yeah, on the 2nd thought I think lifted the team was too heavy. Probably they just clicked from the start is more apt
Players who instantly lifted a team upon arrival
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Kevin Campbell for Everton in 1999.
They were battling relegation, signed him on loan and he scored I think 8 in 9 or 9 in 8 and finished their top scorer I think.
They were battling relegation, signed him on loan and he scored I think 8 in 9 or 9 in 8 and finished their top scorer I think.
Wigan always seemed to have that kind of player back then. Valencia, Amir Zaki, N'zobia and Moses played great for themAye definitely, then he disappeared just about as quickly.
I remember a good mate taking the piss about how Zaki had more goals than our entire team. It must have been early in that season
Also for Wigan, Victor Moses was a class above most players they had in the PL and lifted them hugely.
Pirlo at Juve. He led them to a title after almost 10 years which inagurated their most dominant period domestically for them.
They’re in the same spot and about to let in the same amount of goals as last season, hardly a huge impact from Smalling
Vidic for us
Zidane for Real
Kante for Leicester
VVD for Liverpool
KDB for Wolfsburg
Suarez for Liverpool
Zidane for Real
Kante for Leicester
VVD for Liverpool
KDB for Wolfsburg
Suarez for Liverpool
Chelsea had a lot of star players in their rise but peak Essein was memorable for me
Arguably, yes. It's crazy how just one year latter he lost all his abilities.
Ribery and Robben at Bayern.
Van Persie returning to Feyenoord.
De Ligt at Juve by introducing the use of your hands in defense.
Van Persie returning to Feyenoord.
De Ligt at Juve by introducing the use of your hands in defense.
Van Der Sar at United.
After 5 years of clowns in goal it was a joy to see the ability and experience he had. Instant huge boost to the team.
After 5 years of clowns in goal it was a joy to see the ability and experience he had. Instant huge boost to the team.
Wigan's all-time PL eleven is not too shabby, you could see them finishing lower midtable most seasons and playing some ok stuff. The problem was they could never keep their better players and had to rely on some very ropey players at times. They also struggled to get proper hitmen in, with the likes of Hugo Rodallega and Henri Camara being by far their best strikers in the PL.
Instant?
Ronaldinho-Barca
We started to actually look like a competent, functioning football team the second Bruno started playing for us.
I remember he quickly became the go-to man of our attacks in his first season.
Almost all of our attacks go through him first then finish by the others mainly Rooney.
Monster debut season, bulldozing through defenses and consistent good crosses in but compare to the others (Cantona etc), his performances is slightly less "talismanic" or "magical".
Makelele joining Chelsea, which allowed Lampard to play to his strengths and was a pretty good coup at the time, partly because Real were too dumb to notice his importance.
Van Hooijdonk for Forest.
Christophe Dugarry-Birmingham City.
He arrived in january of 2006, and was in the ideal premier league team in 2007, 2008 and 2009. While we consolidated our defence as one of the strongest of europe, id say thats a pretty impressive instant impact.
Gnégnéri Yaya Touré.
It took himself and Evra 6 months to get used to English football by their own admission.
It wasn't until the following season he settled into the team and formed the partnership with Rio so I think instant is stretching it a bit.
Fair enough, although 6 months is a short time but yeah as you said it isnt instant.
Maradona
Cantona
Van Persie
Van Dijk
Bruno Fernandes
Cantona
Van Persie
Van Dijk
Bruno Fernandes
Wayne Rooney scores a hat trick on his debut. Surprised this wasn’t mentioned!
You've the wrong meaning of instant if you think it means performing well from the next season onwards.
Alisson Becker's impact at Liverpool has been both immediate and immense. The level of security he has brought to that team after Karius' irregularity cannot be understated.
Think Tadic to Ajax even though it probably won't last for too long. He certainly hit the ground running scoring almost 40 goals and assisting another 20 or so in his first season.
Batistuta at Roma.
It's things like this that mean even though he's United and England's all-time scorer a lot of us will always chase after a player he didn't quite become. That debut was out of a comic book.
A few people said Van Persie but United got 89 points in 2011/12...then got 89 points again in 2012/13. The difference was City were miles off that and if it wasn't for the 'AGUEROOO' moment the previous season United would have won 3 leagues in a row and 6 of the previous 7...hardly a transformation.
United scored 3 fewer goals in Van Persie's season overall. Rooney went from scoring 27 goals to 12, Van Persie move slightly sidelined him and took away his role as main goalscorer.
United scored 3 fewer goals in Van Persie's season overall. Rooney went from scoring 27 goals to 12, Van Persie move slightly sidelined him and took away his role as main goalscorer.
Christophe Dugarry at Birmingham
Klinsmann at Spurs.
Suarez took a while to get going for us. In his first 6 months he only scored 4 goals in 13 games and second season was 11 in 31. It was his last two seasons where he dominated the league.
Zidane as a coach right?
Dave Mackay to Spurs. Signed towards the end of the 1958/59 season when Spurs came 18th. They then spent the next 4 years in the top 3, winning the double in his second season, the ECWC and narrowly away from winning the EC. They only fell out of the top 3 when he broke his leg in 1963 and stayed out of it until he'd fully recovered from a second leg break, finally bouncing back to 3rd in 1966/67 with Mackay back at the helm.
Good call. Immediately scored a brace when subbed in, at his debut.
And that same season carried Bayern to the CL final as their absolute best player.
People love to pretend like Valencia wasn't great/excellent for us for a few seasons
In his first season with madrid they won the UCL and he was named UEFA's player of the year, if thats not impact I dont know what is.
Ndidi could have a similar impact for us next season even if we don't buy or sell anyone apart from getting him.
Although Real had won the CL in 1998 and 2000 before Zidane arrived in 2001. There was a big return in the second half of the season, but Real struggled to accommodate all the Galactico talent early on and were languishing down in 15th after 9 games.