Which player had the biggest purple patch followed by the steepest decline?

horsechoker

The Caf's Ezza.
Joined
Apr 16, 2015
Messages
61,492
Location
The stable
Players that went from average to incredible back to mediocre in a short space of time?

Dele Ali
James Rodríguez
Lingard

All come to mind
 
Ronaldo. 20 yrs of purple patch to finally come back to his level where no one wants him.
 
I don't think Dele, Rodriguez or Kaka were ever average before being incredible. All very good players and then dropped off.

I think it's harsh on Kaka and Rodriguez too. Both were class but just couldn't stay fit and Benitez hates the type of player JR is so he got shifted out.

Michu is a good one. Lingard too is an obvious one.
 
Wes Morgan - was immense in Leicester title winning season.
 
Can we agree that a 'purple patch' is c. one season at most? Some people are posting players that have had 5 or 6 top seasons in a row. :lol:
 
kaku06 said:
So basically a one season wonder ?
Click to expand...

I just don't associate purple patches with someone like Kaka or James Rodriguez or Lukaku. Lukaku has 6 seasons scoring 20+ goals for teams in top leagues, was POTY in a Serie A title winning side, Kaka had c. 3 or 4 seasons where he was the best (Won Ballon D'or) and one of the best in the world and surrounding those he was still a very good player. Same with James, c. 3 or 4 seasons as one of the best in the world, everyone thought he was finished when we signed him and he was one of the best performers in the league in terms of quality but he just couldn't stay fit which doesn't necessarily mean you're 'average'.

I associate a purple patch with someone who is scoring 5 or 6 goals a season and then suddenly scores 20-25 for one or two years and then scores 5 or 6 again. c. 5 seasons of top performances just doesn't resonate as a purple patch in my head.
 
SilentWitness said:
I don't think Dele, Rodriguez or Kaka were ever average before being incredible. All very good players and then dropped off.

I think it's harsh on Kaka and Rodriguez too. Both were class but just couldn't stay fit and Benitez hates the type of player JR is so he got shifted out.

Michu is a good one. Lingard too is an obvious one.
Click to expand...
This is correct wrt to Dele. I watched him at MK dons regularly and he went to spurs and tore it up for a few seasons. To me his tale is one of wasted talent because his head was turned by outside influences, rather than a player who performed above themselves.
 
Feels like you could probably name about a dozen Bolton and Wigan players for this if you thought about it long enough. :lol:

Michael Ricketts (2002)
Henri Camara (2006)
Amr Zaki (2009)
Johan Elmander (2011)
 
WeePat said:
He had like what, 6 good games for Monaco before Chelsea jumped on him? He barely had a purple patch. He was always average.
Click to expand...
Convinced Chelsea to splash £35m or something on him for his performances for Monaco. I would say that a definition of a biggest purple patch.:D
 
WeePat said:
He had like what, 6 good games for Monaco before Chelsea jumped on him? He barely had a purple patch. He was always average.
Click to expand...

Below average. But it's a good example of a true purple patch, he was unexplainably good from august to december 2016 and then went back to his normal level. Rarely has a club been that lucky, a flop that you manage to sell for relatively big money instead of not extending him.
 
kaku06 said:
Convinced Chelsea to splash £35m or something on him for his performances for Monaco. I would say that a definition of a biggest purple patch.:D
Click to expand...

JPRouve said:
Below average. But it's a good example of a true purple patch, he was unexplainably good from august to december 2016 and then went back to his normal level. Rarely has a club been that lucky, a flop that you manage to sell for relatively big money instead of not extending him.
Click to expand...

Fair enough :lol:

Chelsea really lost their heads that summer, spending nearly £90m on Bakayoko and Drinkwater.
 
One that I can think of that roughly defines this is Jelavic. Had two good seasons with Rangers and we signed him in Jan. He scored 9 goals in 13 PL games and I thought he would be amazing for us. Went on to score 7 in his next 46 games. :wenger:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.