Players that have come good after 2 seasons of bad/average performances

Reading the Sancho thread and was thinking yeah give him this year - teams gonna evolve again, better players(hopefully ) to play with etc.

But has anyone ever ‘come good ‘ after paddling around for 2 seasons?

Cole obviously took a year to really settle in and fire but even his adaptation season he was better than Sancho has been (although playing in a much better side)

Evra/Vidic the same

Probably the majority need a season to fully settle into surroundings, team, United but two?

Struggling …

Can’t think of many tbf. The only thing that sort of works in his favour (in the context of this discussion), is that his first season here was the worst season we as a club have had in decades. Ole going a few months in, Ralf “steadying the ship” by calling everyone shit, a terrible captain in Maguire and a lack of coherency across the squad as a whole.

I’ve lost the faith but I’d love him to come good. He was brilliant at Dortmund.

Originally Posted by Gypsum Fantastic

Reading the Sancho thread and was thinking yeah give him this year - teams gonna evolve again, better players(hopefully ) to play with etc.

But has anyone ever ‘come good ‘ after paddling around for 2 seasons?

Cole obviously took a year to really settle in and fire but even his adaptation season he was better than Sancho has been (although playing in a much better side)

Evra/Vidic the same

Probably the majority need a season to fully settle into surroundings, team, United but two?

Struggling …

"Settling in" gets trotted out as an excuse too often imo. It's very hard to tell ahead of a transfer who's going to find the shirt too heavy, even if they have decent character.

Pallister had a dodgy start but turned out to be a solid defender

Giggs had a poor spell and came back.

Darren Fletcher

Originally Posted by no fun

Pallister had a dodgy start but turned out to be a solid defender

Was only a few games though really, wasn't it? Similar to Evra and Vidic.

Bruno Fernandes didn't have a great time in Italy.

Originally Posted by Gypsum Fantastic

Reading the Sancho thread and was thinking yeah give him this year - teams gonna evolve again, better players(hopefully ) to play with etc.

But has anyone ever ‘come good ‘ after paddling around for 2 seasons?

Cole obviously took a year to really settle in and fire but even his adaptation season he was better than Sancho has been (although playing in a much better side)

Evra/Vidic the same

Probably the majority need a season to fully settle into surroundings, team, United but two?

Struggling …

Vidic was already looking good by the end of his first season, superb performance at home to Arsenal in the 2-0 (Rooney, Park)

Evra started 06-07 brilliantly and never looked back.

I’m racking my brain for players that came good after 2 poor seasons. Fletcher to a degree…(Edit - just seen him mentioned above)

Fletcher wasn’t one of the highest paid players. You can give room to players who you can leave on the bench for 5-7 games to take them out the firing line.

We can’t have a 300k a week back up player. Without making too many excuses for fletcher , he also was breaking into a much better team which probably emphasised the gulf in his quality and the rest.

Originally Posted by ryanMUFC

Darren Fletcher

I must have missed the bit where he came good.

Cole is probably the one. Really struggled from his arrival in Jan 1995 and that carried into the following season. He was dropped for Scholes by the end of 95/96.

Got the horrendous double leg break and missed most of 96/97. Only really got going once Eric left IMO.

A combination of settling in and injuries, not unlike Sancho and his time away last season.

Admittedly, there aren’t many examples and I think it’s fair to say most players won’t turn it around. It’s case-dependent though and I still hold out a little hope for Sancho. There were signs last season and we’re yet to have the best conditions for him: in terms of either us being a unified team or him having his head screwed on.

If he does stay, he has absolutely no more leeway and has to hit the ground running. He’s got a lot of competition in his favoured positions and the club has been very accommodating for him.

Originally Posted by NedKelly

I’ve lost the faith but I’d love him to come good. He was brilliant at Dortmund.

would love us to play a bit more like dortmund.

Originally Posted by jem

I must have missed the bit where he came good.

2009 we missed him in the CL final. The season after (when Ronaldo left) he was pretty important too.

Carrick got better as he went along

Originally Posted by My Name is Heath

Carrick got better as he went along

Had a tough 09-10.

Andy Cole joined in Jan 1995 and had an iffy start. 1995-96 season he struggled for goals and then in the 1996/7 season he had shin splints and then both his legs got broken in the reserves by neil ruddock.

Can't think of too many other players who's had a wobbly start but then caught fire and turned their career around.

Sancho's problem is his personality on the pitch. He's timid and tends to go missing at times. I don't think you can play your way out of that.

sancho isn't great at taking a man on when he gets the ball under pressure, but he likes to run into space and he's calm when he gets the ball in the middle. I don't know if we can afford to play to his strengths, but I wouldn't say the problem was character.

Fletcher after about 4 seasons, in a world class team.

Still think Sancho/Antony will improve with a striker, finally, to play off in front instead of being expected to finish off their own approach work themselves, just as Bissaka has benefitted by having Antony in front after trying to be a fb, then a winger and then a fullback again all within less than one minute. Repeatedly. If Erik gets 3 or 4 of his recruits, we’ll be transformed.

De Gea