Arsenal's medical department, Bastian Schweinsteiger the impostor and Eden Hazard's fall from grace... the 10 biggest flops of the Premier League season

Reputation has counted for nothing this season; for every thrilling Jamie Vardy, there has been a sorry Eden Hazard, Christian Benteke or Bastian Schweinsteiger. 

While Leicester, Spurs and West Ham have exceeded expectations, the opposite side of the coin are those teams and players who have fallen extremely short. 

This is our view of the top 10 flops of the season.

10. HOME TEAMS

Being at home used to be a big advantage. Not any longer. As teams become expert on the counter-attack, or transition as it's known, it's becoming almost as easy to win away. So far, there have been 120 home wins in this Premier League season, 101 away wins and 82 draws. Leaders Leicester have won more away matches than at the King Power Stadium, 10 to nine. So have Everton, Liverpool and Crystal Palace while Arsene Wenger's Arsenal have won eight at home, eight away.

Nobody has been unbeaten at home, nobody has failed to win away, not even Aston Villa (1-0 at Bournemouth on the opening day). You get the trend. 

Rudy Gestede celebrates after scoring Aston Villa's winner at Bournemouth on the opening day this season

9. ELIAQUIM MANGALA (MANCHESTER CITY)

The most expensive defender in the Premier League, costing between £32m and £42m depending on who you believe, Manchester City's defence has been a liability whenever the 25-year-old Frenchman has been asked to step in for Vincent Kompany.

Mangala's shaky first season was put down to adapting to the Premier League after playing in Porto. There is less excuse for his shaky second season. The defender has treated the ball like a hot potato, been caught out of position and it's hard to see Pep Guardiola fancying him for next season.

He's not even been quick enough across the floor, outpaced by Olivier Giroud, who is no Usain Bolt, against Arsenal. When you think Robert Huth cost Leicester £3.5m, he looks a dreadful waste of money.

Eliaquim Mangala has been a liability whenever called upon in the heart of Manchester City's defence

8. CHELSEA

That's right, the whole club. While Arsenal are getting stick for being third, Manchester City for fourth and Manchester United fifth, Chelsea are languishing in 10th. It has been the worst title defence of the Premier League era and a malaise seems to have swept the entire dressing-room.

Everywhere you look, players have fallen short of last season's standards; Hazard, Nemanja Matic, Branislav Ivanovic among them. Jose Mourinho fell out with his squad so badly he was fired a few months after lifting the championship, Diego Costa's mood has become chronically grumpy and he is serving a ban after being sent off at Everton while John Terry went public that he was no longer wanted next season.

Results have improved under the interim management of Guus Hiddink but not to a great extent. They went out of the FA Cup and Champions League before the latter stages and were second-best in Saturday's 2-2 draw against West Ham. A massive rebuilding job for new boss Antonio Conte next season.

Diego Costa has endured a turbulent second season at Chelsea - in their woeful Premier League title defence

7. GOKHAN INLER (LEICESTER CITY)

It seems absurd to have a Leicester player in the top 10 flops list, but in Inler's case it's valid. The 31-year-old Swiss midfielder has the best pedigree of any Foxes player having starred in Serie A for a decade with Udinese and Napoli, but his contribution to Claudio Ranieri's team of the season has been negligible.

Inler has made only three Premier League starts and not appeared for a single minute in 2016. As Danny Drinkwater, N'Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy have captured the imagination and headlines, Inler has been kicking his feet in frustration, his style at odds with the speed and energy of Leicester's play.

Leicester paid £5m for Inler last summer but after a season he'll be desperate to get away. There was talk of him leaving on loan in January and at the moment he must be fearing for his place at Euro 2016 because of a lack of match practice.

Leicester midfielder Gokhan Inler (centre right) has failed to play a single Premier League minute in 2016

6. ROBERTO MARTINEZ (EVERTON MANAGER)

Fond of hyping up his players, Martinez has hailed Ross Barkley as potentially the greatest English player of all-time, Romelu Lukaku as the biggest talent in the world and valued 'incredible' John Stones at more than £45m. It's puzzling therefore why this unbelievable squad is in the bottom half of the table.

Martinez was greeted like the Messiah when he arrived at Goodison Park to replace David Moyes. Bluenoses were convinced the days of the School of Science – a byword for attractive football - were back after the dull, defensive Moyes years.

How the mood has changed. Everton supporters now are giving Martinez a really hard time, accusing him of concentrating too much on going forward at the expense of the back four. Moyes must be laughing at the irony.

Even an upcoming FA Cup semi-final appearance has failed to silence the doubters and there were boos at the end of Saturday's defeat by Arsenal, their eighth Premier League loss at home. With a new owner, Martinez will be looking to the cup to turn around fortunes.

Everton fans are growing increasingly frustrated under manager Roberto Martinez as they under-perform

5. ARSENAL'S FITNESS DEPARTMENT

This was the season Arsenal's dreadful injury record was to change. Arsene Wenger had made it a priority.

Instead, the number of key players injured has reached epidemic levels throughout the campaign. Wenger is right to wonder whether Arsenal would be top by now if they'd only had a moderate injury record.

Santi Carzola (achilles) and Jack Wilshere (calf/shin) have missed most of the season with long-term injuries. Danny Welbeck is only recently back after an eight-month lay-off with a knee injury. In addition, Petr Cech (calf), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (knee) and Aaron Ramsey (hip) are currently out, as is the perennially injured Tomas Rosicky. Francis Coquelin has missed parts of the season, while Matthieu Flamini is also currently unavailable.

You would have thought Arsenal would have learned by now – no club can be that unlucky year after year. But they haven't.

Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain winces in pain after damaging a knee ligament against Barcelona

4. DAVID SILVA (MANCHESTER CITY)

Dubbed Merlin by team-mates because of his magical powers, Silva's season has consisted of running into players rather than around them, with manager Manuel Pellegrini citing an ongoing ankle problem as a reason for his poor form.

City's struggles can largely be accounted for by the fall in Silva's standards. And it shows how much they owe him for their five trophies in six seasons before now. There have been a few isolated great moments – his one-touch set-up for Sergio Aguero against Aston Villa – but that acceleration over a few yards has gone, allowing opponents to stifle him more easily.

Silva was never a prolific scorer but his tally of four this season is poor for someone of his ability. The fear is that at 30 years old, he will never hit his peak again. Football fans will hope that's not the case.

David Silva (right) has been unable to inspire Manchester City this season as he battles an ongoing ankle issue

3. BASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER (MANCHESTER UNITED)

Man of the match for Germany in the last World Cup final, the Bastian Schweinsteiger at Old Trafford this season has been an impostor; slow, overweight and constantly injured.

There were question marks when Louis van Gaal spent £6.5m on the German midfielder in the belief that if he were still good, surely Pep Guardiola would have kept him at Bayern Munich.

Guardiola has proved the better judge so far, although Schweinsteiger has been an influential voice in the dressing-room and good on the ball when he has played, a lack of mobility coupled with injuries has meant him being a bit-part player this season. For last Sunday's make-or-break Manchester derby, Van Gaal opted for Michael Carrick and Morgan Schneiderlin as his two central midfield players.

Even Van Gaal has said publicly his signing could do better. But there is one area in which Schweinsteiger has appeared energetic – as a cheerleader for tennis-playing girlfriend Ana Ivanovic, travelling as far as Dubai to cheer her on.

Bastian Schweinsteiger's arrival at Manchester United this season has been plagued by fitness problems

2. CHRISTIAN BENTEKE (LIVERPOOL)

Liverpool initially baulked at Aston Villa's £32.5million asking price for the Belgian striker before rolling over and deciding it was a price worth paying. How they must regret that now.

Jurgen Klopp's arrival to replace Brendan Rodgers has not worked out for the old-fashioned centre forward. He has scored only once in 16 matches in 2016, and his overall record at Liverpool is eight goals in 35 games.

Klopp doesn't see him as a starting player and his miss on Sunday at Southampton that would have wrapped up the game for Liverpool saw Benteke admonished by Klopp at the final whistle. You can be sure that if another club even approaches the valuation Liverpool held last summer, he will be off sooner rather than later.

Liverpool's £32.5m summer signing Christian Benteke has only scored eight goals in 35 matches 

1. EDEN HAZARD (CHELSEA)

It's been arguably the biggest mystery of all how the reigning Footballer of the Year could have been so bad. Hazard scored 19 goals for Chelsea last season, but netted just twice in this campaign, both in the FA Cup.

It started badly on the opening day when he was at the centre of the Dr Eva Carneiro storm that ultimately cost both her and Jose Mourinho their jobs. Hazard stayed of course, but as a poor imitation of the world-class player of the previous 12 months.

Bereft of confidence and fitness – he has regularly signalled to come off during matches and is currently out with a hip complaint – Hazard is the one player whose form hasn't significantly improved at Chelsea since Mourinho left and Guus Hiddink took over.

He also incurred the wrath of Chelsea fans by swapping shirts with Angel di Maria at half-time during the Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain. Looks certain to join Real Madrid in the summer.

Despite winning Footballer of the Year last season, Eden Hazard has been a shadow of himself this term