5 most underperforming players in the Premier League (November 2021)
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.
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.
Steven Gerrard is set for meetings with Emi Buendia & Leon Bailey this week & tell them to step up following the start to the season [ @LHatfield_Star ]
The fact we‘ve not seen the best of two players worth nearly £60m shows how disjointed our start to the season has been #avfc https://t.co/0QNMLxTcYn
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.
Why did we pay £40M to Buendia again? #AVLBHA
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.
Stuart Dallas wins his 55th international cap today whilst a registered Leeds player. He overtakes Billy Bremner 54 as the third most capped #lufc player. Only Ian Harte 56 and Lucas Radebe 58 won more caps as Leeds players. #stuartdallas #ni
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.
⚪ Stuart Dallas vs Tottenham Hotspur
11 ball recoveries
5 chances created
4/4 tackles made
4 clearances
Mr Reliable getting back to his best. https://t.co/V6zqXiHZqn
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.