EPL: 10 Most Predicted Flop-Stars Of 2010-11

Welcome to the show of Flop stars.

You have seen players race for the Golden boot, race for the PFA player of the year award, race for becoming a hero, becoming a legend. But sometimes, they run vertically down the career curve and that is when they seem to be called as flops, fallen angels or heroes turned to zeros.

I am back to Bleacher after a short time of break and tried to bring up some debatable topic to all you fellow readers. You may not agree with my list, but again you are most welcome to comment your likes or grudge.

All the players listed here were taken with a view that they were once good ones, but they will or are no more than average now. You do not really wait for your good players to turn to trash, but when they turn average, they lose their Hero status in your eyes.

Richard Dunne was a superstar, actually an instant superstar, in the season of 2009-10.

The cheap transfer from Manchester City to Aston Villa was a massive success and became a fan favorite in clicks. The physical prowess of Richard Dunne, his strong tackling ability and his attitude to go forward and score goals made him a different one among the crowd of ordinary.

Aston Villa was known for their defensive domination and Dunne was the central-point of the reputation.

However, Aston Villa entered season 2010-11 with a fumbling start. Please do not tell me about how AV won 3-0 against West Ham, because West Ham are seriously fighting for relegation here. What Av got against Newcastle was a beginning of the fall of Aston Villa.

A 4-0 upset is a serious joke on your face from a team who has just been promoted from the second division. Richard Dunne will be no more the same, he will play, earn some bonus, get some clean sheets, but not be the hero at Villa Park.

I collected this picture specially, where Dunne portrays the 4-0 upset. More to go.

The only silver lining I see at Villa Park is Ashley Young.

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson brought in Christian Poulsen from Juventus to fill in the vacancy of the departed Mascherano. Come again. Well, if that does not make you laugh then you have got a bad sense of humor my friend.

Christian Poulsen, the Danish midfielder, had earned a lot of awards for his impressive performances in Denmark and also with Sevilla Fc. However, he was stuck at Juventus, and is slowly going in a downward slope at his career curve.

Liverpool brought in Raul Meireless from Porto as a central midfielder and this player can prove his worth, but coming to Poulsen we find no point why he will be better than the miserable Lucas Leiva. 

Lucas has lost his focus finally, and Poulsen will soon join him in the bench. Yes, Poulsen can defend, but he will leave no impact after the game. Just disappear like a dot in the crowd.

"What am I doing here?" Perhaps the clueless Owen is asking this question only.

And believe me Owen, we are more clueless than you are. 

Michael Owen, the once Liverpool hotshot, changed clubs from Liverpool to Real Madrid to Newcastle United and finally landed as a free agent to Sir Alex's team. Owen made some contributions to the squad but that was total zero compared to what he was someday.

Despite all these facts, Owen still forms a major part of the Red Devils team and still runs and plays with an absolute "nothing" effect on the pitch. Whether used as a sub, whether as a starting lineup, Michael Owen is dead news and we may not see him coming back to glory again.

Dimitar Berbatov makes a wonderful comeback for United and has delighted the fans with his charisma. Wish Owen could do this too.

Yaya Toure is the highest paid midfielder now with the rich dad Manchester City.

City's manager Mancini grabbed Toure from Barcelona as a free agent and offered him the highest ever paid salary. However, we find no logic behind signing Toure. City had Vincent Kompany and Nigel De Jong who were developing as good future players. The addition of Toure simply means a block in the career of those.

Secondly, highest paid player? No you gotta be kidding.

Toure is known for his physical prowess and technical ability on the pitch, he is a monster and can dominate over the players. However, he has shown no sign of greatness since his transfer and will be just "good" for City this year.

And you don't spend millions behind a "just good" player. Logical enough to mark him as a flop one.

Yossi Benayoun is not a most popular player on the line, but the Reds did know what this man is capable of. He could come in as a late sub and change the course of the game. He is good at skills, technical, and a great passer of the ball. And he can score at times.

And he was apt for a team like Liverpool. But Chelsea?

However, his black day began since his needless transfer to the Blues team. Benayoun may still be needed at Stamford Bridge, but he will be a failure with lack of confidence and you will forget him with matches.

Benayoun will have to fight hard for his place in Chelsea with players like Florent Malouda or Saloman Kalou and the chances of the 30 year old looks bleak at STamford, while he could have a better career continuing at Anfield.

"The Diamond from Dimona" looks like losing the shine finally.

Ramires, the Brazilian talent, was landed by the Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti after Ramires showed up an impressive performance for his team in the 2010 WC. 

The £17m has till now been used as a sub, and it is highly doubtful whether he will find a first team place in Chelsea in the near or distant future. The Chelsea midfield is dominated with players like Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel who are pretty set and steady in their roles. Where will Ramires find his place?

Moreover, Ramires is skillful and fast but his slim and tender body structure will make it much difficult to survive. He can dribble past men like his stature in the WC, but even the big defenders of Blackburn may prove fatal for him.

An undoubtedly talented one, but again in the wrong place. 

Plus, when did you last find a Brazilian proving his worth in the EPL?

The Fly Emirates man cannot fly again. 

Van Persie is a prolific scorer and forward of the world soccer but is a injury prone man who struggles every season and cannot be fit for a longer term. He has been blown down again with injury and has left Arsenal in the hands of the sole forward Maroune Chamakh.

RVP had a poor World Cup show while his team advanced and fought in the finals. He was confused, unsure and extra-cautious of his moves which landed him nowhere. 

The last season also saw the Gunners playing without RVP for quite a longer time and you simply cannot deny the absence of a world class striker in you team. Arsene Wenger and his men are suffering again from injury problems this season and cannot find a solution to it.

Theo Walcott is in a sparkling form for the Gunners and the captain Cesc Fabregas is slowly becoming fully match fit. However, RVP fails again to stand up and take the stage and guide his men to victory.

Manchester City bought another great player in Eastlands with a rich fee crossing the 20m mark.

The Valencia midfielder is no doubt a great talent and can show magic with the ball, but he is not for the EPL. Small, timid, and slow stylish play is what characterizes David Silva from Spain. You will love what he does with the ball at times, but you will hate him more for wasted chances due to lack of speed.

David Silva showed weak performances at the beginning matches and there is the reason why you did not see him featured in the next ones. Adam Johnson is a much better talent on the pitch and so was the departed Stephen Ireland. Silva was not needed by City, but needed to be sold by the cash strapped Valencia.

Silva could have forged a greater career elsewhere like in SPL but not in the EPL. Alas.

I preferred to keep silent over this slide.

Almunia does all the talking for me.

As Almunia is saying " I will fight for the No. 1 spot for the flop-pest player of the year."

I came up with a lot of names when concluding the last slide for the slideshow. To name a few were Laurent Koscielny from Arsenal, Alexander Kolarov from Man City or Darron Gibson from Manchester United.

But I wanted your opinion to conclude this one.

Who will be the one of your choice?

Please have a say in the most exciting and new flop-awards of EPL 2010-11.