Mario Balotelli and 20 Most Disappointing Forwards in Football This Season
With a whole host of world-class strikers gracing pitches around Europe, the goals are flying in—but not everyone is getting in on the action. From Mario Balotelli to Radamel Falcao, there have been plenty of forwards who can't hit a proverbial barn door this season.
As the halfway point of the season is now approaching, it's fair to say attackers have had plenty of time to find their scoring boots.
To rank this list, the players' performances have been judged in light of the expectation they bring due to their transfer fee, reputation or standards set in previous seasons; their overall contribution to the team; and the impact their struggles have had on their team.
Here are the top 20 forwards who have disappointed this season.
Honourable Mentions
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Romelu Lukaku, Everton
The Belgian hitman is yet to hit top form this season or replicate the impressive performances of last year that earned him a £27 million move to the Toffees in the summer. Considering the amount of money that cash-strapped Everton paid, Lukaku has been slightly disappointing this season.
However, with seven goals and three assists in his 22 appearances, he has contributed significantly more to his team than the vast majority of the forwards on this list, and so misses out.
Ji Dong-Won, Borussia Dortmund
Just 24 hours after leaving Sunderland for Augsburg in January, Ji Dong-Won signed a four-year deal with Dortmund. Ji is yet to feature for Dortmund's first team since his arrival in the summer, and has been relegated to playing for the reserves, for whom he has not scored in his five appearances.
As Ji has not played for his new side proper, he misses out on this list, but he has been a disappointment nonetheless.
Emmanuel Adebayor, Tottenham Hotspur
The Togolese striker has had a profligate season in front of goal, scoring just twice and assisting once in his 12 appearances.
Adebayor's blushes have been spared on the pitch by the likes of Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen, while his place on this list has narrowly been spared by an even more disappointing team-mate.
20. Ciro Immobile, Borussia Dortmund
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The first entry on the list is probably the most controversial.
With eight goals in all competitions, Ciro Immobile has contributed far more than any other forward on the list (and more than quite a few of them combined).
However, Immobile's form has mirrored Dortmund's. Sailing through the UEFA Champions League group stages, Immobile netted four times.
In the Bundesliga, BVB have surprisingly struggled and find themselves just one point above the drop zone, with Immobile scoring just three in his 12 league appearances.
For the top scorer in Serie A last season, his league total simply isn't good enough, and his team are paying the price.
The above graphic, courtesy of FourFourTwo's Stats Zone, shows Immobile's attacking contribution in Dortmund's recent 1-0 defeat to Hertha BSC.
Not only did the 24-year-old fail to score, but his passing in the final third wasn't up to scratch either. The successful passes (the blue arrows) are largely sideways in front of the defence, whereas the red arrows show he failed to penetrate Berlin's back line and did not manage to create any chances.
Immobile needs to contribute more in league games, and it's only his Champions League form that puts him as low as 20th on the list.
19. Alessio Cerci, Atletico Madrid
3 of 21Next on the list is £13 million-man Alessio Cerci.
A summer signing for Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid, Cerci was brought in alongside Antoine Griezmann and Mario Mandzukic to fill the attacking gap left by the departing Diego Costa, Adrian and David Villa.
Unfortunately for the Italian, he has failed to make an impact on Los Rojiblancos.
Cerci is yet to start for his new side and has been limited to just eight substitute appearances, in which he has scored once.
As the training gaffe in the above video demonstrates, very little is going the 27-year-old's way at the moment.
To make matters worse, the Italy international has as many red cards as he does goals this campaign. He received a second yellow card in the 3-1 defeat to Valencia after using his arm to help him score a goal, which was, of course, disallowed.
Cerci needs to seriously step up his game if he's to repeat the impressive 13-goal haul he managed last year.
His lack of game time compared with the others on this list ensures his lower, though fully deserved, place.
18. Valere Germain, Monaco
4 of 21Germain may be one of the lesser-known names on this list, but he too has had a frustrating season in front of goal.
Despite 21 appearances for Monaco, including 10 starts, the 24-year-old has seen the net bulge just twice.
As his glaring miss against Saint Etienne (at 0:30 in the video) demonstrates, Germain simply isn't clinical enough for a striker at a team with title ambitions.
The Frenchman needs to seriously improve his finishing, or he could find himself offloaded.
Having had much more game time than Cerci, Germain edges ahead in the rankings.
However, as he has never been a prolific goalscorer, the lack of expectation placed upon him saves Germain from a higher place here.
17. Kevin Gameiro, Sevilla
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In 17th place is Sevilla's Kevin Gameiro.
The Frenchman reached an impressive tally of 20 goals last season but is falling well short of that standard, with just three to his name in all competitions this time around.
The graphic from FourFourTwo's Stats Zone shows Gameiro's attacking play against Villareal earlier in the season. Despite being deployed up front in a 4-4-2 formation, Gameiro contributed nothing in central areas and in over 70 minutes of play, managed a single blocked shot on goal.
This, along with the fact that Gameiro has only registered a total of seven shots (including the blocked shot) in his eight La Liga appearances, show that the No. 7 is low on confidence and is not proving nearly as influential as he should be.
A big disappointment.
16. Roman Pavlyuchenko, Lokomotiv Moscow
6 of 21A blast from the past now, as former Tottenham Hotspur striker Roman Pavlyuchenko takes 16th place.
The Russian enjoyed a fairly successful spell at the club, scoring 42 goals in 113 appearances for Spurs.
However, now 32 years old, the forward's career seems to have tailed off dramatically.
Pavlyuchenko has three in 14 for Lokomotiv this term, and also failed to impress last season. His miss in the above video largely sums up his post-Spurs career—underwhelming.
Not only has the hitman failed to net regularly, he's offered little to his team-mates as well. Pavlyuchenko has created just three chances for his team this season and only managed six in the entirety of last season.
While Pavlyuchenko may never have been a top-class centre-forward, his drop-off in form has been a huge disappointment.
15. Nicklas Bendtner, Wolfsburg
7 of 21He was always going to feature at some point, wasn't he?
The so-called "best striker in the world" is yet again failing to live up to his own hype and has three goals in all competitions.
As the video demonstrates, the Dane has never been short of self-confidence, and will try shots that most others wouldn't dare. Unfortunately, as the video also demonstrates, this confidence is largely misplaced as Bendtner is rarely, if ever, capable of scoring such outlandish efforts.
In spite of "Lord" Bendtner's best efforts, his team, Wolfsburg, are flying high this season, taking full advantage of Dortmund's struggles to sit comfortably in second in the Bundesliga.
As his failings have had little impact on Wolfsburg's fortunes, Bendtner escapes placing higher on the list.
14. Christian Benteke, Aston Villa
8 of 21Christian Benteke was the surprise package of the 2012/13 Premier League season and has been one of the few highlights in an Aston Villa side that has often struggled in recent seasons.
Despite injuries curtailing his last campaign, Benteke finished the year with a respectable 10 league goals.
Thanks in part to injuries and suspension (for the above red card against Spurs, which saw him miss three games), the Belgian has disappointed this season, and a solitary league goal is all he can show for his efforts.
With his team desperate for goals—Villa are the lowest scorers in the Premier League, with an abysmal 10 goals in 16 games—Benteke fully deserves his place here.
The striker may have been higher, were it not for the Achilles injury that had him sidelined from April to October. With his return of one goal, had he played since the start of the season he would likely have placed above our next candidate.
13. Emmanuel Riviere, Newcastle United
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After scoring 10 goals for Monaco last season and with an impressive pre-season at new club Newcastle, £6 million Riviere looked set to hit the ground running for the Magpies.
Twelve appearances later, the Frenchman is still yet to score a league goal for his new club and has only managed to find the net in one game, a brace in the 3-2 victory over Crystal Palace in the Capital One Cup.
The above graphic from Squawka shows where Riviere is struggling most—his shooting accuracy. In the Premier League, the 24-year-old has only hit the target with 18 percent of his attempts.
The right-footed striker is dragging most of his shots wide to the left. He'll need to put in some serious time on the training ground to rediscover his clinical edge.
With Siem de Jong and Papiss Cisse injured for much of the early part of the season, the Toon's attacking responsibilities fell squarely on Riviere's shoulders. Thanks in part to him failing completely to live up to this, Newcastle endured a torrid opening to their campaign.
This sees the Frenchman place ahead of Benteke.
12. Abel Hernandez, Hull City
10 of 21A club-record £10 million signing for Hull City, Abel Hernandez arrived at the KC Stadium with the weight of expectation on his shoulders.
Bought on the back of a prolific season with Palermo—in Serie B, admittedly—to help fire Hull to safety, Hernandez has struggled to make an impact on English football.
In nine starts for the Tigers, the Uruguayan has scored only three times, and his side languish dangerously in the relegation zone, two points from safety.
The above video encapsulates Hernandez perfectly. When on form, the striker can be deadly in front of goal and finish with clinical precision (such as at 1:09), but equally as often he will fail to capitalise on gilt-edged chances (such as at 2:00).
Being a record signing pushes the 24-year-old just above Riviere.
Hernandez shares some similarities with our next candidate, but his three goals are just enough to see him avoid 11th.
11. Brown Ideye, West Bromwich Albion
11 of 21Like Hernandez, Brown Ideye was a £10 million record signing for his club in the summer, and like the Uruguayan, Ideye has proved a disappointing acquisition so far.
Ideye also has nine appearances to his name, but his only goal came in the Capital One Cup.
Ideye has only accrued two shots on target in his six league showings, and if his Africa Cup of Nations miss above is anything to go by, it's easy to see why.
With the Nigerian unable to positively impact on West Brom's play, his side are just three points above the bottom three.
Despite the same price tag and similar expectation, Ideye places above Hernandez as he has performed even worse.
Who would've thought that Alan Irvine admitting he had not seen Ideye play before signing him would come back to haunt him?
10. Fernando Llorente, Juventus
12 of 21Kicking off the top 10 is Juventus striker Fernando Llorente.
Of all the candidates listed so far, the Spaniard has the biggest reputation and the most expectation placed upon him.
With the exception of the 2012/13 season, Llorente has comfortably reached double figures in goals every year since 2007/08.
With almost 1,300 minutes of playing time under his belt this season, "El Rey Leon" has just four goals to show for it.
As his weak header against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League (0:25) shows, Llorente has hardly been striking fear in the hearts of goalkeepers of late.
He doesn't have defenders quaking in their boots either. The 29-year-old has attempted 14 take-ons in Serie A, succeeding in dribbling past the opposition just three times, a meagre success rate of 21 percent.
His blushes have been spared by team-mates such as Carlos Tevez, as the Old Lady are the top scorers in Serie A, and this prevents him from finishing higher in the list.
Nevertheless, a player of Llorente's calibre should really be doing better.
9. Rodrigo Moreno, Valencia
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Valencia's loanee forward Rodrigo, reportedly valued at £23 million, has struggled to make an impact on his return to Spain.
Having spent three successful years at Benfica, Rodrigo will have been hoping for a better start to life with Los Che.
The Brazilian-born Spaniard has made 12 starts for his new side but so far has contributed only three goals to his team, scoring one and assisting two.
He also picked up a red card for his trouble, in the same match he scored in.
The graphic from FourFourTwo's Stats Zone shows Rodrigo's contribution in Valencia's recent 1-1 draw away at Granada. Only one of his six take-ons was successful, and not a single cross hit its mark. Most importantly, he did not have a single shot on goal in 82 minutes of play.
Rodrigo will have to work hard to start contributing more decisively to Valencia's play, or he could find himself benched.
Luckily for him, his side are going strong in La Liga in fifth place.
8. Pierre-Michel Lasogga
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Newcastle fans might be breathing a sigh of relief after failing to land the signature of Pierre-Michel Lasogga in the summer.
The German opted for Hamburger SV, but has so far shown little indication of why he was worth a five-year deal.
Lasogga has three goals and no assists in 18 appearances, including 15 Bundesliga starts.
The 23-year-old's failings are not just limited to in front of goal.
As the graphic from Squawka shows, Lasogga's passing accuracy is at a frighteningly low 55 percent, and he is particularly struggling with headed passes. The striker has attempted 116 headed passes and failed to find a team-mate with a staggering 86 of them.
Lasogga's profligacy in attack and wastefulness in possession has left Hamburg in a precarious position, with the German side two points above the bottom two and having scored only nine goals in 16 games.
This earns Lasogga a place ahead of Llorente and Rodrigo, whose sides are less dependent on their form.
7. Adrian Lopez, Porto
15 of 21As noted by Bleacher Report's Vincent Siu, Adrian Lopez was something of an unusual signing for Porto, due to his £9 million transfer fee and his age (26).
What's more, he contributed very little to Atletico last year, save for his vital goal against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final.
What makes his signing even more remarkable then, is that Porto placed a £48 million buyout clause on him, per 101greatgoals.com.
Porto clearly had a lot of faith in the striker, but it seems that faith was misplaced.
In 10 appearances for the Dragons, Adrian has got on the scoresheet just once.
As his above miss against Levante suggests, Adrian seems to be low on confidence and has been since his time at Atletico.
While his struggles are perhaps less of a surprise than players like Llorente or those to come, due to the lower standard of opposition in Portuguese football, he really should have scored more.
In light of this and the expectation brought on by the huge buyout clause, Adrian takes the No. 7 spot.
Porto could be waiting a long while for someone to activate that clause.
6. Fernando Torres, AC Milan
16 of 21Once the scourge of defenders all over Europe, Fernando Torres became the laughing stock of the footballing community as his form and confidence deserted him, and he is now almost a figure of pity.
A two-year loan to Milan was supposed to revitalise the struggling Spaniard's career, but sadly, the wait goes on for the Torres of old to return.
A promising start to his Milan career saw him score and put in a man of the match-winning performance against Empoli, but the positives ended there too.
The 30-year-old hasn't scored since and has created a grand total of four chances for his team.
His performance against Fiorentina (see above) typified his season, as he has contributed very little to the Rossoneri, while fans continue to watch him out of almost morbid curiosity (see also his attempt at an overhead kick at 1:01).
Anyone hoping for his revival will be bitterly disappointed, and so he takes sixth place on the list.
The answer to the never-ending question "is he back?" remains a firm "no."
5. Roberto Soldado, Tottenham Hotspur
17 of 21As we move into the business end of the list, we reach Torres' compatriot Roberto Soldado.
The 29-year-old, who scored 81 goals in just three seasons at Valencia, arrived at Spurs with great expectations.
By his own standards, Soldado has been a complete flop at White Hart Lane. His poor first season at the club was somewhat understandable as players take time to adjust to the Premier League.
However, the centre-forward has now had more than enough time to adapt and is still failing to hit the heights.
A single league goal in 10 appearances is well below the goals-to-games ratio any striker should aim for, and his shot accuracy is a paltry 35 percent.
As much as the above penalty miss (1:49) is a good save from Joe Hart, it sums up Soldado's season.
The chances have been there, but he's not been taking them.
As with Adebayor, his blushes have been spared of late by his team-mates, but Spurs fans deserve to see the real, clinical Soldado, and they simply haven't. This sees him narrowly edge out Torres.
4. Ezequiel Lavezzi, Paris Saint-Germain
18 of 21In a team as strong as PSG's and with the level of opposition that most of Ligue 1 has to offer, you might assume that goals would come easily to Ezequiel Lavezzi.
Unfortunately, that has not been the case for the Argentina international, who has contributed two goals and two assists in his 19 appearances this term.
For a man who registered 48 goals and 49 assists during his time at Napoli, this is well below where he should be, especially considering the amount of time he's had on the pitch.
Disappointingly, the Lavezzi in the above video, missing a simple opportunity, is the one PSG fans have come to expect this season.
With the team embroiled in a tough race for the title against Marseille and Lyon, and Chelsea looming on the horizon, PSG need Lavezzi to step up his game, and fast.
The forward misses out on the top three as our next candidate's reputation is even bigger, and he has fallen even shorter of it...
3. Radamel Falcao, Manchester United
19 of 21The player that carries the most expectation on this list is the first of our final three.
After scoring 72 in 87 games for Porto and 70 in 91 for Atletico, Falcao earned a reputation as one of the deadliest hitmen in world football.
The striker arrived in Manchester in a £6 million loan deal that sees him earn £265,000 per week according to David McDonnell of the Daily Mirror.
However, Falcao has found the net just once and, thanks to the huge expectation placed upon him, the disappointment at how he's performed has been almost palpable.
With Robin van Persie struggling earlier in the season, and with Wayne Rooney picking up a three-match suspension for kicking Stewart Downing, United had great need of an in-form Falcao.
The above video demonstrates how devastating the Colombian can be. The forward can turn defenders inside out with brilliantly quick feet (0:40, 3:34, 5:00), muscle players off the ball with consummate ease (6:42) and score unbelievable strikes from any position (0:09, 2:44).
Had he been even close to his best this season, United might have been rivalling Chelsea for the title.
What stops Falcao from making the top two are his injuries, which have restricted his playing time.
2. Rodrigo Palacio, Inter Milan
20 of 21At No. 2 we have Inter Milan's Rodrigo Palacio, who is for once disappointing for reasons other than his haircut.
Palacio has no goals and two assists to his name in Serie A, a markedly lower return than in previous years.
A reliable performer for the Nerazzurri, Palacio scored 17 and assisted seven last season, managing 12 goals and five assists the year before that.
To have scored none in 16 appearances is incredibly disappointing, especially as the Argentinian has been a highlight in an otherwise difficult spell for Inter in recent years.
Inter have suffered as a result and find themselves wallowing in 11th place, 16 points behind league-leaders Juventus.
In fact, Palacio has almost contributed as many goals to the opposition as he has to his own team. In the video above, Palacio's disastrous back-pass in their recent 2-1 defeat to Udinese led directly to their winning goal (1:42), so it isn't just in forward positions that he's disappointed.
Palacio might not have quite the same level of expectation placed upon him as Falcao, but for such a consistent performer to have been so ineffective is a shock, particularly as the 32-year-old does not have the luxury of being able to point at injuries hampering his game time.
1. Mario Balotelli, Liverpool
21 of 21At last we reach No. 1, and of course it's Mario Balotelli. Who else?
Balotelli, costing £16 million, was supposed to help fill the void left by Luis Suarez. While these are big boots to fill for almost anyone, it's almost as if Balotelli hasn't even tried.
The mercurial Italian has scored no league goals, and his other stats don't make for enjoyable reading either.
Only six of his 19 take-ons have been successful, and he has only won four of his 27 aerial duels. For a player of 6'2", that's atrocious. Santi Cazorla has a better win rate than that, and he's 5'6".
The 24-year-old has completely failed to adapt to Brendan Rodgers' style, and with his Premier League experience, he has little excuse for his profligacy.
As his glaring miss against QPR shows, his finishing has been sub-par for any forward, let alone one who's played for four of the biggest clubs in Europe.
Unlike Palacio, who at least has team-mate Mauro Icardi chipping in with goals, Liverpool's goal-scoring responsibilities have rested squarely on his shoulders, and he's completely fallen short of his task not only to lead the line for the Reds, but to compensate for the loss of Suarez.
With Liverpool enduring a torrid time, Balotelli has been the embodiment of the disappointment this season has been for the Reds.
At this point, he needs to improve not only for his team-mates and the fans, but his own pride.
