One-Man Resistance: 5 Players Carrying the Fight for Underperforming Teams
The usual suspects might be vying for glory in Europe's five major leagues, but not all of the continent's established clubs are living up to their pre-season billing.
While Liverpool streak towards a first league title in 30 years and Real Madrid duke out it with Barcelona at the top of La Liga, Arsenal are toiling in mid-table in the Premier League, Lyon are struggling to keep pace in the race for UEFA Champions League qualification in Ligue 1 and AC Milan are gazing at Serie A's European places from afar.
But although certain teams might be underperforming, not all of their players have downed tools. Here are five players who have kept their heads when all around them have been losing theirs.
Theo Hernandez, AC Milan
Prior to Zlatan Ibrahimovic's much-trumpeted return to the club, AC Milan fans did not have a great deal to shout about. A poor start to the season cost Marco Giampaolo his job as head coach in early October, and a return of seven defeats from the first 12 games seemed to have fatally harpooned Milan's chances of Champions League qualification before the campaign was even fully up and running.
Amid all the gloom, there has been one constant shining light. Signed from Real Madrid last summer in a €20 million deal, Theo Hernandez has emerged as one of the most exciting left-backs in Europe, and with six goals to his name in all competitions, he is currently Milan's top scorer.
The 22-year-old gave Milan's fans a first indication of what to expect with a powerful strike in a pre-season friendly against Novara back in July, and he has proved every bit as accurate in competitive matches. His tally of goals includes an opportunistic late winner at Parma in December and a thumping volley in January's 3-2 win over Udinese at San Siro.
Born in France but raised in Spain, Hernandez is the younger brother of France international Lucas, who plays in the same position at Bayern Munich. Unlike Lucas, with whom he came through the youth ranks at Atletico Madrid, Theo has not been capped by France at senior level, but if he maintains his level of form, a call-up may not be far away.
"I was fortunate enough to play with Antonio Cabrini, so I know a good full-back when I see one," said Milan coach Stefano Pioli. "I push Theo every day in training, because I believe he can become one of the best in the world."
Milot Rashica, Werder Bremen
Milot Rashica's brilliant goal against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in December was a metaphor for his entire season. With the score 0-0 midway through the first half, Rashica sped past Jerome Boateng on halfway before cutting back inside the Germany international and unleashing a vicious 20-yard shot that flew past Manuel Neuer. He had done his bit, but his Werder Bremen team-mates did not do theirs. Bayern won 6-1.
After missing out on Europa League qualification by a single point last season and narrowly losing to Bayern in the DFB-Pokal semi-finals (a game in which Rashica scored another memorable solo goal), Bremen had high hopes of European qualification this term. Instead, they find themselves in the Bundesliga's relegation play-off spot, facing the prospect of being demoted for only the second time in the club's history. Were it not for Rashica, things would be even worse.
A January 2018 signing from Vitesse Arnhem, the 23-year-old Kosovo international did not truly find his feet in Germany until this time last year, scoring eight of his nine Bundesliga goals in the season's second half. He carried his form into the current campaign, finding the net seven times in 13 league matches prior to the winter break, and he has also scored five goals in his last five appearances in the DFB-Pokal.
"Milot's taken a massive leap in the last year or so," said Bremen coach Florian Kohfeldt. "He's got more confidence in himself and makes scoring look so easy."
Strong, direct and with an explosive shot, Rashica is at his happiest when he's cutting in from the left on to his right foot and taking aim at the opposition goal. If Bremen are to extricate themselves from their current predicament, it is a sight that their supporters will hope to see on a regular basis between now and the end of the campaign.
Wissam Ben Yedder, Monaco
It has been another season of change at Monaco, with Robert Moreno succeeding Leonardo Jardim as head coach in December and the customary flurry of incoming and outgoing transfers. But although the upheaval has contributed to the club falling well off the pace in the race for Champions League qualification, Wissam Ben Yedder has taken to life at Stade Louis II like a duck to water.
After three increasingly prolific seasons in Spain with Sevilla, the former Toulouse striker returned to Ligue 1 last summer with the goal of nailing down a place in Didier Deschamps's France squad for Euro 2020. Monaco may be toiling in 13th place in the table, eight points below the top three, but Ben Yedder has lived up to his €40 million price-tag by scoring 14 goals in his 19 league matches to date.
It takes adaptability to thrive at Monaco, and Ben Yedder has demonstrated plenty of that this season, initially flourishing alongside Islam Slimani in a two-man attack but now proving just as effective as a lone striker at the tip of a 4-3-3 formation.
"He adapts very well to different systems and different partnerships," said his former Toulouse coach Alain Casanova. "What's fantastic with him is that he's a very generous player, and he likes linking him up with his team-mates."
Ben Yedder, who turns 30 in August, squandered opportunities to impress for France after being handed starts against Turkey and Albania towards the end of last year, but as the top-scoring Frenchman in Europe's five major leagues, his place in the national squad still looks secure.
Joaquin, Real Betis
A close-season outlay of around €100 million on new players such as Nabil Fekir and Borja Iglesias raised expectations that Real Betis would mount a sustained assault on La Liga's European places this season, but the reality has been altogether different.
Their poor start to the league season put coach Rubi under pressure, and although Los Verdiblancos are no longer flirting with the relegation places, they remain roughly as close to the bottom three as they are to the Champions League positions.
Luckily for Betis, club stalwart Joaquin chose the 20th season of his storied career to step up a gear. With seven goals in 20 league appearances, the 38-year-old winger is having his most prolific campaign in 16 years, having notably scored an 18-minute hat-trick in a 3-2 home win over Athletic Bilbao in December that made him the oldest player to have netted a treble in the history of Spain's top division. Take away his goals and Betis would be only two points above the drop zone.
After signing a one-year contract extension at the end of the year, which confirmed his commitment to the club until 2021, the wise-cracking former Spain international vowed that he still had plenty left in the tank.
"I try to enjoy each day because I know that I have less and less time left given that I'm 38 years of age," he said. "I still feel good and I'm still competing well. Since I'm still enjoying it, I told myself: 'Joaquin, keep going, because you have some years left.'"
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Everton
If you were asked to think of a young English striker who was having a transformative season at an underperforming club in the north-west of England, the first player who would come to mind would probably be Marcus Rashford. But down the road at Goodison Park, Dominic Calvert-Lewin is having a breakout campaign of his own.
Everton may have failed to live up to pre-season expectations that they would compete for a place in the top six, but with 10 goals in 22 appearances, Calvert-Lewin has hit double figures in the Premier League for the first time in his career.
The rangy 22-year-old's form has only picked up since Carlo Ancelotti was appointed as the permanent managerial successor to Marco Silva in December. Beginning with the diving header against Burnley that gave Ancelotti victory in his first match at the helm, Calvert-Lewin has found the net four times in six league games since the Italian took charge.
Calvert-Lewin has tasted glory with England at junior level, scoring the winning goal in the final at the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup, but he is still to make his debut for the senior side. With Rashford and Harry Kane sidelined and Jamie Vardy stepping back from international duty, his big chance might be just around the corner.
"I'm hearing lots of names for England, and you have to start throwing Dominic into the hat," Everton skipper Seamus Coleman told the BBC. "The only thing you could have said against him in the past was that he had to score more goals, and this season he is doing that and answering the critics. He is working ever so hard for the team, and he has stepped up another level."
.jpg?w=600 "Offseason Moves for Every Team 👉")
.png?w=600 "New NBA Mock Draft 📝")
