The most disappointing players of EURO 2024 so far

 

The European championship gives players competing the chance to shine, earn moves to bigger clubs and of course help their team advance. In recent competitions we have seen players earn themselves a big money move, with James Rodriguez heading to Real Madrid being the highlight of what can happen. However this is not always the case and so far in Euro 2024 there have been some players who have not lived up to expectations. Here is my list:

Marcus Thuram:

When you look at Marcus Thuram he passes the eye test physically. Tall, strong and pacey striker ticks all the boxes for managers. And with 13 goals in 35 games for title winning Inter Milan this season you would have thought he would have been a solid player for France. Yet to score this tournament depite having 3.7 shots per game with a woeful 0.7 being on target. The chances he is getting are good as well. In the match vs Belgium he missed two headers from inside the box despite rising high enough to essentially get a free header. The son of Lillian Thuram, one of the best defenders in his generation, is not a goalscorer. It might be a controversial take but I really do not rate Thuram at all, I think he is the classic "he has the pace and strength so he must be good". One could only imagine how much more dominant France would look if Giroud was playing instead.

Gianluca Scamacca:

We continue the list with another striker tha thas the physical tools yet can not put the ball in the net. With Thuram you can argue it is all a matter of timing, he does keep getting good chances, eventually one will be put away. But with Scamacca the opposite is true. Italy play a standard 4-3-3 with a lone striker. We have seen this style for years now and traditionally it works with the lone striker either getting among the goals or coming deep to create space for the inside forwards to run into. Scamacca offers neither. I don't think I saw a striker less interested in getting the ball all tournament and he was virtually a ghost against Switzerland. You can hear his manager in one of the games screaming at him from the touchline, criticising his work rate which of course is a key factor in a successful 4-3-3. Scamacca averaged just 1.5 shots per game this euros with only 0.3 on target. It just goes to show how good Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini is as he managed to get Scamacca 17 goals this season. There is no doubt Italy were poor this tournament but you cannot expect to go through when your striker offers so little.

Rasmus Hojlund:

I hope you are noticing a theme here. I have been very critical of Hojlund in the past and this Euro's performance did not change my mind at all. The simple fact remains the same: A tall striker with some pace and strength is great, but if they cannot doanything in front of goal then the physical gift is useless. Hojlund started all 4 games for Denmark and scored 0 goals, with 1.5 shots and 1 on target per game. That might not look all bad from a stat point but watching Hojlund live, you really have to question the skill level of Manchester United's scouts. For Denmark Hojlund was expected to be a key man, but he was like a ghost averaging just 10 passes per game. I think the fact he plays for a big name club makes people think he is better than his actual skillset but the simple fact is he offers nothing, whether in a lone striker role or like with Denmark in a front two. When he gets the ball he doesn't really know what to do with it. A big point this season was made about his lack of service but this Euros Denmark despite playing poor did create chances and Hojlund was no where to be seen.

Joey Veerman:

 "If I leave PSV, it will be to join a club that likes to have the ball. I'm not a player who stays back and chases the ball throughout the game." This was the quote Joey Veerman gave when linked to some big clubs including Real Madrid. 24 hours later Veerman was subbed off after 35 minutes against Austria. Anyone who watched the game it wa sno surprise, Veerman was awful. Losing possesion with 55% of his touches and having a pass accuracy of 47%, not to mention his awful positioning that let Austria walk through midfield or his lack of tracking back.  Not exactly ideal for the guy a Dutch tv pundit linked with replacing Toni Kroos at Real Madrid. Some fans where surprised about his poor performance, after all he did have 16 assists in 28 league games for PSV. And I too was little surprised. I mean I am not the biggest Veerman fan but I thought he wouldn't be this bad. The biggest problem I have had with Veerman is his ego. On the pitch I think he is a solid player but off it he does talk to the media like he is a better calibre player than he offers. That quote followed by his performance sums it up perfectly for me. Ego bigger than talent.

Benjamin Sesko:

When you saw Slovenia make the Euro's I bet there was one player you thought of that could have an impact for the tiny nation. And I am willing to put money on that player being Sesko of RB Leipzig. 14 goals in 31 games for the Bundesliga club is impressive, even more so when he only started 17 of those games. And essentially given a free role for his national squad I expected Sesko to be a standout. Sadly this was not the case. It did look promising in the first game with Sesko hitting the post with a nice turn and shoot. But that was all she wrote with the main man only having 1.7 shots and 1 on target per game. A 20% dribble success rate with only 10 passes made per game highlights why Slovenia did not offer much. For the minnows to have any chance of progressing they needed their star man to have a decent tournament and well he was far from that. Really disappointing to watch as a neutral. Ther eis still time tonight for him to prove himself vs Portugal of course, we have to wait and see. His long shots need to be used tonight