As the new season of the strongest European football leagues is gaining pace, many teams and players have already made a great impression on their fans and attracted the attention of the football world with their good play. However, not everyone managed to start the season so successfully, and some have already failed to meet the requirements set for the mid-season. During the second international break of this season, Goal.com columnist Tomas Mastonas suggests paying attention to the biggest disappointments of this season.
Victor Lindelof
After Victor Lindelof moved from Benfica to Manchester United for £31 million in the summer, most expected him to form a solid defensive duo with Eric Bailly. However, we have not seen this duo in the Premier League yet, as the Swede has not played a single match in the English championship so far. Additionally, Lindelof has only been included in the matchday squad once, spending one match on the bench.
Phil Jones and Chris Smalling continue to be the main candidates to occupy a place in the starting lineup alongside Bailly, and the chances of the 23-year-old newcomer earning the coach's trust soon are not the greatest.
The only positive thing Lindelof can point to is that at the beginning of last season, Henrikh Mkhitaryan also struggled to gain the coach's trust. After a difficult first half of the season, the Armenian gradually established himself in the Red Devils' starting lineup, and this season he is almost an irreplaceable member of the main team. The Swedish national team player can only hope to replicate his friend's success story.
Bayern Munich
When a club like Bayern dismisses its coach just a few weeks into the new season, it is clear that not everything is going according to plan.
The Bundesliga champions are currently in second place in the table, but they are already five points behind Borussia. After a painful defeat in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain, the club decided it was time to part ways with head coach Carlo Ancelotti.
The season has just begun, and Bayern will undoubtedly have to recover on the field a lot, but the changes within the team may result in this club facing misfortunes in the coming months, not only in the local championships, but also in Europe.
Frank De Boer
Expectations were high for the former Barcelona, Ajax, and Dutch national team player in the Premier League. However, this coach has been one of the candidates to take over much more prestigious clubs for several years now, and he came to Crystal Palace to prove that his short spell at Inter was just an unfortunate misunderstanding.
The Dutchman failed to turn his career in the right direction: after just four matches, Crystal Palace dismissed him, and under his leadership, the team not only failed to score any points or goals in the first four games.
Even though this team failed to score points or goals, and after Roy Hodgson took over as coach, it is difficult to imagine the strongest European league team, which would now dare to offer him a coaching position after such a performance in England.
Milan
Before the season, it seemed that Milan was simply destined to return to its glory days: a successful end to the previous season and £200 million for new players - in the summer it was expected that Milan could even challenge Juventus for the Serie A champions' title.
At this point in the season, it is easy to say that everything is not going according to plan for Milan. With three defeats in seven matches, the team is currently in seventh place, and Vincenzo Montella is feeling increasing pressure to turn the season in a better direction.
The upcoming match against Inter could be crucial, and a defeat against their principled rivals in the derby could force the team's leadership to make changes, starting with replacing the team's coach.
Everton
In the summer, it was said that Everton was "winning the transfer window", and the team was ready to compete for a place in the top four of the Premier League. With Wayne Rooney's return, good times were supposed to return to this team.
All these statements have faltered at the start of the season: Everton is currently in 16th place in the English Premier League. Although at the start of the season, Toffees fans did not rush to blame the team's coach, Ronald Koeman, knowing it was a tough start to the season, good results need to start showing soon. Everton's path to success may be hindered by the inability to find a suitable replacement for Romelu Lukaku this summer.
In the first two Europa League matches, Everton only managed to win one point, and after a defeat to Burnley, even the most patient fans began to question the team's coach's decisions this summer. It would not be surprising if, in a few years, the transfers of W. Rooney, Davey Klaassen, or Sandro Ramirez this summer will be considered some of the worst in the club's history.
VAR System
The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system was supposed to be the future of modern football. FIFA is ready to use this system at next year's World Cup, and this season, it is already being used in Serie A and the Bundesliga.
However, after a less than stellar debut at the Confederations Cup, this new technology continues to not receive the kind of appreciation FIFA had hoped for. Moreover, the longer the system is used, the more questions arise about it, overshadowing the answers it provides.
Due to the difficulties arising, the leaders of the German top league threatened to stop using VAR just a few weeks after the start of the season, and in Italy, there is not a week that goes by without discussions about the dissatisfaction with this system. Although it is possible that in the future VAR will finally work in such a way that no questions will arise, at the moment, this system is constantly haunted by confusion in its application.
Lille
Before the season, Lille fans were delighted with the team's decision to appoint Marcelo Bielsa as their coach, and after the eccentric Argentine was appointed as head coach, it was expected that the club could return to being one of the strongest teams in France.
To the disappointment of the team's fans, Bielsa's coached team is currently in the relegation zone of Ligue 1, and in the first rounds they only managed to win one victory. Additionally, after the first round, the team only managed to send the ball into the opponents' net once.
Although Bielsa refuses to take responsibility and step down from the team, it is becoming interesting to see if Lille's leadership will be patient and not make any changes if the coach fails to improve the team's results soon.
