Leeds would be entirely fucked without their most improved player and there are no prizes for guessing Manchester United’s.
We’ve also picked our biggest slumps.
Arsenal – Granit Xhaka
People say footballers are in their prime when they’re around 28. It’s the point where they have the most experience while their physical condition is still somewhere near its peak. But few get to 28 and reinvent themselves as Xhaka has done, to such an extent that he plays like a completely different footballer. Mikel Arteta has worked wonders with him, and yet may still opt to upgrade him.
Aston Villa – Leon Bailey
Bailey watched mainly from the sidelines in his debut season, as Steven Gerrard persisted with an admittedly strange system which saw Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins run around up front with no service. Gerrard eventually gave in and used his £30m winger, but Bailey waited for Unai Emery to repay Gerrard’s trust, scoring and assisting in the Spaniard’s first game in charge. The Jamaican has started eight of Emery’s nine top-flight games as Villa boss.
Brentford – Mathias Jensen
When I think of Brentford, I think of a player that looks like Mathias Jensen. I’m not necessarily picturing Jensen, it’s more a mix of him, Mads Roerslev and Christian Norgaard, but we probably shouldn’t be lumping the Danes in together. Anyway, Norgaard remains top of the Brentford Dane charts, but Jensen has closed the gap this season.
Brighton – Solly March
Five of the top six Brighton players last season according to the WhoScored ratings are no longer at the club, which is extraordinary given they’re now even better and that also provides plenty of room for improvement. March now tops those ratings having started every Premier League game for Brighton this term, already beating his number of appearances last season, with four goals and four assists to his name.
Chelsea – Kepa Arrizabalaga
Kepa is comfortably second in the post-shot expected goals minus goals allowed (PSxG+/-) stakes, which is essentially how likely the goalkeeper is to save the shot with the number of goals they actually concede subtracted. Alisson’s on +8.1, Kepa’s on +6.8, with Bernd Leno a distant next best on +3.3. Last season Kepa scored +1.2, in 2020-21 he got +1.2, and he finished 2019-20 with a truly incredible -11.3.
Crystal Palace – Michael Olise
One moment of brilliance shouldn’t secure a player’s place in this list, and Olise was also good last…
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