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Being a professional footballer comes with its own perks and problems. An incredible amount of discipline and a lot of sacrifices are required to keep playing at a world-class level. The going can get tough and the rigors of the game at the highest level can get hard to keep up with.
We've seen several players suffer a major dip in quality from one season to the next. A lot of factors have to come together for a player to be performing to the best of his abilities season in and season out. This includes physical and mental well-being as well as the ability to adapt and evolve.
In grueling, physically demanding environments, individuals can get exhausted and lose their mojo rather quickly. On that note, let's take a look at five footballing superstars who have lost their way.
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#5 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang won the Premier League Golden Boot in the 2018-19 season. He finished second in the Premier League's top goalscorers chart in the 2019-20 season. The Gabonese international had become a dependable marksman for the Gunners.
But as Arsenal's troubles started to grow under Mikel Arteta, Aubameyang could do very little to help. In fact, he just became one more cause for concern. Arsenal, who are part of the Premier League's 'traditional top 6', finished eighth in the 2020-21 season.
They also scored just 55 goals in the league. Aubameyang made 29 appearances in the Premier League and scored just 10 goals. He finished the 2020-21 season with 15 goals in 39 appearances across all competitions.
To make things worse, Aubameyang started underperforming right after he signed a new £350,000 per week deal at Arsenal. He seems to have lost his clinical touch in front of goal and has slowed down a bit as well. It was his electric pace that made him a dangerous striker in the past.
Aubameyang received a lot of criticism for missing gilt-edged chances throughout the 2020-21 season. It's been quite a fall from grace for one of the most prolific goalscorers of his generation.
#4 Miralem Pjanic (Barcelona)
Miralem Pjanic went from being one of the finest deep-lying playmakers in the game to a peripheral figure at a new club in the span of a season. The Bosnian international was doing great, pulling strings from deep for Juventus.
It was all going well until Barcelona and Juventus decided to swap Arthur Melo and Miralem Pjanic. It was a move that didn't make sense for any of the parties involved. Barcelona already had Sergio Busquets and Pjanic is not exactly an attacking midfielder to replace Pedri or De Jong.
Pjanic struggled for game time as Koeman chose to stick with a midfield three of Busquets, Pedri and De Jong for the majority of the season. Though he started regularly in the Champions League, Pjanic was a near non-entity in La Liga, starting just six times. He had started 28 games in the Serie A for Juventus in the 2019-20 season.
Pjanic failed to score a goal or register an assist in the 2020-21 season and is currently looking for a way out of Barcelona. He is being heavily linked with a return to Juventus and we hope for the player's sake that the deal goes through.
#3 Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona)
Philippe Coutinho was tearing it up for Liverpool in the Premier League when Barcelona first came knocking for him. The Merseysiders stood their ground and refused to let go of their prodigious playmaker. However, it was Coutinho's dream move and he ultimately landed it in January 2018.
Barcelona signed him for £105 million which would rise to £142 million with performance-based add-ons. He had a decent half-season at Barcelona to start with, scoring seven goals and providing six assists in 18 La Liga appearances.
However, his sophomore season at the Camp Nou was heavily underwhelming. In 54 appearances across all competitions, Coutinho scored just 11 goals and provided five assists for Barcelona. The Brazilian was then shipped out on loan to Bayern Munich.
He wasn't a regular starter for Bayern Munich but impressed in parts during his loan spell. Coutinho won the continental treble with the Bavarians in the 2019-20 campaign. Upon his return to Barcelona, Coutinho wanted to impress new manager Ronald Koeman.
However, after a decent couple of months, Coutinho was sidelined with a knee injury and would go on to miss the rest of the season. It wasn't long back that Coutinho was one of the best attacking midfielders on the planet. He is currently 29-years-old and staring at an uncertain future at Barcelona.
#2 James Rodriguez (Everton)
James Rodriguez became the biggest sought-after attacking midfielder in the world following his exploits for Colombia at the 2014 World Cup. That's when Real Madrid swooped in for him. In his first season with Los Blancos, Rodriguez scored 17 goals and provided 18 assists in 46 appearances across all competitions.
Following a thigh injury he picked up during the 2015-16 season, Rodriguez was reduced to being a part-time starter for Real Madrid. His contributions had started to wane, but in the 2016-17 season, he still scored 11 goals and provided 12 assists in 33 appearances.
The Colombian international was then sent to Bayern Munich on a two-year loan deal. Rodriguez impressed his former boss Carlo Ancelotti during his time with the Bavarians but he returned to Real Madrid for the 2019-20 season.
He hardly featured in his final season with Los Blancos, making just 14 appearances across all competitions. He scored just one goal and provided two assists. Carlo Ancelotti subsequently signed him at Everton.
Rodriguez started his debut season with the Toffees on a great note. However, after the first few weeks, the 30-year-old's contributions diminished and he became a bit-part player by the end of the season. Ancelotti has left Everton to take over as Real Madrid manager, leaving Rodriguez stranded in the Premier League.
He was once tipped to become one of the players of his generation. But he is just another entry to the list of players who could not realize their potential.
#1 Eden Hazard (Real Madrid)
During his best years at Chelsea, Eden Hazard's name was even mentioned in the same breath as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The Belgian international was a wizard with the ball at his feet and could run rings around the opposition, creating chances and scoring at will.
He was also constantly being tipped to take over from Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid. It looked like the stage was set when Cristiano Ronaldo left the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer of 2018. In his last season with Chelsea, Hazard scored 21 goals and provided 17 assists in 52 appearances across all competitions.
His subsequent arrival and downfall at Real Madrid was one of epic proportions. Having his copped his dream move to the Spanish capital in the summer of 2019, Hazard appeared to be a shadow of his former self. He showed up out of shape and never really kicked into gear. Constant injury issues distanced him further from action.
Hazard played a total of 22 games in his debut season for Real Madrid. He scored one goal and provided seven assists. His 2020-21 season was also marred by injuries. The 30-year-old made 21 appearances across all competitions for Real Madrid, scoring four goals and one assist.
The Belgian was once tipped to become a Ballon d'Or winner and is currently just a high-earning benchwarmer at the Santiago Bernabeu.
