Premier League’s Five Forgotten Players

With all the teams busy with their pre-season preparations for the new season, it’s time to look forward and build-up to the new season which kicks-off within a month’s time. Today, we look at Premier League’s five forgotten players. Footballers who came in with a lot of hype and expectations, but now have faded away or suffered bad injuries and are almost forgotten by the fans.

1. DENILSON – ARSENAL

The product of Sao Paulo’s youth academy, Denilson joined Arsenal in 2006, a few weeks after the Gunners had lifted the FA Cup – their last trophy till date. The Brazilian was described as “a little bit in between Tomas Rosicky and Gilberto” by the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and he made his debut in October same year. He has made around 153 appearances for the Gunners but has been very inconsitent with his performances and has also failed to deal with the physical demands of the Premier League. Last season he was shipped back to Sao Paulo on a season long loan, where he picked up two red cards in the opening three games, which caused some commotion in Brazil. The Brazilian Under-17 international has agreed to stay at Morumbi for another season on loan, after which he will have just 12 months left on his Arsenal contract.

2. PARK CHU-YOUNG – ARSENAL

Arsene Wenger spent around £5m to bring the South Korean international forward to the Emirates from Monaco last August. During the press conference to unveil the striker, the Gunners’ boss declared: “He will add true quality to our attacking forces and will be a valuable addition to the squad.” A season later, the 27-year-old has made just one Premier League appearance. With Nicklas Bendtner (Sunderland) and Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad) both away on loan, fans had expected their new signing to shine in his debut season and follow the footsteps of his former Korean skipper Park Ji-Sung. But that never happened, as the Korean was able to play just seven minutes of Arsenal’s 38 Premier League games last season. The striker who has netted 25 times for South Korea will have an important part to play for his country at the Olympics this summer, but Arsenal may sell him before the transfer window closes.

3. ALBERTO AQUILANI – LIVERPOOL

The Italian joined Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool in 2009 as a replacement for the Spaniard Xabi Alonso – who departed for Real Madrid. A fee around £17m added to expectations heaped on his shoulders following impressive displays during his seven years with his home club, AS Roma. Unfortunately the lady luck was not on the Italian’s side, as he had to wait until November 2009 to recover from an injury and make his Premier League debut. A lot of comparisions made of him to Alonso, proved immature as Aquilani was more attack minded and preferred playing further up the field. After a poor first season and the departure of Benitez, the Italian was sent away on loan to Juventus in 2010/11 and then to AC Milan last season. Even though Aquilani has made just 18 appearances for the Reds, the arrival of Brendan Rodgers and the signing of compatriot Fabio Borini (from Roma) looks to have given him a second chance to prove himself at Anfield.

4. MICHAEL JOHNSON – MANCHESTER CITY

The academy graduate at Manchester City, Johnson burst on to the scene as an 18-year-old where his vision, passing ability and control of the ball in the midfield started the talk of him becoming one of the future stars of English football. But his career has gone the other way around thanks to a succession of abdominal, knee and groin injuries. Since making 23 Premier League appearances for the City in the 2007-08 campaign, the 24-year-old has featured just 11 times in the league in the last four years with seven of those on loan at Leicester City. Roberto Mancini is looking offload the former England Under-21 international but there are no takers for him and will have to wait till his current contract to expire in June 2013.

5. GIOVANI DOS SANTOS – TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Juande Ramos brought the Mexican – a product of Barcelona’s famous academy of La Masia – to White Hart Lane in the summer of 2008 for a fee reported to be around €6m. The young attacking midfielder impressed in his first season in the capital making 12 appearances for the first team before he was loaned away to Ipswich for the reminder of the season. Dos Santos failed to impress Tottenham’s new manager Harry Redknapp – who was appointed after Ramos was sakced for poor results – which resulted him being sent away on loan to Galatasaray in 2009-10 and then to Racing Santander in 2010-11. The 23-year-old remained at White Hart Lane last season but was able to feature only seven times in the Premier League after his commitments on-and-off-the-field were questioned by the former Portsmouth and Southampton boss. The Mexican international has just a year left on his four year contract and will be available for free at the end of the season but he is desperate to leave and return to the La Liga before the end of August.

Ten Contenders To Replace AVB At Chelsea

Arguably the hottest of hot seats in the world of football is vacant yet again after the young Andre Villas-Boas was sacked by Chelsea on Sunday. Here, Into The Top Corner looks at the ten leading contenders to become the eighth manager during Roman Abramovich’s ownership of the club.

Jose Mourinho: The Special One Returns sounds like a Hollywood movie but Chelsea fans will hope rumours of his return are not fiction. Villas-Boas was supposed to be Abramovich’s new Mourinho – an impossible task as it turned out – and now the owner may go back to a tried and tested formula despite the pair failing out. Mourinho had a special bond with the senior players during his three-year reign that brought two league titles, although should he return he would want an enormous war chest that could spell the end for the likes of Didier Drogba and John Terry.

SkyBet Odds – 15/8

Fabio Capello: Though a rather unpopular figure in England after a disappointing World Cup in 2010 and his resignation from the national job in February, Capello’s record at club level is almost peerless. He has won league trophies with Milan, Roma, Juventus and during two spells with Real Madrid, as well as winning the Champions League with Milan in 1994. Capello knows some of Chelsea’s senior players very well having managed John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole with England: indeed his loyalty to Terry forced his resignation on a point of principle when the defender was stripped of the captaincy. Capello had previously said the England job would be his last in management but a chance to return to club game at the elite level would surely appeal.

SkyBet Odds – 11/4

Rafa Benitez: Liverpool fans will always remember the goatee-bearded Spaniard for the improbable Champions League triumph over AC Milan in 2005 but a lack of Premier League success and a dreadful spell at Inter Milan haunt him. However, his stock at Anfield has risen since his departure given Liverpool’s continued troubles and while Chelsea fans might question the style of football Benitez might serve up, he has the personality to deal with the senior players in the dressing room. He could also be the man to reboot misfiring striker Fernando Torres, having signed him for Liverpool.

SkyBet Odds – 4/1

Pep Guardiola: Barcelona’s boss is rumoured to be leaving the Nou Camp at the end of the season with no new contract signed and FIFA’s World Coach of the Year would be a popular choice as Chelsea manager. However, at Barca he merely had to conduct the orchestra having inherited a squad of talented players in their prime while at Chelsea he would have to swap the baton for a sledgehammer as he begins a major re-building project.

SkyBet Odds – 4/1

Roberto Di Matteo: Deemed not good enough to keep his job at West Brom last season, Di Matteo now has an unexpected chance to press his claims for arguably English football’s most difficult managerial job. If the Italian secures Champions League football for next season and enjoys success in the cup competitions then perhaps Abramovich will be convinced of his suitability for the role. However, Avram Grant was elbowed aside having reached the Champions League final in the wake of Mourinho’s exit and it would surely take something spectacular for the Italian to secure the job on a long-term basis, despite his status as a fan favourite due to his successful playing career at Stamford Bridge between 1996 and 2002.

SkyBet Odds – 8/1

Marcelo Biesla: Atletico Bilbao boss Marcelo Bielsa is the shock name on Chelsea’s hit list to replace Andre Villas-Boas. Ex-Argentina boss Bielsa, 56, is regarded as an innovator, is vastly experienced and has a strong reputation within the game. Bielsa managed Argentina between 1998 and 2004, winning an Olympic gold in Athens, and then earned acclaim for the style with which his team performed in his subsequent role as Chile manager between 2007 and 2011. Appointed at Athletic Bilbao last summer, he has the Basque side fighting hard for fourth place as well as looking forward to a Copa del Rey final against Barcelona and a Europa League contest with Manchester United.

SkyBet Odds – 16/1

Guus Hiddink: The popular Dutchman has the best win percentage of Abramovich’s managers, even better than Mourinho, albeit during a brief spell as temporary coach. He steered Chelsea to a 2009 FA Cup triumph and Champions League semi-final before returning to his job as Russia coach. The sticking point would be pricing him away from FC Anzhi Makhachkala, the mega-rich Russian club who have made him the highest paid coach in world football only recently.

SkyBet Odds – 16/1

Harry Redknapp: A long shot but a logical choice for Abramovich. Tottenham fans are already resigned to losing their manager to England — but losing him to Chelsea would be unthinkable. His relationship with Abramovich would be interesting but has a proven track record of turning round teams’ fortunes and fuelling players with confidence. He would be the first Englishman to boss Chelsea since Glenn Hoddle in 1996.

SkyBet Odds – 18/1

Didier Deschamps: A safe pair of hands. The astute Frenchman spent a year at Stamford Bridge as a player before a natural move into management. He impressed at Monaco by reaching a Champions League final, had a brief stint at Juventus taking them back up to Serie A and won Ligue 1 in 2010 with Olympique Marseille. Marseille have been up and down since but he could be the man for a long-term project.

SkyBet Odds – 20/1

Jurgen Klopp: The Borussia Dortmund boss is the perfect kind of manager Abramovich wanted Villas-Boas to be — young, energetic and a philosophy of quick passing high attack style. He has made his success out of developing young players at Dortmund. He led them to the Bundesliga title last season and the club are in pole position to defend their crown this time.

SkyBet odds – 20/1

All these names have been linked with the Chelsea job in the recent days, but nothing is yet confirmed. So who do you think or want to be the new Chelsea boss?