year for the 2012-13 season for his role in keeping the Potters afloat. Although rumours have linked him to various big clubs, Begovic continues at Stoke.

#2 Neil Taylor (Left Back - Swansea City)

Although he lost out on the starting berth to Ben Davies last season, Neil Taylor remains a fine prospect at left back as his years at Swansea have shown. A member of their squad since 2010, Taylor played an important role in their promotion to the Premier League, featuring in 32 matches over the course of the season in the Championship.

He adapted to Premier League life quite easily, and with his defensive positioning, ability to track opposition wingers and keep them in check, along with his constant endeavours to bomb forward were important to Brendan Rodgers’ side in their first season in the Premier League.

With Swansea playing a possession-heavy style of football, Taylor’s technical nous and understanding of his role have been crucial to Rodgers, his successor Laudrup and now, Garry Monk. Although laid low by injury on various occasions in his time at Swansea, Taylor has remained a key element of their squad.

#3 Jose Fonte (Centre Back - Southampton)

A recent call-up to Portugal’s national setup, which, admittedly, has been long overdue, Fonte has been an important part of Southampton’s renaissance as they rose up the divisions.

Signed in 2010 for a measly 1.2 million pounds from Crystal Palace, Fonte has been a rock at the back for the Saints in his 4-and-a-half seasons there as Southampton achieved successive promotions from League One to the Championship, and then to the Premier League in 2012 as division winners.

In just his first season, Fonte won the club’s Player of the Year award beating off competition from captain Adam Lallana. He was also one of the crucial factors in Southampton’s fairytale run last season, forming a solid backline along with Nathaniel Clyne, Lovren and Luke Shaw. Amidst the host of players leaving the club this summer, Fonte has penned down a contract that keeps him with Southampton till the age of 34, and has been appointed their captain for this season.

Aged 31 right now but showing no signs of slowing down, Fonte is a composed and disciplined defender who rarely gets caught out of position. He is also a ball-playing defender and can carry the ball out of defence to commence attacks. A great asset to any manager.

#4 Ryan Shawcross (Centre Back - Stoke City)

Having earned internet infamy and ire from millions online for his horror tackle on Aaron Ramsey, Shawcross is well-known for his uncomprising play which has been a signature of Stoke’s play over the years – a rough, tough team designed to bully opponents at their cauldron – Britannia Stadium. Although Mark Hughes has been working to change their style of play over the last season-and-a-half, what hasn’t changed is Shawcross’s presence in the squad. Or his reliability.

His penchant for the dangerous tackles aside, Shawcross has been a consistent centreback in his 7 years at Stoke, initially on loan which materialized into a permanent deal in January 2008. Shawcross is a product of Manchester United’s youth academy, but failed to make any appearance for the senior team amid world-class competition in Vidic, Ferdinand and Pique, among others.

He is a great aerial threat and notches up a good number of goals every season, given his position as a centreback. Now the captain of the team, the 27-year-old has good leadership skills and is one of the key reasons why a club with less resources like Stoke have regularly stayed a mid-table side ever since their ascent to England’s first division in 2008.

#5 Angel Rangel (Right Back - Swansea City)

We have another Swansea defender to round off our back 4 in Rangel, who has seen it all in his career and is into his 8th season with Swansea now. The 32-year-old Spaniard began his career in Spain’s third tier, or the Segunda Division B, playing for 3 clubs without much hope of going up the footballing rungs.

He earned a transfer to Swansea, then in League One, and led by the capable Roberto Martinez, Swansea played a very watchable style of football and won the League One title in 2007-08. Rangel continued to rack up the appearances every season for Swansea, without major injury events or problems, and earned promotion with them to the Premier League, where he has been rated as an exemplary right back by various experts.

Though not an extraordinary player, Rangel is technically very good as is the case with Spanish players. His apparent immunity to injury, consistent showings and defensive soundness are a combination, however, that Swansea will find difficult to replace once Rangel’s days at the top are over. Rangel has notched up over 300 appearances for the Swans in 7 and a half seasons, going along with 16 goals in all competitions.

#6 Cheick Tiote (Holding Midfielder - Newcastle United)

As midfield enforcers go, there are few better in the Premier League than Tiote. Always ready for a battle in the middle of the park with the opposition medios, Tiote’s energy levels, -work rate, endeavour to close down and block opponents make him an invaluable asset to the Tynesiders, who just don’t look the same without him in the park.

Although Tiote does not have a great constitution and has gone down to niggling injuries in the past, he doesn’t miss many games and avoids the big injuries. An indispensable starter for both club and country, Tiote is one of the best signings ever made by Chris Hughton, and Alan Pardew has relied upon him for many a game.

Tiote’s lone Newcastle goal came in one of the most unforgettable Premier League games of all time. Newcastle had battled back from 4-0 down to 4-3 when Tiote unleashed this ferocious strike to make it 4-4 and give Newcastle a share of the spoils for the day. Tiote is into his fifth season for the Toons.

#7 Nathan Dyer (Left Midfielder - Swansea City)

A worthy product of the famed Southampton academy, Dyer is part of a generation of wingers consisting of Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Unfortunately for him, however, he has gone under the radar for a large part of his career. He couldn’t get himself into Southampton’s first team, though, and spent time in loan spells at Burnley and Sheffield United before coming good at another loan spell with rising Swansea, with whom he signed a permanent deal in 2009.

Dyer has, since, been a regular feature of Swansea’s sides in the Championship and over 3 years in the Premier League. He is a very direct player with good pace, crossing and shooting and his ability to take on and beat defenders has stood him in great stead in all 3 divisions. He was probably the star of Swansea’s first Premier League campaign alongside Scott Sinclair, but for some reason, the attentions of big clubs escaped him where they zeroed in on Sinclair.

Ever since, Dyer’s twin on the opposite wing has been Wayne Routledge, a similarly speedy and consistent winger. Dyer has 25 goals in all competitions for the Swans.

#8 Robert Snodgrass (Central Playmaker - Hull City)

Due to the great amount of choice we had among wingers, we could not include the former Norwich gun in his preferred position, but with his ability to play centrally, we find it easy to slot him into attacking midfield. Before an injury ruled Snodgrass out of the majority of this 2014-15 season, he was expected to continue in the same vein at Hull as he had done for the Canaries in his 2 years at Norwich.

Snodgrass is a well-known commodity in the lower reaches of the Premier League having brought himself to the top level after a spell of 4 years at Leeds, where he was damn-near undroppable, featuring in 193 games and scoring 41 goals for the Yorkshire-based club. Although Leeds have been stuck in the Championship, Norwich realized the massive impact he was having at the club and bought him for an undisclosed sum in 2012.

74 appearances and 14 goals later, Snodgrass is one of the unsung stars of the division. Snodgrass’s best attributes are his ability to get into shooting positions quickly and also his crossing delivery in both open play and off setpieces. He has scored a few direct free kicks as well.

#9 Jason Puncheon (Right Midfielder - Crystal Palace)

One of the journeymen of British football, Puncheon has scored in every division of the English Football League and has played for a wide range of clubs in the country ranging from the Milton Keynes Dons to Southampton, where he was contracted for 4 years.

It was Southampton who gave him a taste of the Premier League for the first time in the 2012-13 season. He appeared in 32 games for the Saints in the ‘12-13 season. His appearances fell the next season, however, and he secured a loan deal to strugglers Crystal Palace. Tony Pulis, appointed to keep Palace in the division, managed to extract the best out of Puncheon, who has since been a revelation for Palace.

His best asset is his ability to cross and shoot the ball using both feet. Still an erratic and flawed talent, Puncheon has been tipped for bigger things if he continues to work hard and consistently at the same level, with his biggest problem being his urge to take it easy.

#10 Diafra Sakho (Striker - West Ham)

The Senegalese striker has been among the chief headline-makers of unfancied West Ham United, who are lodged comfortably at 4th spot on the Premier League table with 15 fixtures having been played.

Whereas last year the Hammers were barracked by their own supporters for boring play and the sack was called for Big Sam, this season, they have played refreshingly watchable football and have even beaten reigning Premier League champions Manchester City. Summer signings Enner Valencia and Alex Song have turned out to be shrewd buys, as Stewart Downing has embarked on the best campaign of his career.

Sakho has scored 7 goals in 9 league appearances, including the winner against City at Upton Park. He was signed for a measly 4 million pounds from French club Metz, for whom he had scored 43 goals in 2 seasons as they achieved back-to-back promotions to Ligue 1.

Sakho set a club record for West Ham by scoring in 6 consecutive Premier League matches, winning the Premier League Player of the Month award for October this season. Strongly built, pacy and athletic, Sakho has settled well into Premier League life, and should he continue in the same vein till the end of the season, he will soon run out of the budgetary constraints followed in this article.

#11 Abel Hernandez (Striker - Hull City)

He’s got the whole package: pace, trickery, physicality, aerial ability and finishing. At 24 years old, Abel Hernandez has enough time to make an impact on the Premier League and push Edinson Cavani for the spot of starting striker in Uruguay’s international setup.

Hernandez was signed on transfer deadline day by Hull for a club-record 10 million pounds, a sum that brings him dangerously close to our self-imposed transfer limit on one player. His signing came on the back of an impressive season with island club Palermo in the Serie A as Hernandez scored 14 goals in 30 games for the Sicily-based club. This brought him to the attention of the bigger clubs in the league, but unlike Cavani, who was signed up quickly by Napoli, Hernandez chose to move to England and the Premier League as Steve Bruce came calling.

Although he hasn’t really set the league alight with his goals, there is great potential out right there, and with half a season adapting to the league, Hernandez should be back on top form before long given his ability and skillset.