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

Bastian

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Was going to say him too, but then he did score 37 in 65 in 2 years in Germany just prior to joining Newcastle.

Also got 11 in 22 in 14/15 which is a top notch strike rate. Nothing like the 13 in 14 when he first joined but that was other worldy.
So not the steepest decline, but he looked to be unstoppable for a few matches, half a season.

Michu is the one though.
 

B20

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His injury caused it. Nothing's strange here.
It is wasn't just injuries. He missed chances galore that he'd have buried in a red shirt. And eventually started changing his game to a more supportive role, basically avoided getting on the end of chances.

His mentality broke in a big way.
 

B20

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No, i meant Flanagan. Had to look him up. Was one of the standby players for the World Cup in Brazil. Barely played since.
Flanagan was never actually good. Just good enough to barely make a team aspiring for top four with low depth in his position.

Also later turned out he was massively unprofessional and partied his career down the drain.
 

Chipper

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Andy Carroll?

Mind you, there were injuries and some would say he never looked that good at Newcastle. Honestly I thought he looked like he'd be a 15-20 goal a season striker for years to come. Unprofessionalism didn't help too of course.

Right now, if he doesn't shake injuries Calvert-Lewin could end up that way but it feels a bit harsh if it's medical issues that does it.

How about Marcus Stewart?
 

Infra-red

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Wesley Sneijder. Sold for €15m to Inter by Madrid in 2009. Fantastic 2009-10. Largely useless thereafter.

A bullet dodged by United, too.
 

jderbyshire

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I must have blinked when Lingard went to "incredible". Always been bang average for me while having Dan James moments of hope.
Yeah exactly, when was Lingard ever "incredible"??

Also, I wouldn't put Torres in this bracket. He was one of the best strikers in the world for good few years wasn't he?

I think Michu's the best example. But there are surely others.
 

Cascarino

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Michu always (understandably) comes up in these threads, but the guy was finished physically very early in his career. When he joined Swansea he was signed under false pretences when it came to his physical condition. It wasn't that he started playing badly, he was just completely finished.

Bony would be a more valid pick
 

JPRouve

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Gus Payet was genuinley a top 5 player in the world for a brief period.
He was never a top 5 player. The british press and fans just somehow discovered him when he moved to West Ham and decided to hype what he has been doing for years. Payet barely changed from his last years with ASSE to his last good year at Marseille.
 

SilentWitness

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@jderbyshire @Chief123 He joined WHU in Jan and scored 9 and got 5 assists in 16. Their top scorer that season had 10. He was a massive reason they achieved 6th in the PL that season.
 

OverratedOpinion

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Gus Payet was genuinley a top 5 player in the world for a brief period.
[/QUOTE]

I am guessing you mean Dimitri Payet?
 

Iker Quesadillas

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Dani Guiza might be a good shout. He was a decent striker who suddenly became the top goalscorer in La Liga for the 2007-2008 season, with 27 goals (no penalties). He never came close to doing anything like that again.
 

BrilliantOrange

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Top lazy to go through the whole thread to see who have been mentioned, but surely Adriano belongs in here...
 

Lay

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Dani Guiza might be a good shout. He was a decent striker who suddenly became the top goalscorer in La Liga for the 2007-2008 season, with 27 goals (no penalties). He never came close to doing anything like that again.
Good shout. Won the Euro’s but transferred to a Turkish club after. Maybe he knew his limitations but I would have thought another Spanish side would have picked him up.
 

Lay

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Stephen Ireland.
Van de Beek.

Wes Brown elevated his game in 07/08.
Stephen Ireland looked phenomenal for a brief period, he and Robinho seemed have such a good understanding.

Anyways he’s more known for faking his Nan’s death
 

Strootman's Finger

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Bebe, signed for Vitoria de Guimereas, lit up their preseason, scoring 5 goals in 6 games, then United snapped him up for a big fee, only for him to fall off the cliff upon signing for United.
 

lefty_jakobz

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Andreas, had a purple patch every pre season to go on to be average whenever he played during the season.
 

Boavista

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Granite in 2008/09. Won the league with Wolfsburg, scoring 28 goals in 25 games (35/31 in all comps), unsurprisingly becoming both the league’s top scorer and best player.

With this great goal against Bayern as an icing on the cake:

Went back to scoring 11 league goals next season (which matched his tally for 07/08) before transferring to Al Ahli
Great example. Misimovic had a spectacular season that same year, and although he didn't decline immediately he couldn't sustain his form either. Despite good technique and great vision, he probably just found the perfect setup in Wolfsburg's title season, playing the old school 10 behind two brilliant strikers.

Another one might be Ibisevic? Turned out to be a decent Bundesliga striker for most of his career so not the steepest of declines either, but he and Rangnick's Hoffenheim took the league by storm in the first half of their debut season. Until Ibisevic's injury there was even talk of him possibly breaking Gerd Muller's record.
 

Lay

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Bebe, signed for Vitoria de Guimereas, lit up their preseason, scoring 5 goals in 6 games, then United snapped him up for a big fee, only for him to fall off the cliff upon signing for United.
He’s had a decent career. Even impressed enough to be signed by Benfica (never played though).
 

General_Elegancia

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After 2008-2009, which I consider was his best performance in Calcio since he had lived in Milan in 2003-2004. He moved to Real Madrid in 2009 and I must say he performed well in the first half of 2009-2010 especially the match against prime Barcelona midfield, overall his first season at Madrid wasn't a failure but not as much as people expected him at first sight. After a knee operation and surgery in 2010, the situation became different and we all know what happened to him.
 

Chief123

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@jderbyshire @Chief123 He joined WHU in Jan and scored 9 and got 5 assists in 16. Their top scorer that season had 10. He was a massive reason they achieved 6th in the PL that season.
It’s still nothing extraordinary for me. Lingard has never got to a level that even the likes of Dele Alli got to. I just regard him as an average player who had the odd decent season for his standard.
 

Bole Top

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recent Milan striker that also played for Wolves, but I forgot his name and I don't care enough to google him. we all know who he is anyway. the funny thing is, I don't think his purple patch happened in Serie A but in preseason, but I could be wrong.

also, Piatek. one great season for Genoa, enough for Milan to sign him, but he seems to be getting worse with each year. only turned 27 recently and is already at Salernitana. his next club could be in India.
 

Rossa

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Most young Arsenal players? Upward trajectory and then fizzles out. Wilshere, Ramsey, Bellerin… been a few.

I suppose one could argue Nani (loved him as a player). Always a huge talent, but was inconsistent. Then went on to have two world class seasons only to fall back to his former self
 

DWelbz19

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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 had a couple like that, I swear. Stephen Naismith had like half a season where he was actually very good at football. Kevin Mirallas as well? Was a proper regular for Belgium for a while.
 

NoPace

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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.
Probably was a case of Lemar, Bernardo Silva and Fabinho being so good at their jobs that an athletic #8 was in a perfect position. Silva is brilliant and Lemar quite good so he could link up, and he had Fabinho supporting him. Also Mbappe pushing lines back so he had room to play.
 

JPRouve

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Probably was a case of Lemar, Bernardo Silva and Fabinho being so good at their jobs that an athletic #8 was in a perfect position. Silva is brilliant and Lemar quite good so he could link up, and he had Fabinho supporting him. Also Mbappe pushing lines back so he had room to play.
No, he was good himself and then turned to shit after an injury while the other players actually reached a higher level. Also Mbappé was barely playing during Bakayoko's very good form, he had a concussion during the first game of the season and Jardim was wary to play him, the attack was mainly Germain with Falcao or someone else.
 

WeePat

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You had a couple like that, I swear. Stephen Naismith had like half a season where he was actually very good at football. Kevin Mirallas as well? Was a proper regular for Belgium for a while.
Chelsea killer. That prick would always end his goal droughts against us, the fecking bastard