EPL: Each Premier League Team Described in One Word

Less is more, right?

A lot can be said in a word, and that holds true where each of the Premier League's 20 teams is concerned.

Each descriptor in this slide show is a springboard for addressing a certain topic currently affecting the side. Emphasis was given on the present as opposed to the past.

There was a glance toward the future for each, most notably for the sides looking like sure-fire picks to begin runs of excellence in the league.

Without further ado, here follows each Premier League side described in one word.

Manchester City: Poznan

While it is in no way unique to Manchester City supporters—"Poznan" designates Lech Poznan, the Polish team whose fans developed the back-turned-to-pitch cheer—this bouncy celebration is an apt symbol for the Citizens' current form.

If you were where City is now, wouldn't you be celebrating?

First in the league, winners of their first trophy (the 2011 FA Cup) in 35 years, owners of endless reserves of capital that will allow them to continue improving a side that already boasts prodigious talent at nearly every position: there's little reason for a City fan not to jump around right now.

Manchester United: Resilience

Whether it's their 70-year-old Scottish manager braving the bitter cold of the Manchester winter (left) or their impeccable ability to remain in the thick of the Premier League title hunt, withstanding precarious dips in form along the way, Manchester United have a tremendous capacity to endure.

They lend credence to the adage that the EPL race is a marathon, not a sprint; we've seen them reel in contenders for the crown in recent seasons on numerous occasions. Sir Alex might as well claim it as a specialty.

At no time has that ability been more prominently on display than this season, when the Red Devils have battled back to within two points of their nouveau-riche neighbors after 25 games played.

Who would have predicted that, especially after United were thrashed 6-1 at Old Trafford by City back in November?

But, as Gandalf once said to Frodo in The Fellowship of the Ring (movie edition), "There's more to this [team] than meets the eye." Wow, that quote didn't really work. Anyways, onward!

Undaunted by defeat, undeterred by gaps in the table, United are never out of a title race with Sir Alex manning the wheel. Few would be surprised should they reel in City once the final whistle has gone on this season.

Tottenham: Burgeoning

The club's current trajectory might best be exemplified by Gareth Bale, their star Welsh winger.

Seemingly innocuous at first, then growing in pace on an irrevocable path toward crescendo until its opponent is left forlorn in the dust.

Over the course of the past three seasons we've seen Tottenham become a player on the continental stage as well as domestically.

They've proved their mettle against Europe's best sides, including Inter Milan and AC Milan, in the 2010-11 Champions League.

Despite a disastrous start to the current league campaign, Spurs have rebounded and vaulted themselves into third place.

If their current form is to be believed—and they don't find themselves in third place by accident—Tottenham are poised to become one of the Premier League's top sides and one of a number of teams threatening to break apart the iconic "Top Four" (Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal) of seasons past.

Their recruitment is daring—would Eden Hazard have even considered them three seasons ago?—and their on-field play can be spectacular (most recently embodied in a 5-0 win over top-four contender Newcastle United).

Since taking the helm in 2008, Harry Redknapp has used savvy to construct a side that can hang with the best. And they're always growing.

Arsenal: Arsene

Perhaps no club in history can be as readily identified with a manager (OK, Manchester United have a case with their current attendant) as the Gunners.

Since taking over the job in 1996, Wenger has molded what had once been "boring, boring Arsenal" into a dynamic attacking force that went an entire season without a loss (the 2003-04 Invincibles).

He brought swashbuckling football to the Premier League, introduced new specifications on diet and fitness and introduced a system of building teams through an emphasis on youth recruitment and development.

The current season has been his most trying yet, but he remains the most successful manager in club history.

Chelsea: Disparity

First-year coach Andre Villas-Boas has had the thankless task of trying to integrate the old guard with a bevy of intriguing young talent.

It's looked like oil and water at times.

Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, John Terry, Didier Drogba—the remnants of the golden Mourinho era now past, which saw the Blues become one of England's best during the middle portion of the last decade—are entering their respective twilights.

But will they go quietly? Ashley Cole, brought to the club in 2006, made waves this past week when he ripped Villas-Boas for his tactics during Chelsea's 3-1 loss away to Napoli in the Champions League.

There are a number of younger talents eager to make their name: Daniel Sturridge, Juan Mata, David Luiz, etc., not to mention Romeu Lukaku and Josh McEachran. The latter two, while brimming with quality, don't have enough experience to challenge for a title just yet.

Sturridge has voiced his displeasure at being used on the wing, with the sputtering £50 million Fernando Torres being preferred at center forward while Drogba was away with Ivory Coast at the African Cup of Nations.

Will Sturridge be content to wait around for his chance? We'll see.

There's a startling disparity between the young and old. If Chelsea are to get back into the title discussion, they must find a way to (Stamford) bridge that gap.

Newcastle: Model

Less than two years removed from playing in the English Championship, Newcastle sit sixth in the Premier League standings.

A remarkable turnaround—one borne not by coincidence but rather a careful, responsible fiscal policy that has elected to sign premium talent at moderate prices.

Just over a year after owner Mike Ashley was ridiculed and reviled for allowing talented young striker Andy Carroll to leave for Liverpool, and then not investing any of that £35 million kitty to improve the side, which finished a disappointing 12th in 2010-11, he is looking astute for waiting to spend his cash.

Yohan Cabaye, Demba Ba, Gabriel Obertan, Davide Santon, Demba Cisse: each of these first-teamers was bought before the current season for a combined £23.3 million. After extracting that £35 million off Carroll 13 months ago, Newcastle invested it wisely.

Heck, Demba Ba, widely considered one of the best attacking options in the Premier League this season (21 appearances, 16 goals), came on a free transfer from West Ham United.

While manager Alan Pardew will cast a rueful eye at that 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Tottenham, he does have a 3-0 victory over Manchester United to his name this term.

Tottenham will still encounter some lumps—this side hasn't played together long enough to be exempt from those—but they are here to stay in the Premier League's upper echelon.

Liverpool: Mending

The Reds' current state is summed up perfectly as regards the state of their captain: recovering from grievous injury.

Just as Steven Gerrard—who remains my favorite contemporary player to watch outside of Arsenal—made his way back from a series of nasty ligament and tendon problems this season, Liverpool have been fighting to recapture their relevancy since a 2009-10 season which saw them finish seventh.

That was a woeful return for a club that has won the league 18 times, though never in the modern Premier League era.

Under the new ownership of Fenway Sports Group, which took the reins in late 2010, they have invested heavily, to somewhat middling returns.

Liverpool remain ensconced in seventh place in the league standings, but they do have a realistic chance at glory in the Carling and FA Cups; they are staged to play in the Carling Cup final this Sunday against Cardiff City and have made it through to the FA Cup's quarterfinal stage.

Two trophies this season would be a strong statement to the rest of the league, letting their rivals know that Liverpool are on their way back.

Norwich City: Surprise!

As Daniel Craig's character "X" once said in Layer Cake, "Business is on the up and up." You could say the same where Norwich City are concerned.

Eighth place 25 games into the season: who (no, really) saw this coming?

The "seven-year plan" outlined by manager Paul Lambert (the club is currently in the second year) has been turned on its head, as the Canaries veer toward a potential spot in Europe next term.

Are they moving too fast? Can they sustain this level of success?

Lambert has acknowledged that the club cannot hope to attract the types of players the big-money spenders reel in each transfer window and has urged caution and realistic expectations.

A spot in Europe might not be the best option at this moment, but the fact that Norwich are even entertaining that discussion is testament to their growing stature as a club.

They employ an excellent system and boast a squad that has been tailored to fit that philosophy of attacking football geared toward individual technicians who can pick apart a defense.

Whatever the next couple seasons hold, they are heading up. And as we saw with Stoke this season in the Europa League, a mid-level Premier League club can sustain a run on the continent (Stoke recently bowed out to Valencia in the knockout stages).

Sunderland: Rebirth

It's difficult to believe that this is (mostly) the same Sunderland side we saw in the first couple months of the season, when they were languishing in the dregs of the table and looking like a probable candidate for relegation.

Swap Martin O'Neill for Steve Bruce as manager.

The Ulsterman has injected a steely resolve and unshakable confidence into this side, pulling them up by the bootstraps to their current position in ninth.

They have some memorable wins to their name—most recently stunning Arsenal 2-0 in the FA Cup fifth round—and are beginning to look like a side steeped in confidence.

As if to accentuate that new-found belief, striker Frazier Campbell was called up for England ahead of next week's friendly with the Netherlands.

The young man will certainly have a spring in his step when he returns to Wearside in March, something that can only be good for the Black Cats as they look to make a run at the FA Cup title.

Everton: Consistency

He doesn't operate on the largest of budgets, he doesn't have a host of star players to call his own.

But Everton boss David Moyes finds a way to field a side that can hang with the EPL's best each season. They defend and attack as a unit, and they have a host of fiery characters (hello, Tim Cahill) who can turn any match on its end.

Their 2-0 win over Chelsea on Feb. 11 confirmed what this side is capable of when on form.

Losing Landon Donovan back to the MLS will hurt, as the Yank once more put in tireless displays on the right wing during his second loan stint with the Blues.

If anyone can pull his side past that loss, though, it's Moyes.

They're still in the FA Cup, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a side that would want to face them in the run-in to the final.

Swansea City: Flowing

No, I'm not talking about the rain.

The first Welsh side to ever play in the Premier League currently sit in 11th in the standings, and their board has just blessed manager Brendan Rodgers with a three-and-half year deal that signals their intent to continue calling the Premier League home.

Rodgers has established an engaging and aesthetically pleasing system of play for the Swans, who can pass it around the park with the best of them.

Perhaps their 3-2 home win over Arsenal in mid-January was the best testament to their style: like Arsene Wenger has championed so often over the years as regards his own side, Swansea won playing attractive, positive attacking football.

Fulham: Upsets

2012 has seen the Cottagers slay Arsenal (2-1) and Newcastle (5-2) at home, the latter a match in which Clint Dempsey fired the first-ever hat trick by an American in Premier League history.

That's nothing new for Fulham, who have a knack for surprising people.

In 2010, they made a remarkable run to the Europa League final, where they lost to an Atletico Madrid side boasting a striking tandem of Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan.

Forlan was in an unconscionable run of form at the time and grabbed a brace in the final, claiming his second in the 116th minute to seal the game at 2-1.

Fulham are currently in 12th in the league, but as this season has shown, placement can be deceiving. Fulham can go toe-to-toe with any side, especially at Craven Cottage.

Stoke City: Battlers

Tony Pulis has groomed a rugged side steeped in physicality and an underrated ability to play some very good football.

Their run in the Europa League, just now ended at the hands of Valencia after successive 1-0 losses, was an indication of their desire as a club.

Few would have predicted they'd make it to the knockout stages in the first place, but after watching their performances, there's little surprise they enjoyed such success.

Though they currently sit 13th in the league, they are just three points removed from 10th in what has become a mid-table logjam.

I briefly considered making their word "towel", in homage to Rory Delap's patented wipe down before any throw-in, but decided against it. Copyright infringement of a certain South Park character seemed too great a risk.

West Bromwich Albion: Hope

Despite sitting 14th in the league, a 5-1 thrashing of Wolverhampton Wanderers—in which Peter Odemwingie claimed a hat trick, has the Baggies looking to launch upon a run of form.

Demonstrative of the competitive nature of the Premier League, West Bromwich has lost to Manchester United and Chelsea by just a single goal (successive 2-1 defeats to start the season) and held Manchester City at home (0-0 on Dec. 26).

Manager Roy Hodgson's future is up for debate—he is a candidate to take the vacant English job—but that's for later.

The former Fulham boss has taken a struggling side and molded them into a fighting unit that gives no quarter to its opponents.

The Baggies defend well and are very difficult to break down. If Odemwingie has found his goal-scoring boots, there's no reason to think they can't claim a few historic victories heading into May.

Aston Villa: Bent

It can hold meaning either for the club's star striker or for its ambitions as a whole.

Bent, and nearly broken.

Once the host of a bevy of top attacking talent—Ashley Young, James Milner and Stewart Downing have all left the club in the past two years—Villa have begun to flounder, with their current league position of 15th an indication of their travails.

Bent is one of the lone bright spots, but he didn't come cheap: Villa were forced to pay £18 million to prise the talented hit-man away from Sunderland last season.

While he has shown an alacrity for the big games—he was a regular starter with England under Fabio Capello—he hasn't produced much in the way of wins for the Villains.

Last May was an exception to that rule, however, when a Bent brace undid Arsenal at the Emirates in a shock 2-1 victory for Villa. So far in 2011-12, he has nine goals, a healthy return.

Under-fire manager Alex McLeish, in his first season with the club, has promised to lead his side back from the brink in the wake of news that supporters are calling for his job.

Time will tell if they can come out of this lengthy rough patch. They'll certainly be counting on Bent to help.

Queens Park Rangers: Ambition

According to Transfer Markt, Queens Park Rangers have dispensed some £23 million this season in order to enhance their squad, with designs on remaining in the Premier League the obvious target.

Among those brought in are a number of attacking options (Bobby Zamora, Djibril Cisse, Shaun Wright-Phillips, D.J. Campbell), along with a host of defenders and midfielders—the most notable of the bunch being England bad boy Joey Barton.

But that investment has yet to yield a return.

QPR currently sit 16th in the league, faring only slightly better under current manager Mark Hughes than they did with Neil Warnock, who was sacked in early January.

There does appear to be something missing from the side, which might help it push up the table. Hughes is spoiled for choice with the talent at his disposal, but there is no one genuine leader to bring it all together on the pitch.

As Manchester City showed in their first season of free-spending ('08-09), it takes awhile to build a contender. Throwing money at a problem merely papers the cracks.

Blackburn Rovers: Crisis

When your manager feels the need to have a bodyguard with him at all times for fear of being attacked, you know there's a deep-seated problem at the club.

The imminent sale of want-away defender Christopher Samba to Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala only compounds the club's myriad woes.

They are one spot removed from the relegation zone, and they don't look to be moving upwards any time soon. They have scored just 37 goals and have let in 56: hardly the type of production that lends credence to belief.

Kean has cut the embattled figure for much of the season, and, without some significant changes in the personnel available to him, that looks likely to continue.

Wolverhampton Wanderers: Flux

The recent 5-1 defeat suffered to West Bromwich Albion proved the straw the broke manager Mick McCarthey's back.

The Irishman was sacked just days following that loss, with the club's management turning to Terry Connor to take the wheel until the end of the season.

Connor's got his work cut out for him as he inherits a club that has won just once in its last 11 league matches, a run of form accentuated by bad luck.

Emmanuel Frimpong, Arsenal's talented central midfielder who had been brought in on loan until the end of the season, suffered a season-ending ACL tear against Queens Park Rangers on Feb. 4, coincidentally the lone Wolves win (2-1) from that run of 11.

Will Connor's appointment provide a boost for the moribund side? Can Wolves use this breath of fresh air to their advantage?

Bolton Wanderers: Loans

If he keeps up his streak, Owen Coyle will become known as the horse whisperer of loans.

The former Burnley boss has shown a knack for getting the most out of the top young players sent to him for half-seasons, with Jack Wilshere (2010), Daniel Sturridge (2011) and now Ryo Miyaichi (2012) all producing excellent results for Bolton in recent years.

The latest of the bunch is Miyaichi, like Wilshere on loan from Arsenal.

The Japanese teenager has made an immediate impact within the side, with his most notable contribution coming in Bolton's FA Cup fifth-round match last weekend, when the speedy winger ghosted in behind the Millwall defense before coolly slotting home the opening goal into the far corner.

If Miyaichi can provide anything close to what Sturridge did last year while sporting the Reebok uniform (eight goals in 12 appearances), Bolton have a realistic shot at escaping relegation for yet another season.

Wigan Athletic: Nadir

The 2-1 win against Bolton in the last round of Premier League games will give Roberto Martinez's side some cause for optimism, but with just 19 points through 25 matches, it's beginning to look like Wigan may be on their way down after this season comes to a close.

Players are leaving (Hugo Rodallega has said he will depart once his contract terminates this summer), and, with just four wins this season, it's not looking like Martinez will have too many cards at his disposal to convince other talented players to stay.

A mere three points sit between them and the prospect of escaping the drop zone, but given their form of late, that's looking a remote possibility.