World Football: 10 Teams Who've Surprised Us All so Far

It's around Christmas time that you truly get a feel for how your football team is performing and what kind of a finish you can aim for.

You've got matches under your belt, your side has (hopefully) worked out the kinks and you know exactly what you're dealing with—that can either be a very good revelation, or an equally frightening one.

Here are 10 football teams who've surprised us with their league standings after a significant chunk of the season has passed.

In a good way

Norwich City, under Chris Hughton, are currently looking like a real force to contend with.

After a rocky start, the former Newcastle manager wasn't afraid to shake things up and change the system, and it's paying dividends right now.

The Canaries are four points off fourth place in the English Premier League table going into the Christmas period. Remarkable.

In a good way

Vincenzo Montella, take a bow.

Fiorentina are fifth in Serie A heading into the Christmas period thanks to the Italian's tactical brilliance, turfing out the old crew who simply didn't care and replacing them with hungry, modern footballers.

With just two points separating them from Internazionale in second, the race for UEFA Champions League spots looks like it might go down to the wire.

In a bad way

After last year's fifth-place finish in the English Premier League, many expected Newcastle to step it up a notch after some decent summer business.

Unfortunately, barring an opening day victory over Tottenham, the Toon Army have had very little to shout about.

The Magpies have lost five of their last six league games, good for 15th spot in the table. Drab.

In a bad way

Genoa's recent form and league position makes for tough reading.

They've won just one of their last six fixtures and remain perilously close to the bottom of the Serie A table. They're just one point above Siena, who started the season on minus-six.

With Juan Vargas, Marco Borriello, Ciro Immobile and more, the Grifone should be performing much, much better.

In a good way

West Ham are currently charging toward English Premier League safety and look mightily assured in the process.

Sam Allardyce knows how to keep a team in the top division, but the Hammers' start has been emphatic to say the least.

They've shifted some of the long-ball critics, recruited a couple of gems in Mohamed Diame and Jussi Jaaskelainen and made themselves typically tough to beat.

In a bad way

After wrestling the La Liga title off Barcelona last year, Real Madrid were expected to go from strength to strength this season.

Unfortunately, los Merengues have completely and utterly regressed. They're a staggering 13 points off la Blaugrana who sit in first, and for the first time in a long while cross-city rivals Atletico Madrid look the more promising side in second.

They've looked their usual imperious selves in the UEFA Champions League, but continue to commit silly mistakes in La Liga.

This title race is over.

In a good way

Eintracht Frankfurt are officially pulling a Hoffenheim, except they haven't spent a tonne of money to do it.

This is the second time in four years that a club just promoted to the Bundesliga have gone on a barnstorming run to start the season in style, and Frankfurt are still going strong in fourth place.

You think the bubble's burst and they bounce back and win two on the trot. Bastian Oczipka, Alexander Meier and Sebastien Rode, among others, are all excelling.

In a good way

It may seem bizarre to see current La Liga leaders Barcelona on this list, but no one was quite sure what to expect when Tito Vilanova took the reins.

They've surprised us all by dominating to such an extent that this side threatens to break all kinds of records. They're on course to score the most goals in a season and already have the most points any team has ever accrued at this stage of the competition.

Fifty-four foals in 16 games. Absolutely ridiculous.

In a bad way

Six losses in a row have forced Hoffenheim to seek a new manager.

They've gradually weakened over the last three seasons, but with quality personnel still on the books it's hard to believe they're languishing down in the depths with Augsburg and Greuther Furth.

Roberto Firmino, Andreas Beck and Sejad Salihovic could all be looking at new jobs in the summer if this continues.

In a bad way

Athletic Bilbao lost Javi Martinez this summer, but that doesn't excuse some of the abysmal performances los Leones have put on for us so far.

Marcelo Bielsa has shouldered responsibility for the large majority of failures, but he won't accept defeat in his stubborn and ill-advised battle with Fernando Llorente.

The sooner they sort that one the better, but we may just see Bielsa's resignation around season's end.

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