All Football Flops of the Year 2018: Lopetegui leads Karius, Sanchez & co.

2018 has been a fruitful year for football with several magnificent tournaments such as Champions League and World Cup. While some players amazed the world, some unfortunately would be remembered for their poor displays. Here, All Football pick a squad for Flops of the Year!

Eleven starters are included with a manager and five substitutes, and you can pick a captain for the Flops of the Year team below!

Manager: Julen Lopetegui

Would managing your country at the World Cup be the dream job? Everyone agrees, but Julen Lopetegui still wants more.

Just two days before the World Cup started, it was announced that Lopetegui would take charge of Real Madrid after the tournament, infuriating Spanish FA as they sacked him immediately.

Lopetegui’s Real Madrid journey is cut short as well, as the club decided to dismiss him after just six wins in 14 games.

GK: Loris Karius

It is definitely Karius’ most difficult year in his life. People used to have a consesus that he was not a great goalkeeper, but nobody expected his two costly mistakes in the Champions League Final.

Now at Besiktas, Karius looks like a shadow of his fomer self - while Alisson - his successor at Liverpool - is drawing all the praise.

We just hope that he can recover and have his confidence back as soon as possible.

DF: Phil Jones

The penny has dropped for Phil Jones as to whether he is a reliable defender for Manchester United and England national team.

A foul on Hazard which led to a penalty in FA Cup Final, a missed penalty against Derby County in EFL Cup and an own goal against Valencia in Champions League are surely the epitome of Jones in 2018.

Manchester United’s constant search for a new central defender means that Jones’s position at the club will be gradually minimized.

DF: Jerome Boateng

It has been an utterly disappointing year for German football, with Jerome Boateng being a prime example of their downfall.

Former World Cup reigning champions Germany were knocked out from the competition at the group stage due to a combination of leaky defence and ineffective attack.

Boateng was once hailed as one of the best in the world, but not in 2018 at least - and sometimes he is benched at Bayern Munich.

DF: Marcos Rojo

We all remember Rojo’s last-minute winner which kept Argentina’s hopes at the World Cup. He has done nothing else in 2018, however.

In fact, he was at fault against France on multiple circumstances in Round of 16 and gave away a penalty to Kylian Mbappe. Argentina went on to be eliminated.

His inclusion in Argentina squad was a bit of a surprise in the first place, having featured only five games for Manchester United before the tournament in 2018.

MF: Thomas Muller

When Miroslav Klose became World Cup all-time top goalscorer with 16 goals in 2014, everybody anticipated Thomas Muller - who were at ten goals - to surpass his German compatriot in the future.

How disappointing was Muller in 2018 World Cup: No goal in three games. Some might argue that it’s Joachim Low who failed the whole Germany team, but Muller is often dropped by Bayern Munich manager Nico Kovac as well.

Usually being played at right midfield now, Muller finds it hard to rediscover his goalscoring ability any more.

MF: Tiemoue Bakayoko

Oh dear, where to start with Bakayoko? Let’s be honest, he was a disaster for Chelsea last season with some nightmare displays that left fans scratching their heads as to why he was seen as the replacement for Nemanja Matic.

Having arrived from Monaco for €40m, Bakayoko failed to adapt to the damand of Premier League and was quickly moved on to AC Milan in the summer.

He at first was snubbed by Gennaro Gattuso too, before slowly kickstarting his already-slumping career just recently.

MF: Nemanja Matic

Perhaps Jose Mourinho’s biggest follower, Nemanja Matic joined Manchester United with him and big things were expected from him.

He has been an ever-present but is far from dominant and effective in midfield, occasionally losing possession and failing to impact the game like he used to.

The bigger problem is Manchester United’s lack of dynamism, but the Matic of 2018 does not look anywhere like a solution for them.

MF: Jack Wilshere

Reports say that Wilshere is set to be ruled out for yet another season due to ankle injury. If so, his career in the Premier League is cruelly all but over.

Once described as ‘the future of English football’, Wilshere played only 25 games in 2018 and spent the remaining times on the sidelines.

Some may say it’s injury issues who hamper his development, but then again, his on pitch performance is what matters most and he is yet to win the fans back.

FW: Alvaro Morata

Morata was a €66m signing for Chelsea from Real Madrid in the summer of 2017, and he went on to score a mere ten goals in 2018.

He is on £5.2m-per-year deal in London, earning himself £100,000 a week. Such poor return in the goalscoring statistics saw him miss out of Spain’s squad for World Cup.

Just as you think Morata can redeem himself in the new season under new manager Maurizio Sarri, he is dropped by the Italian recently.

FW: Romelu Lukaku

To be fair, Lukaku is still a very efficient striker for Belgium national team, having netted four World Cup goals and four Nations League goals in less than half a year.

However, his record at Manchester United this season is disappointing to say the least, having just recently ended his 981-minute goal drought.

It is hard to overlook his seemingly growing physique after the World Cup, a problem he frankly admits and says that he is trying hard to ‘lose muscle’.

FW: Alexis Sanchez

Do you know how many goals Alexis Sanchez has scored in 2018? It’s four.

Had he chosen to follow Pep Guardiola in January, he would have been lifting the Premier League for the first time in his career at the end of last season. Instead, he wanted more money.

One can hardly find a moment to remember from Sanchez in 2018, but hey, don’t forget that video in which he played some nice piano when Manchester United announced his arrival.

ON THE BENCH

Manuel Neuer

Neuer played ZERO official games in 2018 before the World Cup and it is perfect reason as to why his could not regain his form in time. Joachim Low and Niko Kovac kept faith in him, and some fans are calling for Sven Ulreich to take his place though.

Shkodran Mustafi

Another former World Cup champion that flopped in 2018, occasionally at fault in Arsenal defence that have conceded 72 goals across all competitions this year. Missed out of Germany’s World Cup squad too.

Paul Pogba

A harsh inclusion here but Pogba’s performance under Jose Mourinho at Manchester United is very skeptical. Except that 3-2 comeback win over Manchester City last term, the World Cup winner has constantly been below par for ‘The Special One’.

Mesut Ozil

Finding it hard to get in Unai Emery’s new look Arsenal team for not trying hard enough. Now rumoured to be leaving the Emirates in January. Retired from international duty due to political controversies caused by a picture of him and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Michy Batshuayi

Had a good spell at Dortmund last season but that’s all. Played only 976 first-team minutes and scored three goals this term, Batshuayi might even leave Valencia in January. Hitting himself in the face with his own kick at World Cup sums up his second part of 2018.

SEE HOW AFERS PICK!

Earlier, we have conducted an AFers vote 2018 for AFers' Flop XI of the Year, those included are Loris Karius, David Alaba, Jerome Boateng, Eric Bailly, Nathaniel Clyne, Cesc Fabregas, Mesut Ozil, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku and Alvaro Morata.

Leave your comments below and discuss with other AFers!