4 players who have declined dramatically

#2 Arjen Robben

Flying forward Arjen Robben seems to have begun to slow down

Fleet-footed Dutch forward Arjen Robben was once one of the most feared attacking players in the entire game. Able to use his incredible speed and ball control to easily dribble past most defenders, Robben terrorized opponents all over Europe - from the Premier League with Chelsea to La Liga with Real Madrid and finally the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich.

Despite recently signing a contract extension with Bayern though, Robben’s decline in 2017/18 was alarming. He only managed 5 Bundesliga goals all season – a drop from 13 in 2016/17, and his assist rate also dropped from 9 in 2016/17 to just 5. And his dangerous dribbling style seems to have declined, too – he made just 1.2 dribbles per game in 2017/18, compared to a career-high 4.5 per game in 2014/15.

Essentially Robben is a classic case of time and age simply not being kind to his style. While he clearly has something left to offer – hence Bayern keeping him around for another season at least - the truth is that the fleet-footed style that served him so well over the years is gone for the most part due to his advanced age (he turns 35 in January) and various injuries.