The English Premier League is the league with the fanciest signings in the world. While in other leagues, the general mentality is to sack managers for poor results, things are slightly different in the PL. Clubs get ready to splash the cash in both summer and winter windows to recruit world-class players to reinforce their squads.
This is only possible due to such financial power that Premier League clubs currently have, making it interesting–financially speaking–for clubs from other leagues to sell their talents to EPL clubs.
However, it is not uncommon to see such so-called world-class signings flopping in the Premier League. Why does it happen, though?
We’ll give you the reasons why Premier League newbies tend to flop in the fanciest league in the world.
Inflated Transfer Market
In other leagues, only the big clubs have financial conditions to look for new players outside of their local league. In the Premier League, though, it is different, as literally every 20 teams have the cash to go for international players.
Clubs from other leagues are just waiting for the chance to get Premier League money, as they know they can sell average players with superstars status to PL clubs, thus getting twice more of the player’s actual market value.
When rumours arise of Premier League clubs’ interest in other leagues’ players, clubs who actually possess the desired players start off their promotion all over social media. Some even become their club captains overnight, and it’s all part of the next reason why players flop too often in the PL.
Hyped-Up Players
There is no available data on the internet regarding this topic, but perhaps more than half of the newbie Premier League players are actually hyped up. It all starts with the aforementioned reason, as clubs try to oversell these players to PL clubs.
Some are indeed talented players, but they are definitely not the new Ronaldinho or Messi. They are mostly average players who can potentially become world-class if they are trained by the right manager and play for the right club.
Some will try to blame the media for helping these players’ promotion. The reality, however, is that they are merely doing their jobs. Social media fans also have their share of responsibility for hyping players up. Memes are funny and all, but they are a double-edged sword when it comes to this issue.
English Premier League: The Most Physical League in the World
Some leagues are less physical than others. La Liga and the Bundesliga are examples of that, as clubs from these leagues are awarded much more fouls per game than in the Premier League.
There was a game where Tottenham’s Harry Kane literally got kicked in the face, and instead of going down, he kept on fighting for possession. The defender saw a red card after that, but can you imagine the same happening in other leagues, or even to other players? They would straight up ask for a sub.
In the Premier League, games are way more physical than other top-tier European leagues. Referees don’t award fouls for every contact, and that makes the game flow better. It doesn’t mean that the league is violent, as it is extremely rare to see straight red cards being shown throughout games.
That’s one of the main reasons why players have such a hard time settling in. The pace and rhythm of the PL are different from every prior league for which newbies have played.
Recently, Chelsea’s Brazilian centre-back Thiago Silva has spoken out on how different things were in the French Ligue 1 compared to the Premier League. According to him, the league is much more physical, and defenders have aerial-duels every time.
Such players should be warned to manage their fatigue as things get mad from December on, with Boxing Day and European nights added to an already tight schedule.
The fact is that if a player doesn’t have the right mentality and can’t adapt himself to the new reality, he will undoubtedly flop in the league.
Every flop is a flop. However, some of them combine a lack of the right mentality and are both overpriced and overhyped. We don’t need to mention flop signings here, but some of them were getting the highest wages of the entire league and couldn’t even make it to the bench.
Real world-class players, though, will have the right mentality and the feeling to know the best moment to join the league.
Good anti-flop medicine is to do thorough market research and analysis to avoid such players. Clubs need to keep in mind that smart signings are better than overhyped ones.
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