Revealed: Stats emphasise Manchester United duo's staggering loss of form
It's around this time of year that we have the same discussion: Is to much asked of Premier League players around the festive period? Unlike other major European leagues, there is no break over Christmas for Premier League teams. The fixtures come thick and fast and the time for recovery is non existent. England are now facing the prospect of heading to Euro 2020 with doubts over the fitness of leading strikers Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford. The Premier League have at least given teams a break now but there is a feeling it's come too late to make a difference.
The demands over Christmas are relentless and it makes Liverpool's startling title form even more impressive. They haven't dropped a point in the league since October. While their title rivals continue to tumble towards the line, they have opened up a monster 22-point gap in the table. Dominance best illustrated by the fact the combined lead of the leaders of Serie A, Ligue 1, LaLiga and Bundesliga is only 19 points.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has notably come into his own in recent weeks. The 29-year-old is arguably in the form of his career and is now a real contender for the PFA Player of the Year award, as Liverpool's 30-year wait for a league title comes to an end. However, not everyone has managed to maintain their form since the turn of the year. Here we take a look at the 10 players with the biggest WhoScored rating decrease from December to now, of those to have started at least three league games in each period. There are some big names who are struggling...
10. Anthony Martial (Manchester United) / 0.69 rating decrease (7.44 -> 6.75)
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was forced to defend Anthony Martial after another lacklustre display in their uninspiring 0-0 draw with Wolves on Saturday. Solskjaer pin-pointed the fact Martial is running more in matches as the reason for his current dip and believes Odion Ighalo's arrival will help the Frenchman get back to his best.
Martial scored four goals in six league appearances in December compared to just one goal in five league appearances in 2020. Shots per game have also decreased from 3.2 to 2.2 across those two periods.
9. Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace) / 0.69 rating decrease (7.35 -> 6.66)
January went by unusually without too many concrete reports linking Wilfried Zaha with a move away from Crystal Palace. He has for so long been linked with a high profile move but perhaps the former Manchester United winger has missed his moment for another shot at the big time. His form over January certainly wasn't good enough to get himself back on the radars of the likes of Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund.
Zaha hasn't been prolific in front of goal all season so the fact he is yet to find the back of the net in 2020 is not at all surprising, particuarly as he only netted once in December. The fact Zaha is no longer as threatening with the ball at his feet, however, will be Palace's biggest concern. The 27-year-old completed 6.5 dribbles per league game in December but that figure is down to 3.4 since the turn of the year. Touches in the opposition box have also reduced from 7.7 per game in December to 6.5 in 2020.
8. Matt Doherty (Wolves) / 0.70 rating decrease (7.35 -> 6.65)
It wasn't until Nuno decided Adama Traore's best position was up front rather than at right wing-back in November that Matt Doherty settled and discovered his best form. The Ireland international has scored three league goals all season and two of those fell in the month of December. He started December with a goal in a 1-1 draw with Sheffield United and finished the year with a goal in Wolves' 3-2 win over Manchester City.
Doherty hasn't found the back of the net since, albeit not entirely surprising given his position. Notably, however, aerial duels won per game have fallen from 5.7 in December to 4.2 in 2020. Tackles and interceptions combined have also dropped from 2.5 per game to 1.6 over the same period.
7. Dan Gosling (Bournemouth) / 0.71 rating decrease (6.91 -> 6.20)
The fact Dan Gosling's WhoScored rating was only 6.91 in December speaks volumes about his decline that he still manages to make this list. The Bournemouth midfielder did, to his credit, manage to find the back of the net in games against Chelsea and Arsenal in December but he was not at all impressive on the whole. Things have only got worse since the turn of the year, as you can imagine given Bournemouth lost their first three league games in 2020. Gosling started all three of those matches and his best WhoScored rating was just 6.05. He has managed only two shots and one key pass in five league matches so far this year.
6. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) - 0.73 rating decrease (8.22 -> 7.26)
Unlike the others in the top-10, Kevin De Bruyne is not suddenly playing badly but he just failed to sustain the remarkable form he showed in December. The Manchester City star played a direct hand in six goals in as many matches in December (three goals, three assists) to claim the WhoScored Player of the Month award in the Premier League.
De Bruyne is still waiting for his first league goal of 2020 but the 28-year-old has still provided three assists in five outings. A startling decline in tackles per game from period (2.3) to period (0.8), however, may suggest the Belgium international is suffering from fatigue, unable to get to the opposition as quickly as he was during the festive period.
5. Daniel James (Manchester United) - 0.73 rating decrease (6.85 -> 6.12)
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's admission that Manchester United are down to its bare bones says a lot about his management as it does the club's operations behind the scenes. Letting Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez go in the summer were correct decisions but failing to replace them has left United's squad horrendously exposed. With limited options to pick from, it has forced Solskjaer to pick summer signing Daniel James more often than he would like.
The Wales international was playing in the Championship for Swansea last season and he has started all but three league games for United. James' form has predictably nose-dived and he looks to have been running on empty for some time. James registered three assists in December but hasn't managed a single goal involvement in 2020. In fact, the 22-year-old averages only 0.4 successful dribbles per game and 0.6 shots per game in the Premier League this year, down from 0.8 and 1.8, respectively, in December.
4. Willian (Chelsea) - 0.76 rating decrease (7.68 -> 6.92)
Chelsea are making a real mess of securing fourth place and are fortunate that their rivals have also stumbled across the last two months otherwise they would certainly not be in a position to qualify for the Champions League. Frank Lampard's side fought tooth and nail to get their FIFA-imposed transfer ban lifted for January only not to sign anyone and they could pay the price for that, with a number of their key players suffering from a loss of form.
Willian is one of those and the Brazil international was surprisingly dropped to the bench for Saturday's 2-2 draw with Leicester. Willian scored twice against Tottenham and registered one assist against Arsenal in December, hitting peak form in the London derbies with WhoScored Man of the Match awards in each game. He picked up another star man award against Burnley on New Year's Day but his form has dropped significantly since then. The 31-year-old averaged 3.3 successful dribbles per game and as many key passes per game in December but those figures have dropped to 1.2 and 1.4, respectively, in 2020.
3. Vicente Guaita (Crystal Palace) - 0.77 rating decrease (7.15 -> 6.38)
Crystal Palace have proved difficult to beat since the beginning of December but that has started to change with successive league defeats without scoring in their last two outings. Vicente Guaita finished 2019 in strong form with one WhoScored Man of the Match award, two clean sheets and an average of 3.7 saves per game in December. However, the Spaniard is yet to keep a clean sheet in 2020 and saves per game have dropped marginally to 3.4 per game. Guaita has also committed an error directly leading to an opposition goal this year, whereas there were no mistakes to his game in December.
2. Jamie Vardy (Leicester) - 0.87 rating decrease (7.49 -> 6.62)
Jamie Vardy looked to cruising towards the Golden Boot award after netting five goals in December and starting the year four goals clear of his nearest rivals. However, the 33-year-old has failed to score in four straight league games in 2020 and now Sergio Aguero is just one goal behind the Leicester striker. A hamstring injury suffered last month really appears to have hampered Vardy.
The former England international averaged 3 shots per game in the Premier League in December and 6.7 touches in the opposition box per game, but that figure has dropped to just one shot per game and 2.5 touches in the opposition box per game. Brendan Rodgers desperately needs Vardy to rediscover his best form as quickly as possible or risk falling out of the top four.
1. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) - 0.89 rating decrease (7.24 -> 6.35)
Raheem Sterling's alarming slump is indicative of Manchester City's recent drop off. A decrease in WhoScored rating of 0.89 from December to 2020 is the biggest in the Premier League. Sterling scored three goals in six league appearances in December with an average of 2.8 shots per game and 1.5 key passes per game. He averaged 9.2 touches in the opposition box per game, with only Mo Salah (11) managing more in that period.
Compared to the turn of the year, however, Sterling has no goals, no assists, only 0.5 key passes per game and 2.5 shots per game. The England international is not recieving the ball in dangerous areas as frequently, either, with just 6.8 touches in the opposition box per league game in 2020. Sterling is currently on a run of seven games without a goal in all competitions, with three league matches falling in this calender year.
