As is the norm every season, there has been a fair share of surprise packages in the various leagues around Europe this season. Arguably the biggest of all the surprises has been the rise of RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga.
The first club from East Germany to play in top-flight German football, Leipzig took the league by storm and were top of the league until two weeks ago. But for some other teams, the season has been puzzling and surprising in a different way.
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Much-heralded sides across leagues in Europe are flirting dangerously close to the relegation zone and will need a big second half of the season to get themselves out of the trouble they find themselves in.
We take a look at five such teams in Europe who are struggling right now but should enough quality in 2017 to ensure that their top-flight status remains.
#1 Valencia
The traditional La Liga giants find themselves outside the relegation zone only on goal difference at the moment. They have played a game less than the teams around them, but that game in hand is against the all-conquering Real Madrid. Their early season struggles saw them sack their manager Pako Ayestaran and appoint Cesare Prandelli as his replacement.
Overall, 2016 was a dismal year for Los Che as they lost 22 games in the calendar year and had three different managers including Gary Neville, who was sacked after a tumultuous start to his managerial career at the Mestalla.
But right now, Prandelli needs to find some inspiration from somewhere. He has a good enough squad with players like Nani, Rodrigo, Jose Gaya and Mario Suarez, who have enough quality in them to drag their side out of trouble.
Their striker Santi Mina said, “We need pride and we need balls, or we're going to s***."
That pretty much sums it up Valencia’s current situation. They need to pull up their socks very soon. Mina insisted that the dressing room is behind their Italian manager and his methods.
Prandelli too has urged the players to step up, saying that the fans do not deserve the performances that they’re putting in.
Valencia will be glad to see the back of 2016 and in 2017, with a quality manager and a good enough squad, they will set about looking to resurrect the flailing fortunes of the 2004 La Liga champions.
#2 Borussia Moenchengladbach
Gladbach are another side who have had a dismal start to the season and like Valencia, they too have sacked their manager. Andre Schubert has left his job, and former Wolfsburg manager Dieter Hecking has been appointed as his replacement.
Gladbach were in a similar position last season too. Under Lucien Favre, they had hit rock-bottom, before Schubert resurrected their season and ensured that they even finished in the Champions League places.
Gladbach are currently 14th in the Bundesliga – only 3 points above the relegation zone, and the resurrection this time might not be as dramatic as it was last season.
But Hecking is an experienced manager, who knows his way around the Bundesliga. His vast experience and know-how will definitely be of immense value to Gladbach.
Their squad is good enough to finish in a much higher position than they are in right now. The likes of Raffael, Thorgan Hazard, Mahmoud Dahoud and Lars Stindl are good enough to get Gladbach out of the trouble they find themselves in.
Also, it will be to Hecking’s advantage that the winter break has come around. He will have time for training before Gladbach play next in the Bundesliga and can impose his methods on Gladbach.
#3 Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace have Sam Allardyce as their manager now who has never been relegated with any club in his career. But Palace should not be relegated, whoever the manager is, with the qulity of players in their ranks.
The London club had a wretched 2016 under Alan Pardew, winning only six games in the entire calendar year. Since the start of this season, their problem has been with the defence.
Unlike many other teams near the bottom of the table, finding goals has not been a problem for Palace, but when they do score goals, they unfortunately tend to concede at least as many as they have scored.
And that is where Allardyce will come into play. His forte is to ensure that his teams are organised, making it hard for opposition strikers and eventually not concede goals.
Palace need their defensive organisation to be spot on and with the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Christian Benteke and Andros Townsend in their ranks, they will score goals.
#4 Sassuolo
After the high of finishing in sixth place last season, Sassuolo now find themselves only two spots above the relegation zone in Serie A. The Italian club also finished bottom of their group in the UEFA Europa League and appear to have been hugely impacted by playing on Thursday nights.
In the first part of 2017, at least, they will not have the distraction of having to play on Thursdays and can concentrate on their league form, which has been terrible. The likes of Domenico Berardi and Alessandro Matri have not really fired this season and that is a huge cause of concern for Eusebio Di Francesco, their manager.
But the bigger concern is their defence. With 33 goals conceded, they have not been able to reach the heights of last season - when they conceded only 40 goals all season. Only two teams - Palermo and Cagliari have conceded more goals than Sassuolo this season.
But Di Francesco has been stuck with, and he knows the formula for the club to do well and get themselves out of this hole. Their big players haven’t fired yet and the winter break will only revitalise them.
#5 Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg have the same number of points as Borussia Mönchengladbach, and are ahead of them only on goal difference. Wolfsburg struggled in the Bundesliga last year as well, but made up for it with a brilliant run to the Champions League quarterfinal.
They sacked Dieter Hecking as manager in October and appointed Valerien Ismael, but a managerial change is not all that is needed from Wolfsburg; they need their big players to step up. Andre Schurrle left in the summer and Julian Draxler will join PSG as soon as the transfer window opens. But Wolfsburg still have a good enough squad. The likes of Daniel Didavi and Jakub Blaszczykowski have not yet come to the party this season and Ismael needs them to contribute to support Mario Gomez.
Ricardo Rodriguez, who was once the subject of transfer interest from various other European clubs, has not had a good season at left-back. Overall, it has been a systemic failure for Wolfsburg.
