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The Premier League is arguably the most competitive league in the world which boasts about its high quality of football, with a whopping 44 players in the semi-finals playing in England's top division during regular season. This stat is heavily attributed by the fact that the entire 23-man squad representing England is from The Premier League.
However, excluding these 23 players, there were still 21 players who represented The Premier League in the final four teams. This clearly points towards the fact that The Premier League has grown into a level where the top players from around the world play in England in a highly competitive atmosphere where each game matters.
However, a few players from England's top league failed to recreate their club performances for their country. This World Cup saw many upsets and unexpected performances from top countries. Here is a look at five players from the Premier League, who failed to impress at the World Cup in Russia.
#1 Alex Iwobi
Nigeria had a fairly tough group in group D, alongside Iceland, Argentina and Croatia. 'The Eagles' had an exciting team filled with talented youngsters as well a a few seasoned veterans.
One player who was seen as a hot prospect and a spark for the NIgerian team was 22-year-old Alex Iwobi. However, Alex Iwobi failed to impress in Nigeria's opener against Croatia. He was loose, chaotic and often drifted to his natural position -- central midfield.
This left a void on the left side where he was initially employed and the Nigerian team was exposed to counters and gave a lot of space to their opponents. Furthermore, Iwobi showed little to no prowess with the ball which was unlike his common self. For a player of his quality and talent to be dropped to the bench and play only 20 odd minutes out of 90 was disappointing.
Nigeria failed to advance past the group stage and took an early flight home. Iwobi was joined by Arsenal teammates Mohamed El Neeny and Mesut Özil as Egypt and Germany failed to qualify for the knockout stages as well.
#2 Nicolas Otamendi
Nicolas Otamendi's World Cup exposed the Argentine defender wide open. After winning the Premier League with Manchester City, he was seen as one of the best defenders in the world and was even named in the PFA team of the year. This makes one truly appreciate Pep Guardiola's brilliance as he took an average centre half and made him one of the best in the league. However Jorge Sampaoli is no Pep Guardiola and was not able to work with the Argentine defender to bring the most out of him.
He was slow, sloppy, ponderous and rash. He was responsible for 2 out of 3 goals that Croatia scored in their final game of the group stage. If that was bad enough, his performance against France was as bad if not worse.
19-year-old Kylian Mbappe split the Argentina defence into two. The two centre halves, Marcos Rojo and Otamendi were exposed and humiliated, as France ran through them 4-3 to advance to the quarter-finals. Otamendi was meant to be the leader of the back four, the vocalist, the veteran, the enforcer. However, all he really contributed was a few poor clearances, a handful of errors and getting caught out of position time and again.
#3 Bernardo Silva
A lot was expected from the 23-year-old Premier League winner this World Cup. He was acclaimed as the creative head of the Portugal side and given the duty to roam freely from the right side, piercing through defences and playing through balls that would unleash Cristiano Ronaldo and Co.
However, he had an unimpressive campaign, failing to assist or score on any occasion. After failing to impress in the first two games, Bernardo SIlva started on the bench in Portugal's final group stage tie against Iran. He got twenty minutes on the pitch in that game and didn't make much of an impact.
With barely two key passes throughout the tournament and a pass success percentage of 80%, Bernardo Silva looked out of colour and wasn't contributing as much as one would expect him to. He had an average of 2.5 bad touches in the World Cup.
Compare this to the 0.9 bad touches he had on average for Manchester City. He also made more inaccurate passes (both long and short) than the number of inaccurate passes he made with Manchester City. He looked sloppy at times and didn't provide the support to Cristiano Ronaldo that would've helped him and Portugal progress further in the tournament.
#4 Raheem Sterling
Raheem Sterling is a player who can shine on his best days but when he doesn't get going, one can wonder how he won a gold medal with Manchester City. Sterling started six matches in Russia, only missing the final group game against Belgium, though failed to score – extending a barren run for his nation that has last since the back end of 2015 – and registered just a single assist. The English media were quick to pounce on Raheem Sterling before as well as after the World Cup.
The tattoo of the M16 assault rifle on his right leg attracted the attention of various news sources around England who were quick to call the tattoo 'sickening' and 'inappropriate'. Thereafter, came his World Cup campaign that was flat and uneventful. The English media were once again quick to write in great length on why Raheem Sterling should be dropped and on how Raheem Sterling failed in 'bringing the World Cup home'.
Deemed as one of the hottest youngsters only a few seasons ago, the 23-year-old will look to put this World Cup behind him and focus on making another season successful for the 'cityzens'.
#5 David De Gea
David De Gea is a tremendous goalkeeper. I have seen him single-handedly carry Manchester United to a 3-1 victory at The Emirates last season where he made 14 saves and looked impenetrable. However, he was anything but impenetrable at the World Cup.
It all started when Spain took on Portugal in their opening fixture. David De Gea not only made 0 saves the whole game but also made a costly error which gave Cristiano Ronaldo a goal and Portugal a point. Despite Cristiano Ronaldo's heroics on the day, David De Gea should have dealt with two out of the three goals. However, his failure to do this meant Spain didn't start on a high note. It would matter less as Spain would qualify for the round of 16 as group leaders only to lose to the hosts, Russia.
David De Gea made only one save the whole tournament. He conceded six goals during the course of the tournament and conceded four goals in Spain's penalty shootout against Russia. Clearly, this was not David De Gea's optimum performance and it will be a World Cup to forget for the Manchester United keeper.
