SOCCERSTASH PREMIER LEAGUE WORST XI

D. Day Morton, 24th April 2014.

Yesterday, we looked at the Premier League's top performers for the 2013/14 season with Liverpool dominating the line-up with four players. Indeed, your club's form has a lot to do with picking up recognition just as it does when receiving criticism. The criteria here is a little vague. Several factors are at play. Expectations have not been met of the players selected. There have been disastrous performers for small clubs but this is to be expected. There have also been horror seasons with long injury lay-offs, the reason the likes of Tottenham record signing, Eric Lamela, didn't make the team for example. Here is the worst XI of the Premier League season and why...

Goalkeeper: Maarten Stekelenburg (Fulham)

Fulham have had a nightmare campaign with managerial changes and inconsistent form galore and find themselves battling for survival near the end of the table when a couple of seasons ago they had been a useful mid-table club. Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg hasn't exactly helped. When he arrived from Roma in the summer, eyebrows were raised and some suspected Fulham may have made a great little signing for a player who at one time showed potential and was even the Netherlands' No. 1 choice stopper once. His form turned out to be pitiful however, making mistakes and displaying no real confidence. Current Fulham boss Felix Magath has dropped the Dutchman in favour of David Stockdale which tells you everything about how low Stekelenburg's star has plummeted.

Right-back: Chris Smalling (Manchester United)

Gangly and immobile, like a large desert cactus plant

Manchester United, as we all know by now, have been painful to watch this season unless you are amongst the many fans who take joy in their demise. Their lack of ideas and cohesion are epitomised by Chris Smalling's season who has been used as a right-back more often than not. He clearly doesn't seem suited to the position and this is reflected by his inability to get past players or pick out the right pass. Also, he always seems to appear nervous! At one point, he looked like one of Roy Hodgson's favourites and seemed to have a place in the World Cup squad saved for him. Surely, there will be second thoughts now.

Centre-backs

Michael Dawson (Tottenham)

Whoever at Tottenham decided to sell Steven Caulker to Cardiff City and keep Michael Dawson instead should have egg on his face right now. From the start of the season, when Spurs have had to use the former England international, they've struggled. His distinct lack of pace is suicidal in the high defence line that was introduced by ex-manager André Villas Boas. Time and time again he got caught out, notably in matches against Liverpool and Manchester City, two thrashings that ended AVB's spell in charge. Dawson was at the heart of the calamity and has no business in the North Londoners' first team squad next term, nice guy or not.

Fernando Amorebieta (Fulham)

Dubbed the modern day "Butcher of Bilbao" before arriving in the Premier League, Amorebieta was known as a tough but competent centre half who you would image could do a decent job in the more physical English game. Instead, he's been flat-out awful for a struggling Fulham side. Many defenders down the end of the table could be picked on and maybe there have been players equally as bad but Amorebieta was at one point touted for more glory than being the 1.91m relegation-struggling whipping post that he has become.

Left-back: Kyle Naughton (Tottenham)

This should have been Kyle Naughton's breakthrough season at Tottenham but rather than growing as a player thanks to more opportunities in the first team, he's been found out as an incompetent choice whether playing either at right or left-back. In truth, his Spurs team-mate Danny Rose wouldn't be too far off this XI as well but Naughton's performances were littered with more defensive blunders. Spurs, it could be pointed out, left themselves in this mess by loaning out Benoit Assou-Ekotto and not finding a real replacement. Shifting Jan Vertonghen into that position didn't seem to work and they were left with a glaring weak area typified by Naughton's woes.

Right-midfield: Ashley Young (Manchester United)

Ashley Young attempts his trademark Olympic high dive

No-one likes a diver, especially in the English game. Some players have a reputation as divers, Jurgen Klinsmann, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suárez etc. but at least those players could redeem themselves by displaying other valuable characteristics. What Ashley Young does is far more insulting. When entering the penalty area, not only does he exaggerate the force of defenders' challenges, he seems to try and hook the opponent's feet around his own in an attempt to simulate a clumsy trip in order to win a spot-kick. It has worked at times but post-match replays, analysis and the general unpopularity of Young has ensured that referees will think twice before he goes down again. Also, 2 goals and only 1 assist from 18 league games at a club the stature of Manchester United's is simply not good enough. Boo-urns!

Central midfielders

Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United)

Not many of these wigs seen around Old Trafford any more

Nearly everybody who reads this article probably expected the lanky Belgian's named to be included. Not only has Fellaini been one of the worst players in the Premier League this season, he's also probably been the worst signing. Picked up for €5m more than he would've cost a month previously, the €33m man has suffered a catastrophic first campaign at Manchester United which means, barring a miraculous revival of some kind, he'll never be trusted by the Old Trafford fans again. The early season excuse was that he had been playing through a wrist injury which stifled his mobility. Once operated on and recovered, however, his form failed to pick up and United fans scratched their collective head trying to figure out what on Earth does this towering dandelion of a midfielder bring.

Mohamed Diamé (West Ham United)

About a year ago, Mohamed Diamé was talked about as one the Premier League's hottest midfield properties. He seemed to have everything you need in a defensive midfielder, power and positional sense. Arsenal and Tottenham were reported as two teams who were sniffing him out. He hasn't advanced from there however and if anything he's declined as West Ham have struggled to impress the neutrals with their rather bland and sometimes all-out scatterbrained approach. Diamé's form has suffered and it didn't help that Sam Allardyce sometimes even played him out on the left, somewhere he's clearly not comfortable in. There have been plenty of poor midfielders in the top flight this season but Diamé shouldn't have been one of them. More was expected of him.

Left-midfield: Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa)

Aston Villa have found themselves in that lower quagmire of dull teams that have failed to capture peoples' imagination in the Premier League over the past season. At this stage, they're still not safe and stand a chance of getting sucked into the relegation vacuum. It doesn't really help when you have to rely on the likes of complacent campaigners like Gabi Agbonlahor. He broke onto the scene with promise some years ago and is still only 27 but plays like a man in the twilight of his career happy to accept his pay cheque. Ranked according the player ratings system at WhoScored.com, he is Aston Villa's lowest performing regular player with a dismal average of 6.56 out of ten from 27 appearances. Massively disappointing.

Strikers

Roberto Soldado (Tottenham)

Before the signing of Eric Lamela (who doesn't make this list because he hasn't played enough), Roberto Soldado was temporarily Tottenham's record signing. With the sale of Gareth Bale, Spurs decided to go on a spending spree and Soldado became one of the scapegoats in a season where the club have fallen below expectations. The Spanish striker has struggled to adapt to a game where crosses aren't drilled in to his feet. Early on, with left-footer Andros Townsend on the right and right-footer Gylfi Sigurdsson on the other side, Soldado was insufficiently supplied and couldn't find a way to get into games. Once Tim Sherwood came into power, Emmanuel Adebayor was favoured and the ex-Valencia hit man found himself warming the bench. Sure, he scored a few penalties here and there but a lot more was required of such a pricey signing.

Ricky van Wolfswinkel (Norwich)

RVW, as no-one refers to him due to his all-round woes, was signed by Norwich for a club record €10m from Sporting Lisbon. The Dutchman has proved to be a waste of money as the Norfolk club battle for top flight survival. In 24 matches, he has only scored once and provided one assist. A paltry amount for a striker expected to net consistently as he done in his career up until that point. His passing, aerial ability and finishing have all been brought into question and should Norwich go down, it's likely van Wolfswinkel will be shipped off as he's one of the club's highest, and most unworthy, earners.

You can find our Premier League BEST TEAM OF THE SEASON here