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Premier League footballers, at times, can be their own worst enemies. Consistent, high-level performances from a player will naturally increase the weight of expectation on them. Nevertheless, the moment a player starts dropping form and performance, it hurts their team and value, especially on the biggest stages.
With a quarter of the Premier League season complete, multiple players have had stellar individual performances. However, some players have struggled to find their feet this season and are not replicating the level of performances they have shown in previous years.
With 12 game weeks completed this season, here are the five most underperforming players of the 2021-2022 Premier League season so far.
#5. Emiliano Buendía
Emiliano Buendía lit up the EFL championship last year, playing for Norwich City, with 15 goals and 15 assists in 39 games. He indicated that his playing level was far too high for the lower divisions. This prompted a mammoth £38 million move to Aston Villa in the summer.
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But the Argentine has found life difficult in the Premier League since then. Here, he has provided one goal and one assist in 12 games.
Having featured mainly as an attacking midfielder Buendía is attempting an abysmal 1.32 shots per game, some of the lowest in his position.
One could argue that he is still adjusting to life at Villa. However, these shot totals are still lower than his 1.46 shots per game for Norwich in the 2019-2020 Premier League season. At Norwich, he had an even more defensive role.
Buendía was also signed for his playmaking ability but has struggled to make a mark. He only attempts 36.15 passes per game while having a pass success rate of a mere 72.9%. Buendía has also only created 3.07 shot-creating actions per match compared to his 5.04 in previous seasons. Such disappointing underlying stats only highlight the dip in performance that Buendia has shown.
His dribbles are also at an all-time low of 1.17 per match while having a success rate of only 57.1%. Buendía is also only taking 1.9 touches per match in the opposition box, which is in the bottom 90 percent of all attacking midfielders.
Having shown immense potential, it is somewhat surprising how Buendía has performed this season in the Premier League. He is struggling to replicate any sort of form and is always playing catch-up on the pitch.
Villa will be hopeful that Buendía can come to life sooner rather than later. As of now, the £38 million spent on him feel overpaid.
#4. Stuart Dallas
Stuart Dallas was a revelation for Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds United. He played in multiple positions, contributing goals and assists as well.
But this season in the Premier League, as Leeds have struggled, so has Dallas. He still features in numerous positions as a full-back or a midfielder, but his output has vastly decreased.
So far in 12 games in the Premier League, Dallas has accumulated just one assist and scored no goals. This is a significant decline from his numbers last season. He scored eight goals and made two assists last season.
Though he averages 1.18 shots per game, only 0.09 less than last season, his shot accuracy has plummeted from 37.5% to a mere 14.3%.
Dallas and his productivity in possession has also dropped. His 47.8 passes completed per game have dropped to 38.1. Meanwhile, his pass accuracy has decreased to 79.8% from 82% in the previous season.
While these statistics may improve as the season progresses, such a drastic decrease in one season is alarming.
While the offensive side of Dallas’ game is struggling, it is not the only cause for concern. Defensively, his tackles per game have dropped from 2.08 to 1.76, and his blocks have dropped from 1.45 to 1.01 per game.
Though these minute drops can be considered negligible, what cannot be is the pressures per game. Bielsa is a highly demanding coach, always asking his players to press the opposition as much as possible.
Yet, from averaging 15.5 pressures per game last season, Dallas now averages 13.3 pressures per game this season. This is a number Leeds fans would expect to increase.
Leeds, struggling as a team, may have some part to play in Dallas’ underperformance. But now, at 30, Dallas is a consistent starter for Leeds. It can be expected of him to step up and reach the levels he did last year.
#3. James Maddison
James Maddison is another Premier League player who houses exceptional talent. His ball-striking ability and laser-sharp vision have always set him apart from the competition. However, his performances have been below par this season and he is no longer in that England midfield position once destined to be his.
In 12 games so far in the Premier League, Maddison has only scored one goal and provided no assists. These are some below-average numbers for any attacking midfielder. However, the underlying stats for Maddison are what highlight his horror form.
Compared to Maddison’s mammoth 3.18 shots per 90 last season, this season, that number stands at 2.08, the lowest ever in his career. He is also averaging career lows in passes per game at 25.3 and passing accuracy at 73.7%. Furthermore, Maddison is creating only 3.06 shot-creating actions per game compared to his 4.51 last season.
Maddison’s dribbling numbers have also dropped off massively. From averaging 1.37 dribbles completed per game last season, the number has now fallen to 0.14 per game. Such a massive drop within just one season is unheard of. It only becomes worse when one realizes Maddison has only completed one dribble in the Premier League so far.
When on his best form, Maddison is an absolute treat to watch. He can shoot from long distances and provide pinpoint passes. However, when not at his best, it is instead a sorry sight. He is struggling to move the ball forward, or is often too conservative on the ball, which is playing against his strength.
Leicester City will be hoping Maddison can find his feet soon and be the threat he always has been.
#2. Luke Shaw
At the end of the 2020-2021 Premier League season, Luke Shaw was in prime form. He was solid defensively, was providing assists offensively, and was England’s first-choice left-back.
Shaw even had a stellar Euro 2020 campaign where he scored in the final which they lost to Italy on penalties. While many expected Shaw to stamp his authority in world football this year, he has instead gone backwards.
While Shaw is still performing decently on the offensive end, he has struggled defensively. His poor positioning in the defensive line, along with Harry Maguire, has led to Manchester United conceding goals they should not be.
Apart from that, he is also averaging only 1.17 tackles per game at a success rate of only 40%. This is a career-low and a number that puts him in the bottom 30% of all full-backs.
He is also averaging the lowest amount of pressures per game in his career at 9.91. Shaw’s clearances per match have also dipped from 1.83 last season to 1.17 this season, notably another career low.
Shaw has also struggled to dribble the ball this season. He averages a career-low of 0.45 dribbles completed per game and has a success rate of just 45.5%. Known to be strong with the ball at his feet, Shaw has looked a shadow of his former self this season.
It was terrific to watch Shaw succeed last season. After sustaining multiple career-threatening injuries, his recovery to form has been sensational. But this season has highlighted some weaknesses in his game.
Manchester United will hope Shaw can reach the same heights he did in the last Premier League season.
#1. Harry Kane
After leading the Premier league in goals and assists last year with 23 and 14, Harry Kane mentioned that he can still improve on these numbers. However, considering his performances this year, it would be quite a feat if he could manage even half of those.
So far, in 11 games in the Premier League, Kane has one goal and one assist. This is one of the worst starts to a season he has ever had. With Kane still an out-and-out striker, his assist numbers dropping are excusable. But scoring one in 11 is underwhelming for any striker, let alone a prolific one like Kane.
Furthermore, similar to the players above, Kane’s underlying stats highlight his poor start to the Premier League season so far. He is averaging career lows in shots attempted at 2.45, shots on target at 1.08, and expected goals at 0.27. Averaging career lows in all stats essential to a striker will naturally reduce their goal-scoring. This is a problem Kane is currently suffering from.
As far as playmaking is considered, Kane is creating 1.86 shot-creating actions per 90. This is almost half of last season and the lowest in his career. His progressive passes have also dropped from 3.65 last season to 2.25, further displaying his passive nature on the ball this season.
However, the reason for Kane’s underperformance may also be related to Tottenham's struggles as a team. Under Nuno Espirito Santos, Tottenham were one of the least creative teams in the Premier League. As a team, they are averaging less than one goal per match.
To further prove this, though, against weaker opposition, Kane has managed to score 10 goals in six games for England this season. Such contrast in form for club and country is rather unusual.
Under new boss Antonio Conte, it would be interesting to see if Kane can find his usual self. Conte is known for bringing the best out of his strikers, as seen with Romelu Lukaku and Diego Costa. If he can get Tottenham to play fluid attacking football, it should be a certainty that Kane gets back amongst the goals in the Premier League.
