The Premier League players who let their sides down this weekend.
The latest round of fixture in the Premier League was characterised by shocks, with Manchester United and Liverpool both succumbing on the road to Leicester City and West Ham United respectively, whilst Everton and Crystal Palace were also beaten at home in shock Sunday results.
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Whilst most pundits will focus on selecting the best line-up of the weekend, we also like to look at the other side of things – this was the worst XI in the Premier League this week:
GK) Simon Mignolet (Liverpool)
The Belgian international has never quite convinced since Liverpool signed him from Sunderland last summer – and that was the case again at Upton Park, with Mignolet not commanding his area whenever West Ham put a cross into the box.
RB) Rafael da Silva (Manchester United)
Brazilian right back Rafael had a horrendous afternoon in the surroundings of Leicester’s King Power Stadium as he was given the runaround by the Foxes’ lightning quick forward Jamie Vardy, unsurprisingly conceding a penalty to the former Fleetwood Town speedster.
CB) Phil Jagielka (Everton)
The England international has had a poor start to the season for Everton and was exposed again as they were surprisingly beaten by Crystal Palace at Goodison Park, caused all sorts of problems by a quick and lively visiting outfit.
CB) Dejan Lovren (Liverpool)
Croatian international and £20m summer signing Dejan Lovren had a torrid afternoon for Liverpool at Upton Park as they were caused all manner of problems by a hard-working and direct West Ham frontline – Lovren is yet to make the difference expected of him at Anfield.
LB) Marcos Rojo (Manchester United)
After an impressive United debut against QPR last week, Marcos Rojo was simply awful against Leicester City, giving the ball away on countless occasions and getting caught far too high up the pitch – his channel was targeted ruthlessly by Nigel Pearson’s side in the second half.
CM) Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
For the second week in a row, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard makes it into this team after enduring a tough Premier League afternoon as his side were surprisingly beaten – Gerrard couldn’t dictate the tempo at Upton Park, giving the ball away far too often.
CM) Etienne Capoue (Tottenham Hotspur)
Spurs midfielder Etienne Capoue had an absolutely disastrous afternoon for Tottenham as they surprisingly lost at home to West Brom, giving the ball away regularly and finding himself torn apart by the speed of the Baggies’ counter attacks.
CM) Leon Osman (Everton)
Everton looked surprisingly languid and one-paced as they lost to a livelier Crystal Palace side at Goodison Park, with ageing midfielder Leon Osman being a big part of that – he struggled with the pace of the game and couldn’t get any kind of foothold in a match that his side struggled to cope with.
FW) Erik Lamela (Tottenham Hotspur)
Despite the odd flash of inspiration from record signing Erik Lamela, the Argentine was unable to exert the kind of influence on their game at home to West Bromwich Albion that Spurs needed from such a fine player in a game that they were experted to come away from with three points.
FW) Radamel Falcao (Manchester United)
Falcao was really poor on his full United debut in Leicester, with the Colombian’s touch largely errant and a lack of pace and movement characterising his display – although a lack of match fitness may be the root of these issues, with Falcao showing a glimpse of what may be to come when he hit the bar with a fine effort.
ST) Wilfried Bony (Swansea City)
A nightmare afternoon for Wilfried Bony, who contributed to his side’s home loss to Southampton when he was sent off for two ridiculous yellow cards during the first half – clattering into Maya Yoshida and then performing a dreadful scissor tackle to earn a deserved early bath.