A look at the top ten Premier League stars who are failing to deliver at the moment.
10. Ashley Young
After a big money move from Aston Villa and tons of expectation, the England winger has been seriously disappointing at Manchester United. At 27 he should really be reaching his peak, but with no goals and just three assists this season it looks like his best form might be behind him. The most notable thing he’s achieved at Old Trafford is a reputation for being a diver. Surely one of the players on Sir Alex Ferguson’s list to be cleared out this summer.
9. Fabio Borini
New Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers was keen to work with Fabio Borini again after their time together at Swansea City, but it’s hard to see what all the fuss is about so far. The young Italian has struggled with fitness this season, but has hardly made an impression when he has played, scoring just one goal all season – and that was last week in the rout against Newcastle! £10.5million is not exactly Andy Carroll level of big money flopping, but it looks far from worth it for Liverpool going on what we’ve seen.
8. Shay Given
For a long time regarded as one of the best and most consistent goalkeepers in the Premier League, Shay Given has really fallen from grace since joining Aston Villa. It looked harsh when he lost his place to Joe Hart at Manchester City, but the Irishman has looked a shadow of his former self at Villa Park, losing his place this season to Brad Guzan. Now 37, it looks like his long and illustrious career in the top flight is nearing an end.
7. Gervinho
Seen here missing an open goal against Bradford City in the League Cup, Gervinho has a habit of making the easy things in football look difficult. The Ivorian was seen as a relatively exciting big-name signing for Arsenal when he joined from Lille last year, but he has only delivered in short bursts, and is more often than not an incredibly frustrating player to watch (and presumably to play with) due to his senseless dribbles and hogging of the ball. Galatasary have been linked with a £12million bid for Gervinho, and Arsenal should take the money and run.
6. Shinji Kagawa
Even with the signing of Robin van Persie stealing the headlines, Shinji Kagawa was an exciting signing for Manchester United last summer when he joined after impressing at Borussia Dortmund. Perhaps it’s harsh to judge him in his first season in English football, but the Japanese midfielder has not done anything of note other than a hat-trick against a poor Norwich City side. Perhaps there’s more to come from the 24-year-old, but at the moment he’s a long way from living up to the early hype.
5. Wojciech Szczesny
Once rated as a supremely talented young goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny is now just the latest in the line of unreliable and error-prone individuals to play between the sticks for Arsenal. He’s no Manuel Almunia, but Arsene Wenger looks to have lost his patience with the Pole after a number of high-profile and costly individual errors this season. Lukasz Fabianski has been brought in ahead of his fellow countryman, which shows quite how badly Szczesny’s stock has fallen. A new goalkeeper is a priority signing for the Gunners this summer and Szczesny could well be on the way out.
4. Joe Allen
Big things were expected when Brendan Rodgers brought another one of his Swansea City protegees with him to Anfield. The midfielder had been described by his boss as ‘the Welsh Xavi’, but has really not looked like a player capable of adding anything to a top level club. Rodgers might want to consider being more careful next time he plans a raid on his old team.
3. Fernando Torres
This list would not be complete without Fernando Torres. The £50million signing from Liverpool has still not looked anything like rediscovering his best form with Chelsea, even under the management of interim boss Rafael Benitez, the man who initially brought the star to Anfield. Although a few goals in the Europa League have helped guide the Blues to the final, Torres has not done it against higher quality Premier League opposition and has been linked with a return to Atletico Madrid next season. A huge embarrassment for Roman Abramovich, who invested so much money in the Spaniard and pressured managers to keep playing him.
2. Samir Nasri
Samir Nasri may have achieved his aim of winning the Premier League title by leaving Arsenal for Manchester City, but it looks like Arsenal fans are having the last laugh as the French attacker has hardly ever looked like the player he was during his time at the Emirates Stadium. Roberto Mancini admits he finds Nasri’s inconsistency frustrating, and will probably move him on this summer, with a return to France with PSG being mentioned in some sections of the press.
1. Emmanuel Adebayor
A loan spell at Tottenham looked to have breathed new life into Emmanuel Adebayor after a bad time with Manchester City, but since joining Spurs on a permanent basis he has looked like being a waste of money yet again. In and out of the team under Andre Villas-Boas, the Togolese frontman has just three league goals this season. He and Jermain Defoe struggling for goals has put a lot of pressure on Gareth Bale to deliver the goods, and has given the Spurs manager a real headache in the transfer market this summer.