Top 10 PL disappointments

Some have been excellent, others less so... although we knew they would. However, these ten have royally disappointed our pre-season expectations so far. Must do better...

10) Tom Ince (Hull City)

In the ultimate display of "didn't fancy her anyway", Tom Ince last month declared himself happier at his 'choice' to join Hull over Internazionale.

"I am over the moon," Ince clichéd. "I've said to many people, it's easy to just reach for the stars and go for the top and think 'Yeah, I'm doing this, I'm doing that'. But you have to think football. There are not many 20, 21, 22-year-olds that are playing week in, week out in the Premier League now."

He's right, there aren't, and Ince himself is not one of them. Ninety minutes in the League Cup at West Brom was followed by a failure by Ince to even make Steve Bruce's squad for the subsequent home game against Manchester City.

The arrival of Hatem Ben Arfa and Gaston Ramirez could not have come at a worse time; at least in Italy they have decent food.

9) Ben Davies (Tottenham)

I'll admit to being quite the fan of Ben Davies during his time at Swansea, and therefore a move to Tottenham was met with a personal (and entirely fictitious) standing ovation.

Very few of the 21-year-old's immediate aspirations at White Hart Lane would have included being sat on the bench behind Danny Rose, restricted to 18 minutes of Premier League action at the end of a 3-0 home defeat to Liverpool.

"'I think Ben will end up being their first choice," said Wales manager Chris Coleman. "Ben is a Swansea boy and we don't tend to be great travellers when we are young." Somehow you've given me less hope, Chris.

8) Mark Hughes (Stoke City)

After an opening weekend home defeat to Aston Villa, I wrote that predictions of Stoke finishing eighth by many may have been more than a little hasty. Other than a freak victory away at Manchester City, nothing has persuaded me otherwise. And no, beating a broken Newcastle 1-0 does not count.

In 11th place after home defeats to Leicester and Villa, away draws to Hull and QPR - there aren't many drearier Premier League facts than those. Following hopes of genuine improvement under Mark Hughes, it is clear that plenty of work still remains to do.

7) Tim Howard and Sylvain Distin (Everton)

Despite being 35 and 36 respectively, there seemed little indication that both Tim Howard and Sylvain Distin were set for a period of sharp, if eventually inevitable, decline.

Unfortunately, that is exactly what has occurred this season, both responsible in part for Everton's defensively unstable start to the season. Distin appears slower and less assured, dropped for the Merseyside derby in favour of Tony Hibbert, with John Stones moving into a central role.

Whilst the 1-1 draw at Anfield was in fact Howard's best display of the season, prior to that he had made just eight saves in five Premier League matches. Roberto Martinez will hope that his goalkeeper can rediscover his dependability - Joel Robles is the only other option.

6) Steven Caulker and Mauricio Isla (QPR)

Whilst I have to claim that Rio Ferdinand looking slow and rusty hasn't exactly shocked me to my core, the rotten form of Mauricio Isla and Steven Caulker certainly has.

Isla played every minute of Chile's World Cup campaign and made 18 appearances for Juventus last season. Predominantly a right wing-back, Harry Redknapp recruited Glenn Hoddle to implement a 3-5-2 formation including Isla, which was then dropped after QPR shipped goals at an alarming rate.

For Caulker, things appear even more bleak. Ferdinand's snail pace can be attributed to age, but the sluggishness of a 22-year-old England international defender is a little more concerning. Huge improvements are needed if Caulker is not to become another notch on Redknapp's bad signing bedpost.

We expected more but they are now odds-on to be relegated; only Burnley appear more doomed.

5) Adnan Januzaj (Manchester United)

It was clear that Manchester United would probably spend and spend big this summer, such was the Emmental nature of the club's squad. However, it is also apparent that this season could be crucial in Adnan Januzaj's development. On current evidence, those two statements don't marry easily.

It's easy to make a comparison with Raheem Sterling at Liverpool, just two months older than Januzaj. Whilst Sterling has almost 4500 minutes of Premier League experience, his contemporary is not close to half that amount. The sum total of this season's league outings for Januzaj are five substitute appearances, over half of his playing time coming in the opening day defeat to Swansea.

With talks of a January loan move to Fiorentina or Juventus, a starting place in United's first team looks further away than at any point during last season.

4) Remy Cabella (Newcastle)

There was widespread (and understandable) salivation across Newcastle when the £12m signing of Remy Cabella from Montpellier was announced, the word 'Ginola' uttered by Geordies in fevered whispers. They're still waiting for even a glimpse of such élan.

Speaking following the League Cup victory over Crystal Palace, Alan Pardew admitted his own disappointment at Cabella's form. "It's important for us [that Cabella improves]. We spent a lot of money on him and he hasn't really delivered."

"I have given everything I could in the first few games," the man himself claims. "It has been a bit tiring to go out there and play so many minutes, but I am loving it. I am trying to get up to the league's pace quickly. I need to properly get into the rhythm of the team and get used to how everyone plays."

"There's a lot more still to come from me," Cabella concluded. Let's hope so, eh.

3) Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal)

The stand-out midfielder in England over the last year, there would even be an only mildly optimistic case for increasing that to the whole of Europe. That's how excellent Ramsey was last season - this was the driving central force of a new Arsenal.

Despite injury setback in January, Ramsey's last-minute winner against Crystal Palace on the opening day generated hope of continued splendour, but that has largely dried up since. The Welshman has appeared on the periphery of matches as if never fully fit. As has sadly so often been the case, another knock sustained in the north London derby (this time a hamstring strain) threatens to curb any immediate attempt from Ramsey to get back to his best.

2) Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)

'It's far, far too easy to get excited in pre-season, but watching Philippe Coutinho's performance against Dortmund on Sunday lunchtime will have given Liverpool fans hope that the post-Suarez era may not be as glum as many naysayers predict.'

Those were my opening words when making Philippe Coutinho No. 1 on my 'Top Ten Players We Can't Wait To Watch' feature in August. Damn that pre-season excitement.

Coutinho has been utterly abject thus far. No goals, no assists and a measly two chances created from open play in 256 minutes. When playing for a side with the attacking verve of Liverpool (Raheem Sterling's figure is 14), that is unacceptable. Despite seeking a new reported £100,000-a-week contract, Coutinho has much to do to prove that worth.

1) Louis van Gaal (Manchester United)

As musical paint dryers Coldplay once sang: "Nobody said it was easy. But no-one ever said it would be this hard."

While I nip off to bathe in pine bleach for such lyrical blasphemy, consider this: We were told that we might be present at the unveiling of Louis van Gaal's scrotal region, and yet the most entertaining thing the Dutchman has done is to start a Premier League match with Ashley Young and Jesse Lingard as wing-backs. Okay, granted, that was pretty funny.

Van Gaal was meant to be arrive as a form of egoistical colossus, but in just two months has resorted to quotes like "At this moment maybe it my hardest job." We're still waiting for the Iron Tulip to bloom.

A version of this article first appeared on Football365