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It has been a thrilling season of Premier League football. We have seen some of the best football that the country has ever seen, and there is still so much to be decided before the campaign comes to an end.
At the top of the table, Manchester City and Liverpool have played out one of the fiercest title fights that we have seen for a number of years. There is a good chance that both teams could finish with over 95 points, and one of them could still miss out on the title.
City are still in pole position, especially after their Manchester Derby victory, but there is still work to do. If they are to win the title, they will likely have to win all of their remaining three games against Burnley, Leicester City and Brighton.
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As for Champions League qualification, it looks like it’s going right to the wire. Chelsea and Tottenham currently hold the two spots, but both have shown slightly iffy form in recent weeks, and Arsenal and Manchester United will both hope to take advantage.
At the other end of the table, Huddersfield Town and Fulham have already been relegated, but there is still one spot left. Cardiff City look in trouble, but they could still drag Brighton into contention.
However, it hasn’t been all good. While we have seen some brilliant football, there has also been some less than impressive stuff played. Here are five players who have disappointed with their performances this season.
#1 Alexis Sanchez (Manchester United)
It’s still a bit of a mystery why things haven’t worked out for Sanchez at Old Trafford. The Chilean winger was considered one of the best players in the Premier League while he was at Arsenal, but since his moved to United in January 2018, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan going the other way, he simply hasn’t delivered. Last season he scored just twice after joining the Red Devils, and put in some terrible performance in the Champions League against Sevilla.
It was thought that he would do better this year with a pre-season under his belt, but it simply hasn’t happened. Due to injuries and poor form, he has started just eight Premier League games all season, and scored just a single goal. He has rarely appeared under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and it looks like his unhappy spell at United could come to an end this summer.
#2 Jean Micheal Seri (Fulham)
When Fulham announced that they had signed Seri from Nice last summer for £27 million, it looked like they had pulled off a major transfer coup. Seri had previously been linked with the likes of Barcelona and Liverpool, yet he ended up signing for Fulham, who had just been promoted from the Championship. He made a decent start to the season, and caught everyone’s attention with a sensational strike against Burnley just a few games in.
However for Seri, and pretty much all of Fulham’s new signings, that was as good as things got this year. A change of managers from Slavisa Jokanovic, to Claudio Ranieri, and then to Scott Parker, has meant there has never been a settled side at Craven Cottage. The constant changes in system has also not helped, and Seri’s performances have suffered as a result. That strike against Burnley remains his solitary Premier League goal, and he has provided just a further two assists. The Ivorian will not want to play in the Championship next season, and it seems very unlikely that he will still be at Fulham after this summer.
#3 Mohamed Elyounoussi (Southampton)
Elyounoussi was Southampton’s big money buy this summer, when they paid Basel £16 million for his signature, and there were hopes that the winger would make a big impact. He was involved more towards the beginning of the season under Mark Hughes, yet he struggled to really have an effect on games.
Since Ralph Hassenhuttl took over at St. Mary’s however, he has been constantly left out of the side, and we have hardly seen him in the league since the start of the year.
Overall, he has started just seven games in the Premier League all season, and made a further eight appearances from the bench. Of those seven games he has started, he has been subbed off on five occasions.
He simply hasn’t delivered while on the pitch, failing to score, and not providing a single assist. It looks like he’s got a lot of work to do if he is to win back the trust of Hassenhuttl. It can take players a while to adapt to English football, it’s just a matter of whether Elyounoussi is given the time he needs.
#4 Yerry Mina (Everton)
Mina came to everyone’s attention at the 2018 World Cup, when he impressed for Colombia, scoring three goals, including a late equaliser against England in the round of 16. This was enough to persuade Everton to pay Barcelona around £27 million in the summer, as the Toffees once again spent big in order to try and break into the top six in the Premier League.
After signing, Mina was forced to miss a number of weeks through injury, and this allowed Michael Keane and Kurt Zouma to form a partnership in the centre of defence. Mina has never really been able to break this partnership, and has often found himself left out of the side.
He has started only nine Premier League games this season, with his only start in 2019 coming in the victory over Chelsea, when Zouma was unavailable against his parent club. Mina will hope for more chances next season when Zouma returns to Stamford Bridge, where the Frenchman is likely to be needed due to Chelsea’s transfer ban.
#5 Fred (Manchester United)
Jose Mourinho was frustrated with the lack of transfer activity at Manchester United last summer, as the club signed only three senior players. The most high profile, and most expensive, of those transfers was the capture of Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk.
United beat Manchester City to the Brazilian’s signature, paying £50 million to bring him to Old Trafford. It was hoped that he would act as a centre midfield partner for Paul Pogba, in an attempt to get the best out of the Frenchman, yet both have been subject to an awful lot of criticism this season.
Things started alright for Fred, as he played a lot in the opening games, scoring his first United goal in the draw with Wolves. However, by the end of Mourinho’s reign, he wasn’t just left out of the first XI, he was left out of the squad altogether. He has come back into the side a little under the management of Solskjaer, but that has been more out of necessity than by choice. There is a good chance that his first season at Old Trafford is his only season.
