Bruno Fernandes joins Arsenal man among 2023/24 stars flopping so far
To be clear, weāre aware that weāre just three Premier League games into the new season, and to be clearer still, the players on this list have been included because they were brilliant last term.
Theyāve not been the worst players in the top flight after three games, they may not even have been that bad, but comparatively speaking, theyāve been off it.
Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
The most creative player in the Premier League over the last two seasons has squeezed into the top 100 as things stand with three chances created after three games, level with James Tarkowski, Joe Aribo and Yukinari Sugarawa, though at a worse rate than the latter pair as Fernandes has played more minutes.
The Manchester United captain created 3.3 chances per game last season; he was brilliant despite his teamās struggles. His lack of impact this term should be among the most concerning aspects of a concerning opening three fixtures.
Casemiroās given the ball away and Marcus Rashford canāt finish but they can deal with that; theyāve got other options. They do not have another Bruno Fernandes.
And while itās a small sample size, at some point (maybe now, maybe later) youāve got to wonder whether a stiffening of their soft centre, which Erik ten Hag has been at pains to point out through his xG statistics (and to be fair has been evident through teams not continually running through them) is hampering Fernandesā ability to create chances.
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Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
He became a national hero over the summer having been unplayable at times last season, including against Arsenal, whom he could and should have put to the sword again last month.
Watkins missed two huge chances in that game and is yet to find the net for Villa across three starts while perennial substitute Jhon Duran has scored twice after replacing him from the bench. Suddenly thereās pressure for a starting spot on a striker deemed untouchable last season.
Watkinsā saving grace is his worth to the team besides his goal output: the pressing, running into channels and his ability to create chances when heās not taking them. No Premier League player got more than his 13 assists last season and heās got one so far in the current campaign.
But thereās only so long that Unai Emery will persist with a striker not scoring goals when the alternative bangs them in any chance he gets.
READ MORE: Premier League team of the season features Arsenal trio but no Saka or Odegaard
Anthony Gordon (Newcastle)
āI think itās clear that Anthony is slightly off on his normal fitness levels,ā Eddie Howe said when asked about Gordonās appearances thus far, claiming his lack of action at the Euros and his late return to pre-season has hampered his start to the season amid the subtext of head-turning courtesy of that Liverpool bid.
He attempted 4.14 dribbles per game last season and was successful just under half the time, down to 2.7 per game this term with just a 25% success rate.
Lucas Paqueta (West Ham)
Itās very strange that a man who deliberately tries to get booked for the purposes of betting is still allowed to play football at all, and heās hardly making the most of what could very well be his last season of professional football.
Just think, he would probably be playing for Manchester City right now had he not been such a fool. He wonāt find sympathy here.
Jean-Philippe Mateta (Crystal Palace)
After 13 goals in 13 games at the end of last season, with nine of those coming in the last six, Mateta was at that point the most deadly striker in the Premier League. Oliver Glasner got the very best of a goalscorer considered before his arrival to be in a shrug-of-your-shoulders selection battle with Odsonne Edouard.
He carried that form into the summer, scoring five goals in six games as Thierry Henryās main man up top for France at the Olympics, with Crystal Palaceās concern at that point presumably whether they would be able to hang on to him with a source of guaranteed goals hard to come by from a Proper Centre-Forward.
But Matetaās returned to his pre-Glasner ways this season, managing just two shots in over 200 minutes of Premier League action, though his brace and an assist against Norwich in the Carabao Cup at least offers hope of better things to come.
Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)
Heās just been nominated for the Yashin Trophy and quite reasonably given his hand(s) in helping Argentina to the Copa America and Aston Villa to the Champions League.
Martinez was the second-best goalkeeper in the Premier League last season behind Jose Sa according to Post-shot expected goals minus goals allowed (explainer here) with a score of +7.2, which when combined with some delightful housery made him at least the most watchable goalkeeper in 2023/2024.
The same could perhaps be said this season, but in this instance because of high-profile ricks and an extraordinary PSxG minus goals allowed dip to -1.4, the fourth-worst in the top flight.
Hwang Hee-chan (Wolves)
To be brutally honest, this season is more like what we expected from Hwang and Wolves in general. By the time the South Korean left to represent his country at the Asia Cup in January he had 11 goals and three assists to his name, with Gary OāNeilās side level on points with Chelsea in the Premier League mid-table, having been considered relegation candidates before the season began.
Theyāre now in the relegation zone with the second-worst goal difference in the top flight (-6) and Hwang is yet to have a shot.
Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
So good last season that there was a genuine debate to be had over whether him or Kevin De Bruyne was the better playmaker. Most who arenāt Arsenal fans would still have sided with quite possibly the best the Premier League has ever seen, but each to their own, and the point is that Odegaard was in that conversation.
He got eight goals and ten assists last season, only Bruno Fernandes (114) and Pascal Gross (103) created more than Odegaardās 102 chances and no Premier League player passed the ball more frequently into the penalty area (130), with Bruno Fernandes next best and a long way behind on 89.
Odegaard is yet to score or assist in 2024/2025, has created just five chances, which puts him outside the top 20 in the top flight, and perhaps strangest of all, given how far above the rest he was last term, currently sits outside the top 10 for passes into the penalty area on five.
Jordan Pickford (Everton)
Pickford has been loudly excellent for as long as Everton have been terrible but a guy can only bat off the world-weariness of playing for that club for so long. Itās caught up with him this season.
He made that terrible error against Tottenham and while the ropey players in front of him have been largely culpable for the 10 goals theyāve conceded in three games, heās hardly been the commanding presence in his box that we were accustomed to seeing last season.
Destiny Udogie (Tottenham)
There are often gaping holes behind him in defence, which is a by-product of the Ange Postecoglou way and would be excusable if he was offering anything on the front foot, but heās just not.
Udogie doesnāt seem to be involved in anything thatās good about Spurs having played a big part last season, and usually culpable in some way when they concede, largely through failing to track a runner or being out of position.
