Premiere League flops

There have been a lot of players that really impressed in the opening stages of the Premier League but I will try to point out few that should have done much better. Some of them were not given enough chances to shine but other have only themselves to blame for poor performances.

Nicky Shorey (Aston Villa)

Nicky Shorey arrived to Aston Villa this summer from Reading and he was expected to quickly become an integral part of Martin O’Neill’s team. Shorey had an excellent season at Reading that helped him broke into England national team and no wonder that Villa fans expected a lot from him this season. However, even though the team played great this term, Shorey was struggling throughout the season and he has lost his place in the starting line-up. He is now restricted only to UEFA Cup appearances and the fact that O’Neill rather plays Luke Young (right-back) as a left-back, speaks for itself.

Robbie Keane (Liverpool)

Robbie Keane was paid more than £20 mil when he arrived from Tottenham this summer and he was expected to create impressive partnership with Fernando Torres. However, Keane struggled to find his form and scored just three goals in 16 league matches. That is a very poor record considering that he is playing for league leaders and he now faces a real fight to keep his place in the starting line-up. There has been some speculations about his future at the club but it seems that Keane will be given some more time to prove his worth.

Jo (Manchester City)

Brazilian striker arrived from CSKA for staggering £19 mil and he was expected to lead City’s attack this season. He failed to make any real impact, partly because of injuries and he scored just one goal in 8 Premiership appearances. Jo is still on the fringes at Eastlands and his situation will only get worse as the club is likely to buy a couple of world-class strikers in January.

Gareth Bale (Tottenham)

Gareth Bale has shown a lot of potential last season even though he had a lot of problems with injuries. He started this season injury-free and was expected to feature heavily in Spurs’ league campaign. Bale lost his place in the starting line-up with the arrival of Harry Redknapp and I feel this is Redknapp’s only mistake since arriving to White Hart Lane. Bale is a very quality player and his potential is amazing, which is why I feel that he will come good eventually.

Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal)

Danish striker was seen as one of the hottest prospects in Premier League as he has shown a lot of potential in the last couple of years. Due to a lot of injuries in the squad, Bendtner became a regular in Arsene Wenger’s side this term but he was unable to pay Wenger back for believing in him. He scored only one goal in 12 league appearances and he should have done much better.

Morten Gamst Pedersen (Blackburn)

This is another player that had a very good last season but is struggling this term. Some very good performances have put Pedersen on the radar of teams like Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool but his inconsistency has been a real problem. It seems that he is unable to play few good games in a row and that has been more than evident this season. His poor performances are one of the reasons why Blackburn are in the relegation zone and no wonder that interest in his services has cooled off.

Popularity: 17% [?]