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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s most underwhelming performers so far.<\/p>\n
Florian Wirtz has already drawn heavy criticism after another subdued display at Bournemouth. Jamie Carragher was particularly blunt, saying that he doesn\u2019t believe Wirtz \u201cis in poor form; what we\u2019re seeing is what he is.\u201d Liverpool had hoped the \u20ac117.5 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.<\/p>\n
Manchester United\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
At Arsenal, Viktor Gy\u00f6keres 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.<\/p>\n
Sandro Tonali\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Chelsea\u2019s switch from Robert S\u00e1nchez to Emiliano Mart\u00ednez was framed as a statement of intent, but Mart\u00ednez has conceded 10 goals in four league appearances and remains exposed by the team\u2019s defensive structure.<\/p>\n
Dominic Solanke completes the list. Tottenham\u2019s attack has lacked control and reliability, and the striker looks well below the standard needed right now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A look at six Premier League names who have fallen short in the opening weeks of 2026\/27.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20191,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[230,1977,172],"tags":[1836,1162],"class_list":["post-20192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analytics-stats","category-player-analysis","category-epl","tag-2026-27-premier-league","tag-analytics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}