Premier League: 5 Players with the Most to Prove in the Last Weeks of the Season
As another enthralling Premier League season draws to a close, there is still much to be decided.
While Chelsea’s victory over Manchester United last weekend seemingly wrapped up the title once and for all, there are still battles for the European spots and Premier League survival to keep fans on the edge of their seats
But it is not just teams as a whole that still have plenty to play for. There are also many individuals who still have a point to prove before the Premier League campaign reaches its climax.
The likes of Vincent Kompany and Robin Van Persie have failed to live up to their own heady expectations this season, while others, such as Jack Wilshere, have experienced frustrating campaigns, with injuries and a lack of consistency providing obstacles to their individual success.
Here we look at five players who have the most to prove in the closing weeks of the season. Among them are those who have performed below expectations to date, while there are also mentions for players who may be looking to prove their worth both to their current or potential clubs.
Honourable Mentions
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Such is the multitude of players to select from for such a list that not everyone could make the top five.
However, there are players who come close to the list, fulfilling one or more of the criteria, namely that they have either disappointed thus far, are looking to prove their worth to their current club or are looking to prove their worth to potential suitors.
Of those who are looking to put forward their case to be signed in the summer transfer window, perhaps none are looking to impress quite like Burnley’s Danny Ings. While he will be hoping to keep the relegation-threatened side in the Premier League, he will also be hoping to attract the attention of bigger sides, with a number of clubs across Europe rumoured to be interested in him.
The same may be said of Everton’s Romelu Lukaku, with his new agent Mino Raiola recently quoted as saying that “Later on, he’ll play for one of the world’s best teams: PSG, Manchester City, Manchester United or Bayern Munich. Big names, but nothing is impossible as Rom has great potential.”
There are also players who have failed to impress who must prove themselves in the last few games. Radamel Falcao’s loan spell at Manchester United has not lived up to the hype that surrounded the move, with Falcao struggling to make an impact in England, finding the net just four times in 22 appearances.
After impressive showings last season, much too was expected of Dejan Lovren after he signed for Liverpool for a fee of around £20 million. However, the centre-back has failed to make an impression and recently found himself dropped in favour of warhorse Kolo Toure.
5. Ross Barkley
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The first to make the top five, this season has been one of frustration and false dawns for Ross Barkley.
There have been, and indeed still are, high hopes for Everton’s 21-year-old midfielder, but even his most ardent supporter would struggle to argue with the suggestion that this has been a disappointing campaign.
An indication of the fanfare surrounding Barkley dying down is the lack of rumours linking him to the Premier League’s big guns, something that was the norm last summer, after a season in which the midfielder burst on to the Premier League scene.
There have been glimpses of his ability and talents, most notably an excellent showing against Queens Park Rangers earlier on in the season, a performance capped off by a wonderful strike. While his cameo in England’s recent friendly with Italy was equally as encouraging.
However, for a creative midfielder, a return of two goals and one assist in 1,654 minutes of Premier League football is simply not good enough. Perhaps too much pressure has been put on the young shoulders of a player who, regardless of his performance this season, remains destined for great things.
It will be interesting to see how Ross Barkley ends a season that has been disappointing both on a personal level but also generally for Everton as a club. With The Toffees now free from the strife of a relegation scrap, many will be looking to see how Barkley performs when the pressure is off.
4. Gary Cahill
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Joining Barkley on this list is his England team-mate Gary Cahill, a defender who has suffered something of an up-and-down rollercoaster ride of a season.
At times, especially in Chelsea’s recent victory over Manchester United, Cahill has been excellent, displaying the kind of imperious form that saw him voted into last season’s Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Team of the Year.
Nevertheless, with the good has come the bad. This was clearly the case around the turn of the year, with the 29-year-old putting in a number of sub-standard performances which culminated in him being dropped.
The former Bolton and Aston Villa man has since regained his place and recent performances will go some way to satisfying Jose Mourinho. However, Cahill must now prove himself even further in the final games of the Premier League season, with circumstances at Stamford Bridge making Cahill’s task a tough one.
First, there is the challenge of young Kurt Zouma, with the French centre-back making a strong impression in his debut season at the club. Then there is also the competition that is likely to come from a summer signing, with Metro recently linking Chelsea with Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane.
Should a new addition to the squad arrive in the summer, then this, coupled with the form of Zouma and John Terry, make it likely that Cahill will be the man fighting for his place. A strong showing from now until the end of the season will be vital in proving his importance to this side.
3. Jack Wilshere
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Four years ago Jack Wilshere had just put in the performance which announced him to the world of football. At the tender age of just 19, he had shown maturity and an understanding of the game well beyond someone of his age.
Fast forward to the present day, and since that excellent performance against Barcelona, the Arsenal midfielder’s career has progressed and stalled, before progressing and stalling again.
Wilshere’s talents are obvious to everyone who has seen him play. Dynamic, tenacious and full of determination and drive, the 23-year-old is up there with the best in the Premier League when he is on form. But since that European night, Wilshere has been unable to reach that form on a regular basis.
This is largely down to an unfortunate and increasingly frustrating knack of picking up frequent injuries. According to Transfermarkt, Wilshere has missed 116 games through injury since the beginning of the 2009-2010 campaign, a staggeringly large number of matches for someone of his age.
Last weekend he was a substitute in Arsenal’s FA Cup game with Reading, and it looks likely that he will get a fair amount of playing time between now and the end of the season. However, with the likes of Francis Coquelin excelling in his absence, it is now up to Wilshere to prove that he can make the difference at Arsenal.
2. Robin Van Persie
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Another player who has had his season blighted by injury woes is former team-mate of Wilshere’s, Robin van Persie. Truthfully, though, even when the Dutch forward has featured this season, he has failed to reach his own very high standards.
With the exception of a prolific spell between November and December (in which he scored five times in six games), Van Persie has not scaled the heights he did the season before, a campaign in which he found the net regularly, scoring more than a goal every other game. Indeed, before injury struck, the Netherlands international had scored just twice in seven outings.
This form, coupled with injury halting his campaign, has seen Van Persie become less of an integral part of the setup at Manchester United, with the system and personnel changing in his absence. RVP is perhaps a little fortunate that Radamel Falcao has been quite so poor, or he may be deemed surplus to requirements.
Nevertheless, recent reports in this week’s Mirror suggests that Van Persie will remain a fixture at Old Trafford as they bid to secure the Premier League crown next season. Van Persie is lucky that he enjoys a healthy relationship with Louis van Gaal, but even with the backing of his manager, the Dutchman has much to prove to the supporters on his return from injury.
1. Vincent Kompany
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A couple of years ago Vincent Kompany was being heralded as the best defender in world football. It seemed unthinkable that he would suffer from a loss of form. This season, though, has illustrated that in football, anything can happen.
Such has been the fall from grace for the Manchester City captain that he was dropped before last month’s match with Leicester. It was the result of a serious drop in form for Kompany, who has suffered from his worse season since joining the current Premier League champions, something that is illustrated by statistics on Squawka.
"Vincent Kompany has now committed as many fouls in the Premier League during 2015 as he's won tackles (12). pic.twitter.com/pxSfPyLBWV
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) April 12, 2015
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In the current campaign Kompany has committed 41 fouls, while he has also been successful in just 41 percent of his attempted tackles. While statistics don’t always tell the whole story, these are certainly indicative of what has been a miserable year for the Belgian.
Kompany’s previously high level of performance makes his drop in form all the more alarming, warranting first place on this list.
Speaking last week at a press conference, manager Manuel Pellegrini suggested that his captain may well miss the rest of this season through injury. If he is able to return beforehand, Kompany must show the sort of form that made him one of European football’s finest.
