Instead of the usual 'team of the week’ 18 Yard Box brings u the 'Under-performing XI of the week' .
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| Premier League's worst XI |
We analyse the eleven players who have made the slowest or worst starts to life in the Premier League this year:
Goalkeeper: Adam Federici (Reading)
Made a howler against Stoke City letting the ball squirm through his hands, almost reminiscent of a la Robert Green. Followed it up by another shocking attempt to parry a long range Cahill effort against Chelsea only ending up pushing it into the net. Not a surprise decision that he is the custodian of this not-so-honourable eleven.
Left Back: Nedum Onuoha (QPR)
Was terrorized in the second half in the game against Swansea by the combination of Dyer, Michu and Graham. Showed poor tactical awareness and interception abilities as Dyer had a field day scoring twice against Mark Hughes’s side.
Right Back: Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa)
Backed up the indifferent display against West Ham by getting sent off against Everton. Needs to up his game if he wants to help Villa stop leaking goals.
Center Back: Ryan Bennett (Norwich City):
Was given a baptism of fire by the hugely impressive Fulham attack. The trio of Petric, Dembele and Kacaniklic absolutely ran him ragged and gave him a harsh welcome to life in the premier league.
Center Back: Ivan Ramis (Wigan Athletic)
Didn’t know what hit him in the 3rd minute when Hazard turned him on the half way line before exploiting the void left by him by setting Ivanovic up for Chelsea’s first goal of the season. Few minutes later, obviously still rattled by his error, he went on to bring Hazard down in the box, gifting Chelsea a penalty.
Right Midfielder: Bret Holman (Aston Villa)
Was run ragged by the Everton midfield and offered next to no creativity going forward. Oh how Villa miss the pace and direct play of Agbonlahor down the wings!
Left Midfielder: Nani (Manchester United)
Had an absolute nightmare of a game against the Toffees. Managed to take up decent positions on the wings but most of his crosses were either cleared by the first man or went to deep for a feasible header back into the box. Seemed to have left his box of tricks and magic back in Poland where he was sensational in the Euros.
Central Midfielder: Mahamadou Diarra (Fulham)
Made to look better than he was by the excellent Dembele against Norwich, he had a horrible game against the Reds of United. Was constantly over run in the midfield by the impressive Kagawa who he failed to mark on multiple occasions.
Central Midfielder: Steven Gerard (Liverpool)
Probably had one of the worst games in his career with Liverpool against West Brom and was heavily criticised from many quarters for trying to constantly play “Hollywood passes”. Put in a steady and much improved performance against the champions City but huge questions still remain regarding how exactly a player like Gerarrd, who thrives playing raking diagonals, and adventurous through balls will exactly fit into the Brendan Rodger’s philosophy of sharp, short passing and ball rention.
Center Forward: Pappis Cisse (Newcastle United)
Came into the season with lofty expectations after an unbelievable start to life in black and white last season. But the expectations seem to be burdening down the Senegalese international who, in the first two weeks, seems to be a shadow of the man who scored one of the goals of the season against Chelsea last season and seemed to be hitting the back of the net for fun against opponents.
Center Forward: Darren Bent (Aston Villa)
The man who used to plunder goals and give defenders nightmares a few seasons ago (even managing to earn some England call ups on the back of his sterling performances) has made a slow and sluggish start to the season. A total of one shot on goal in two games sums up best his contribution to an already insipid Villa attack.
Written By,
Apratim Mukherjee
Apratim a.k.a 'Appy' is an editor and writer for 18 Yard Box
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