5 players who were one-season wonders in the Premier League

There are always new players having breakout seasons every year, and some players who are in top form for quite a good time before they suddenly drop off. But there are some players who make a career out of only one good season. They get into the limelight with one or sometimes half a season, and then they move from one club to another in search of that elusive form.While we certainly can’t tell you how they managed to have that one good season when they seem to not have what it takes to come good in top flight football, we can certainly give you a list of players who were part of this phenomenon. Maybe you can find a trait that explains this anamoly.

#1 Roque Santa Cruz

Roque Santa Cruz is quite possibly the first name that comes to mind whenever this topic is discussed, at least in the case of English football fans. He may have been at Bayern Munich for quite a good number of years, but he didn’t really set the world on fire during his time there, for whatever reasons.

He subsequently moved to Blackburn Rovers and in his first season in English football, he had a fantastic year in which he scored 20 goals in 40 appearances, of which 19 were in the league. His second season was not so great, having scored only 9 goals, but then he only had 27 appearances, so it may not have been the cause.

That seems to have been the thought behind his purchase by Manchester City, for whom he was one of the first players to have been signed at the start of their revolution. But he failed to deliver, and since then he’s been farmed out. The reason everyone attaches him readily for the one-season wonder tag is because never has he in his career hit double figures in terms of goals apart from that one season for Blackburn.

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#2 Jose Antonio Reyes

When he came to Arsenal in the January transfer window, they were well on their way to achieving an invincible season. And while that team already had all the talent it needed, there was no doubt that Reyes added more spark to the team, giving that added element that helped the team go past difficult opposition with his goals in the FA Cup and the Champions League. He also had a good start to the following season, though from there on, things fell apart.

He was loaned out to Real Madrid, after which he moved to Atletico Madrid and yet had nothing much to show for it. He was never the same player again, and his move back to Sevilla still hasn’t seen him pick up his form. He had only 2 seasons where he could reach double figures in goals scored, and one of them was at Arsenal.

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#3 Andy Carroll

Andy Carroll’s career was probably ruined by his move to Liverpool, where he did not want to go in the first place. He was happy at Newcastle United, where he was scoring a good amount of goals, and didn’t feel the need to move. He scored 19 for Newcastle during their one year in the Championship and in the next season, he scored 11 in 20 appearances, which was a very good return.

But this was the time when Liverpool were throwing silly money to sign all kinds of players and 35 million was far too much money for Newcastle to ignore. But he never quite regained his form, with injuries not helping him either.

His returns for Liverpool were very low, and his subsequent move to West Ham United has not helped either. But only 25 years old, Carroll still has time to salvage his career and its significant that he’s at a club that plays the kind of football he likes.

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#4 Charlie Adam

Another Liverpool victim, Charlie Adam had a fantastic time at Blackpool, both in the Championship and in their return to the English Premier League. He scored 19 goals in the 2009-2010 season for Blackpool in the Championship and followed that up with 13 goals in their lone Premier League season. But more importantly, he was pulling the strings for the team, and it was pretty evident that he had a major influence in that midfield. He shone in a team that didn’t have the greatest players, and this led to a move to Liverpool.

But critics were already questioning whether Charlie Adam would really fit in the Liverpool team, considering he was a star in an average team and perhaps did not possess the tools needed to do well in a Liverpool midfield that already had the legendary Steven Gerrard. That certainly turned out to be the case, with him having a very average season, and then making only 2 appearances in the next one. He made a switch to Stoke City but hasn’t been able to quite capture the form he showed at Blackpool.

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#5 Amr Zaki

Amr Zaki arrived in the Premier League on a one year loan deal to Wigan Athletic and proceeded to have a very productive season. Though he scored only 11 goals in his time at Wigan, he was roundly praised for his physique and the instinct he had as a striker. In fact, he scored 5 goals in his first 6 games, and he was at the top of the goalscoring charts for a brief period of time.

At one point, he was only behind Nicolas Anelka and Robinho in the top scorers list, with his tally at 10 and Anelka having 15, Robinho at 12. But he failed to add more than a goal to that thereon.

There were problems with his professionalism as well, as he was always returning from international duty, and he was repeatedly fined by manager Steve Bruce, who even labelled him the most unprofessional player he ever worked with. As a result, Wigan did not take up the option of making the loan deal permanent and his career has not hit any of those heights ever again.

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