The most dreaded list is out. 18 Yard Box has a look at this week's worst XI of the Premier League.
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| Worst XI of the Premier League this week |
No one facies this list but still some names are taken into it due to their poor performances. 18YB's Arjun Mishra has his take as to who goes in this list
Bradley
Guzan (GK) – Aston Villa
Bradley
Guzan had to face a tough task against a Fulham offence which consisted of
Berbatov, Petric and Rodallega. Manager Paul lambert was already frustrated
with the poor run of first choice goalkeeper Shay Given. Therefore, Guzan was
given the nod ahead of him for this game, which turned to be even a worse
performance by him. The score line 1-0 hardly tells the whole story. The
defenders gave their all, but lost because a blunder made by Guzan.
Angel
Rangel (RB) – Swansea City
When we see
that Swansea City won 2-1 against Wigan Athletic, we wonder how did Angel
Rangel, of the winning team ended up on this list. But the final score line
never tells the full story of a match. The performance put up by him was rather
very poor according to his standards. He was getting dispossessed far too many
times by opposition players and was not tracking back to defend the goal. The
goal scored by Wigan was from a set piece and he had a major part to play in
it.
Maynor
Figueroa (CB) – Wigan Athletic
Figueroa,
yet again, failed to live up to the expectations as High-Fliers Wigan slumped
to an away defeat at the hands of Swansea City. We had seen him showing poor
form since the game against Manchester United when Nick Powell scored by just
brushing past him. His poor run of form continued in this match too when Pablo
Hernandez scored a goal from a shot which could have easily been blocked by
him.
Ryan
Nelsen (CB) – Queens Park Rangers
Ryan Nelsen,
who had impressed for QPR till now in the season, had a shockingly poor game
against
Everton. Another Player who was being dispossessed way too easily and
once known for his super headers was wasting all the corners for QPR. He is one
shocker on this list this time.
Mark
Wilson (LB) – Stoke City
Mark Wilson
had a major part to play when Stoke City were unable to protect their lead
against Manchester United and Stoke wasn’t even able to make a proper counter
attack because his crossing and finishing were poor. Manager Tony Pulis
expressed his anger at Mark’s performance in the post match interview.
Claudio
Yacob (DM) – West Bromwich Albion
Argentinean
Claudio Yacob had an unimpressive match for West Bromwich Albion against
Manchester City. He was fouling for almost the whole match. He did not even
give the full effort in his tackles and was even booked. When Edin Dzeko made
the run for the second goal, he should have been able to stop him with a single
tackle. Instead, he went into a sliding tackle way early to let Edin Escape.
Jonas
Gutierrez (DM) – Newcastle United
Jonas
Gutierrez has failed to deliver up to expectations he had raised so high in the
previous seasons. He is not able to support Yohan Cabaye like he did last
season. Whenever he gets the ball, he shoots it way over the crossbar. Not even
looking at the fellow players around him who he will be able to pass to. His
game against Sunderland showed the same. He missed many golden opportunities
and slowed the counter attacks.
Adam
Johnson (RW) – Sunderland
Adam Johnson
was a record signing made by manager Martin O’Neill from Manchester City. Adam
Johnson has always been prone to injuries, which have finally slowed his game
down. He does not cut in inside the box quickly and give an eventual pass to
the striker Steven Fletcher, who is in top form right now. He has become a slow
player and an easy player to take the ball from. Something that the former
England Manager, Fabio Capello had predicted two years ago. His game against
Newcastle showed no signs of improvement as he yet again failed the counter
attacks and played selfishly.
Steven
Pienaar (CM) – Everton
Not many
expected Steven Pienaar, who had made 8 assists and scored twice in the first 7
matches, would end up on this list. But that’s what happens when you play good
football, you raise many expectations and you raise the standard too. Steven
Pienaar had one of those forgettable matches of the season. His tackles were
untimed, his passes were off-target and his game was lackluster. All seemed to
be lost when he was given a red card at the 60th minute for a brutal
tackle on Jose Bosingwa.
Yao
Gervinho (LM) – Arsenal
Eyebrows
were raised when Gervinho was played behind Podolski and Giroud. And the result
was before us in no time. He was not able to finish the chances created by
Cazorla and he was not able to perform well like he did in the last matches for
Arsenal. Now stats show that he was dispossessed more than 20 times. That is
far beyond the limit for an attacking midfielder. Playing behind the strikers,
he did not get the space he liked and hence, was subjected to a flop show where
Arsenal slumped a 1-0 defeat against Norwich City.
Mario
Balotelli (FW) – Manchester City
Mario, who
scored for Italy in the International Break, was not able to carry his good
form to the club level. He showed that his antics and tantrums had returned. He
played slow and when he was dispossessed, he went into slow and late tackles to
win the ball back thus, earning a yellow card. He did not pass when he had to.
He only shot when he got the ball against West Bromwich Albion. Either from
long range or short range.
Written By,
Arjun Mishra
Arjun is a writer for 18 Yard Box
Follow Arjun on Twitter
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