Dybala, Icardi and the 10 Argentina players to crash the last six months

FT Desk

• 1 Apr 2022 21:13 BST
• 6 min read

Sevilla forward Erik Lamela is the Argentina player that has declined the most in Europe’s top leagues over the past six months.

After joining the Spanish side on a free transfer in the summer from Tottenham Hotspur, Lamela had high hopes of making a fresh start in La Liga.

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However, a shoulder injury has ruled the player out for most of the second half the season, with Lamela picking up just 17 appearances for his new club this season.

In second place in this unenviable list is Getafe’s Jonathan Silva, who has struggled for game time in the Spanish top flight this season and managed just 13 appearances across the entire season.

In third place is another troubled striker in the form of Paris Saint-Germain striker Mauro Icardi, who has managed just five goals from 29 appearances for the French giants this season.

Udinese attacking midfielder Roberto Pereyra comes in fourth in this list, with just four goals and five assists in 19 games, while Juventus want-away forward Paulo Dybala takes fifth place after a hugely frustrating season for the Old Lady.

Lucas Ocampos of Sevilla comes in sixth, due to the 27-year-old winger struggling for a starting role for the Spanish side in the second half of this season. And it’s a similar story for Bayer Leverkusen striker Lucas Alario, who continues to warm the bench for the Bundesliga side.

In eighth and ninth place, we have Elche pair Guido Carrillo and Ivan Marcone, who have both had seasons that are probably best to forget when the summer comes along.

Then, making up the top 10 of poor performances this season, is none other than Inter striker Lautaro Martinez, who has managed just three goals in his last 11 league games for the club

The 10 Argentina players to crash the last six months

How is the SciSkill ranking calculated?

Over the course of a season in MLS, there are players who will enjoy increasingly poor performances and increasingly positive performances.

FootballTransfers, in partnership with SciSports, has determined 10 England players over the last six months whose performances have declined to a higher degree than anyone else.

SciSports explains how our development ratings are gathered:

"Among others, a positive development could be boosted by more playing time, playing time on a higher level or better performances on the pitch.

"A negative development could be due to the player being active on a lower level than he used to play, bad performances or the fact that he does not play that often as he used to do.

"A SciSkill Development of 0.0 could indicate that a player is performing exactly like our algorithm expects him to do. Another reason could be inactivity (e.g. a long-term injury or suspension)."