A new Premier League campaign is usually a time for resets, and this season has offered a longer runway than most for players to settle in. Some have taken advantage. Others, including several high-profile names, have yet to find any rhythm at all.

That contrast has made the early weeks of 2026/27 a useful moment to separate the encouraging from the disappointing. Here, then, are six of the season’s most underwhelming performers so far.

Florian Wirtz has already drawn heavy criticism after another subdued display at Bournemouth. Jamie Carragher was particularly blunt, saying that he doesn’t believe Wirtz “is in poor form; what we’re seeing is what he is.” Liverpool had hoped the €117.5 million arrival would kick on in his second season, but he has started this campaign with only one assist and too often looks peripheral rather than decisive.

Manchester United’s struggles are collective, but several individuals have also fallen short. The side sit 12th with five points and one league win, while Bruno Fernandes, Matheus Cunha and the new midfield additions have yet to impose themselves. Bryan Mbeumo has been pushed wide and has found one-on-one situations difficult, even if he has scored twice.

At Arsenal, Viktor Gyökeres has not convinced. He scored 14 league goals and five more in Europe last season, but this time he has been limited to just 29 Premier League minutes and enters October without a goal.

Sandro Tonali’s move to Tottenham Hotspur carried a huge price tag, yet the early return has been modest. He can carry the ball and protect transitions, but he still looks better suited to a more balanced midfield around him.

Chelsea’s switch from Robert Sánchez to Emiliano Martínez was framed as a statement of intent, but Martínez has conceded 10 goals in four league appearances and remains exposed by the team’s defensive structure.

Dominic Solanke completes the list. Tottenham’s attack has lacked control and reliability, and the striker looks well below the standard needed right now.

The first international pause of the season arrived with a final round that felt, in every sense, like a term-end review. Before attention turns away from the Premier League for three weeks, there was one more set of performances to assess.

Arsenal were out of the contest almost immediately. After just 18 seconds, they were forced back into their own corner from the opening throw-in and never recovered. The 3-0 defeat was made to look even heavier by Brighton’s two fine long-range efforts, but the visitors were second best throughout. It was the sort of loss that invites awkward questions.

Nottingham Forest could not settle the nerves at the City Ground. Oliver Glasner admitted that the “entire City Ground was nervous” and his side did little to calm the atmosphere in a stubborn game against Coventry. The manager was left “frustrated” and “disappointed,” emotions echoed in the stands once the tension took hold.

Tottenham continue to frustrate, only in a different way. Roberto De Zerbi sounded exhausted by another 3-2 defeat, insisting, “These players, they don’t need to play better,” before adding that what Spurs require is more “blood” and “fight.”

Chelsea’s defeat at Brentford followed a more gradual collapse. There was little obviously wrong in the opening hour, and Xabi Alonso had wanted his side to be more “boring,” but the match quickly slipped away. Ipswich, meanwhile, stayed alive despite conceding early and finishing with 10 men at Everton, where Gary O’Neil said, “The only disappointment is the result.”

Leeds had a clear chance through Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but the fresh England call-up could not convert. At the other end, James Trafford was busier than Walter Benítez in a game that ended in another encouraging clean sheet for Pierre Sage’s side.

Manchester United’s trip to Fulham brought fierce criticism, with Gary Neville saying, “I’ve watched Manchester United since the age of 5,” and that the second half’s opening 15 minutes were “the worst 15 minutes I’ve ever seen.” Fulham settled for a “frustrating” 1-1 draw, while Calvin Bassey called it “a game of luck, we both had it on our side.”

Elsewhere, Everton’s win was functional rather than elegant, Aston Villa needed a lift and got one, Bournemouth were left empty-handed, Sunderland earned admiration despite defeat at the Etihad, Newcastle held on after a nervy finish, Liverpool were second best for long spells, and Manchester City’s chaotic game left Enzo Maresca saying, “Too many goals,” before admitting, “I’m always concerned, always trying to see what we can do better.” Coventry’s long wait for a Premier League win finally ended, and Frank Lampard had every reason to enjoy it.

Chelsea’s opening spell under Xabi Alonso has already prompted scrutiny, largely because the side have made games far more open than they would like. After six matches, they have conceded 12 goals, a tally better only than Crystal Palace, Coventry City and Ipswich Town in the Premier League. The figures point to a team producing excitement, but also one that is leaving too much behind the ball.

That is not unfamiliar territory for Alonso. When he arrived at Bayer Leverkusen on Oct. 5, 2022, the club were second-bottom in the Bundesliga and had made their worst start to a season in more than 40 years. His first game brought an immediate lift, a 4-0 win over Schalke, but the weeks that followed were far less comfortable. Defeats to Porto, Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig, plus draws with Wolfsburg and Atlético Madrid, meant six games had produced 14 goals conceded.

The criticism was blunt at the time. Simon Rolfes said, “We’re conceding too many goals,” while Alonso’s response was equally direct: “Too many,” was the manager’s blunt admission.

He did not abandon his ideas. Alonso shifted Leverkusen from a four-man defence to a 3-4-2-1, kept faith with the structure and argued that understanding would come with time. “We need to better control when and how we reach the ball,” he said, stressing the need for smarter risks and clearer positioning between teammates.

That patience eventually paid off. His seventh match ended in a 5-0 win over Union Berlin, the start of a five-game winning run that reset the mood and laid the groundwork for the Bundesliga title 18 months later.

Chelsea’s own numbers show a similar balance of threat and fragility. They have scored 18 goals in Alonso’s first six games, compared with Leverkusen’s nine in the same span. Yet the concern remains the same: a side that attacks well, but has not looked solid enough.

After the 2-2 draw with Hull City, Alonso again pointed to the need to cut out a “soft” streak. He kept the message measured when speaking to club media: “It’s early days for us,” he said. “It’s one month together and in one month, we know the idea, the concepts, the mentality, but it’s too early to know it’s already built.

“It will take longer, but we need to learn from everything and from this [against Hull] as well.

“For sure, I think it will come. At the moment, we are not having that feeling we are solid enough. With work and with games, I think it will get better.

“Overall, I think we are attacking better than we are defending. In every aspect, so we know that it’s a big topic and a theme for us.”