The new season of the Premier League was bound to bring in more excitement, drama and fierce competition among the big guns as well as the mid-table outfits who strengthened themselves significantly to fight for a place in Europe. The likes of West Ham United, newly promoted Fulham and Wolves along with Southampton and Everton roped in some renowned names during the summer window whereas a heavyweight like Tottenham Hotspur was shockingly dormant throughout the window.
Although it’s too early to predict what these new recruits will offer in the long run, there are many whose enormous reputation has preceded them but have flattered to deceive till now. Here we have shortlisted three of them analyzing their performance and contribution following the first four fixtures.
Felipe Anderson
Age: 25
Country: Brazil
Current Club: West Ham United
A fee of around £35m, potentially rising to £42m has been invested in the former Lazio attacker who was expected to inject much-needed versatility and creativity in the Hammers’ attacking third. But the Brazilian has failed to settle quickly in his new surroundings as West Ham, under esteemed Manuel Pellegrini, have lost all four of their Premier League encounters.
They are currently rock bottom and Anderson must step up his game for the Hammers to find any sort of rhythm. He is yet to find the net and has assisted only once so far with an underwhelming 1.8 key passes per game and 77.4 pass success percentage which is quite unimpressive for a playmaker. The attacker has 0.8 shots as well as 0.5 through balls per game – an abysmal figure for a player of his reputation.
Sokratis Papastathopoulos
Age: 30
Country: Greece
Current Club: Arsenal
Arsenal recruited multiple resources earlier this summer upon the exit of iconic Arsene Wenger who handed the baton over to Unai Emery to create a new dawn in North London. Sokratis Papastathopoulos, veteran Greek international, spent five eventful seasons in Borussia Dortmund before joining the Gunners for a fee of around €20m a couple of months back. His experience was supposed to offer stability to a fragile Arsenal backline, however, his partnership with Shkodran Mustafi in deep defence has not changed things for the better. Rather they have conceded 8 goals already in 4 league games.
Sokratis has exhibited strong passing traits ( with 87% accuracy) but the numbers showcasing defensive attributes are agonizingly poor. He has made only 0.8 tackles as well as interception per game and 4.8 clearances which may signify no-nonsense defending but, at the same time, indicates lack of confidence to play the ball out from the back when the team is under pressure.
Also read: Arsenal Star Addresses Shock Retirement Claims
Riyad Mahrez
Age: 27
Country: Algeria
Current Club: Manchester City
Manchester City, the reigning Premier League champions, acquired the Algerian sensation from former champions Leicester City for a club-record £60m fee despite seemingly having enough attacking depth down the wings with Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva. Mahrez has started once and was introduced from the bench on two other occasions but has been way off his best considering the seasons he has had in English football in the recent past.
He has less than two (1.8) shots per game, 0.8 of which has been from outside the box. He has only 1 successful dribble per game to offer but has got dispossessed 1.8 times along with 1.5 poor first touches. He is a player good enough to belong in that dressing room but the former Leicester superstar has to prove that on the pitch.
– Stats via Whoscored
