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The international break is upon us once again and as the football media slows down for a period, it's a good time to look back at the start to the 2018/2019 league campaign. As always, large amounts of money were splashed by Europe's elite and there have been many success stories: Liverpool's new goalkeeper Alisson has finally solved that problem position and been a large part of their excellent start; despite recent off-field controversies, Cristiano Ronaldo has contributed goals and assists consistently since joining Juventus from Real Madrid.
It's too early to write off a player's season completely, given its infancy, but several high-profile footballers have undoubtedly not performed to the level they're capable of so far. Here are, five of the biggest disappointments in Europe's top five leagues in the season until now.
#1 Arturo Vidal (Barcelona)
For almost a decade now, the tigerish Vidal has been feverishly roaming some of the best midfield areas of Europe's top teams. He was the protector of the imperious Andrea Pirlo at Juventus, winning consecutive league titles and reaching a Champions League final. He moved to Bayern Munich and performed a similar job for the classy Xabi Alonso, again amassing an impressive trophy haul.
This summer he added another giant to his record, joining Barcelona. The move, however, has started to turn sour. Vidal has struggled to nail down a regular starting, spot but this is mostly down to his manager Ernesto Valverde and his rigorous favourites. The long-serving Ivan Rakitic has occupied Vidal's preferred spot, despite performing below-par (apart from his stunning volley against Tottenham recently). The Croatian offers none of the ferocity or positional sense that Vidal does and many Barcelona fans have noticed this.
Things boiled over last week after that Tottenham game, with Vidal making his feelings clearly known to his management; it's led to the Chilean being reprimanded in the media and blasted for his arrogance. Still only 31, Vidal still has plenty left in to offer and will be hoping to show more in a Barcelona shirt soon.
#2 Fabinho (Liverpool)
The case of Fabinho is a mysterious one. His signing, on paper, seemed like an excellent one; he even publicly rejected his new club's fierce rivals Manchester United in a move sure to win favour. Fabinho had impressed Europe's elite in 2016/2017 with his displays for the over-achieving Monaco in their run to the Champions League semi-finals, a calm and dominating presence in that side. Aged 23, he was at the perfect age to make the move to the Premier League, but the Brazilian has yet to start a game in the league.
His manager Jurgen Klopp has spoken frequently of Fabinho's need to settle into the more physical English game, but as this sentiment is echoed more, the more facetious it seems to be. Other summer signing Naby Keita has enjoyed much more game time, drawing admiring glances, despite being of slight build.
Fabinho's versatility was highlighted as one of his positives when he arrived but this hasn't helped him either: primarily a holding midfielder, the trio of Jordan Henderson, the ageing James Milner, and Georginio Wijnaldum have settled so quickly into this season that displacement looks difficult; he often played right-back ably in France but the impressive youngster Trent Alexander-Arnold has made that position his own at Anfield.
Andrew Robertson was also eased gently into last season before becoming a fans' favourite at left-back, so Fabinho will be hoping that the same fate awaits him under Klopp.
#3 Jack Wilshere (West Ham)
The career of Wilshere is quickly becoming a huge source of disappointment to admirers of the midfielder. Once seen as the bright hope of English football, it just hasn't happened for him. He has, admittedly, suffered greatly from persistent injury woes; in ten seasons at his boyhood club Arsenal, Wilshere only managed 125 league appearances, a tally that should have been far greater.
A loan move to AFC Bournemouth in 2016/2017 was supposed to kickstart his career but he found form hard to come by on the South Coast. He finally departed Arsenal for good this summer, joining Manuel Pellegrini's revolution at West Ham. It seemed like a good fit as both parties were aiming to improve their standing in English football and Wilshere did start the first four games of the campaign; it ended with four poor defeats, Wilshere looking completely lost in the midfield.
Since then, Pellegrini has altered his tactics and Wilshere has found himself dropped, having to watch his team improve in both form and results without him. Wilshere is remarkably still only 26 and should be entering his peak years, but a massive turnaround is needed from the diminutive player.
#4 Malcolm (Barcelona)
Another star from the Nou Camp, Malcolm's transfer was controversial when it went through this summer. The winger seemed to be on the verge of joining Roma, after the Italian club had reportedly agreed a deal with Bordeaux to secure his signature; within one day, Malcolm was moving to Spain instead, Barcelona having agreed a late deal with his parent club. Roma were irate but the player himself seemed happy about joining the European giants.
Ironically, though, Malcolm has barely featured so far, making only two short league appearances. His expensive signing seemed somewhat needless, given Barcelona's strength in his position.
Lionel Messi, Philippe Coutinho, and fellow youngster Ousmane Dembele appear to be ahead of him in the pecking order, with the latter having superior potential. He'll have to show the sparkling dribbling skills and strong finishing that led to his move from France if he's to stand any chance of breaking into Valverde's starting XI.
#5 Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
As good as last season started for him, this season has unfolded astoundingly poorly for Salah. The forward has been the weakest link in Liverpool's potent attack, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino carrying them up the league table.
Salah has looked hesitant, nervous, and sluggish. It has to be said that he still appears to be carrying an injury, with heavy strapping still noticed across his shoulder during every game, but the star of 2017/2018 has evaporated.
Many have foolishly been quick to label him a one-season wonder, which entirely ignores his superb form for Roma for two seasons prior to arriving at Anfield; last season's freakish goal numbers was always likely to be tremendously difficult to reach anyway.
Ever since Sergio Ramos's challenge on him in the Champions League final last May, Salah's success story has been fading. A poor showing for his country Egypt at the World Cup didn't help matters.
His manager Jurgen Klopp hasn't appeared too worried about his player, trusting that his form will return and Salah can point to still having three goals in the league so far. If Liverpool are to win a first league title in 28 years, however, Salah will need to raise his performances quickly.
