5 English players who were not worth the hype

With all the pressure that surrounds playing in the Premier League and the over the top transfer fees that are required to sign English players, it is no surprise that some English players never fulfil their potential or live up to the hype.

It’s quite a common theme that those who never live up to their expected potential are those who play at big clubs and moved at big transfer fees. This should be a statement to young English players to possibly avoid a move to a top four club and move to a team who emphasise on developing English youth players.

Here are five English players who weren’t worth the hype:

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#5 Ashley Young

11 goals in 120 league appearances for Manchester United shows exactly why Ashley Young was never worth the hype.

Apart from the 2007/08 Premier League season where Young scored nine goals and provided six assists for his team-mates, the Englishman has never contributed to over 20 goals in a season. That is even despite playing over 34 games for Aston Villa for four seasons running and over 20 games for three seasons with United, with even better players.

Heading to Manchester United at 26 years and playing as a regular in a Sir Alex Ferguson side, many believed he would go to the very top with the amount of technical ability he had. However, after a good first season where he contributed to 13 goals in 25 league appearances, he has failed to get into double figures for goals and assists in any of the past five seasons.

He has been in and out of the team after the departure of Ferguson, but it has been an underwhelming career.

#4 Aaron Lennon

Aaron Lennon

Aaron Lennon has made a surprising 21 appearances for the England international side, despite scoring a maximum of just five league goals in any campaign. That even includes two seasons in which he played 34 and 35 games, a shocking return for a wide player.

Yet he was still hyped up and believed to be an important England international, somehow. Even if many thought Lennon was more of a creator than a goal scorer, that argument is also flawed as in the two seasons that he played 34 and 35 games, he assisted just six goals in the seasons combined! Additionally, the most he has ever assisted in a season is nine, not many for a player who was renown for crossing the ball.

Despite this, he was still picked for both the 2006 and 2010 England World Cup squads, potentially suggesting why the teams were so unsuccessful if players like Lennon managed to gain a squad place. Lennon has made a long career for himself in the Premier League, but he was certainly never worth the hype.

#3 Theo Walcott

Walcott has won three FA Cups in his time at Arsenal

In the long line of failed English wingers, Theo Walcott is certainly someone who was never worth the hype.

In 381 appearances for Arsenal in all competitions, the Englishman has scored just 104 goals, an awful record considering he has always played as a right winger who likes to make runs like a forward. He has also played through the middle as a centre forward on occasion too, making it even more surprising his goal record is so poor. This is especially considering some of the players he has played with at a big club like Arsenal.

Injuries disrupted the early part of his career before an even bigger knee injury kept him out for over six months in 2014, when he was seemingly hitting his best form.

However, over his whole career, Walcott has only ever been able to show glimpses of form, with him never really living up to his potential. With him only ever reaching double figures for goals just twice in 11 seasons, it proves Walcott was never worth the hype.

#2 Chris Smalling

Chris Smalling

Having played for Maidstone just three years before his move to Manchester United in 2010, Chris Smalling’s rise to the top was incredible.

Before his move to United, Arsenal and a number of other clubs were eager for Smalling’s signature, but it is no real surprise Sir Alex was the one to persuade the Englishman. Early in his United career he seemed to reward the former manager for having faith in him at a young age as he filled in well at full-back.

But it was not long before frequent mistakes began to show, for England too. Smalling was expected to be one of the best central defenders of his era and something England fans had to look forward to. However, he has played over 20 games in a Premier League campaign just three times in his seven full seasons at United and has failed to nail down a starting position, even ahead of flop Marcos Rojo and frequently injured Phil Jones in recent times.

In seven Premier League seasons with Manchester United, Smalling has never done anything to suggest he was ever worth the hype.

#1 Jack Wilshere

Jack Wilshere

At 19 years of age in a seriously impressive performance against both Xavi and Andres Iniesta at the Emirates, Jack Wilshere was being tipped to go the very top of the game with the Gunners.

It has now been six seasons since that masterful performance and Wilshere has made just 95 Premier League appearances. He did suffer a stress fracture to his ankle which has permanently scarred the rest of his career with his ankles having to receive lots of surgery and medical treatment. But even when he has played since that season, he has never been the same.

Wilshere was man of the match in six out of seven qualifying matches for Euro 2016, but that has been the most form the 25-year-old has picked up since that one magnificent season making 35 appearances as a 18-year old.

Wilshere will be keen to prove himself if he gets any opportunities at Arsenal this season, but most will say he was never worth the hype that surrounded his 2010/11 season.