Where else is there to start but that infamous Arsenal defence? The Gunners have looked unhealthily porous at the back so far this year. The responsibility to prevent such issues was to throw in an £8m deadline day offer for gangling German 6'6" centre-back Per Mertesacker. Having endured their worst league start since 1953, following defeats to Liverpool and that 8-2 spanking at Old Trafford, albeit without the German making his debut, things were supposed to be looking up when he finally made his long-awaited start - an extremely unconvincing victory against Swansea at The Emirates was worsened with a humiliating 4-3 reverse at Ewood Park to Blackburn Rovers. More recently Arsenal suffered defeat in the North-London derby with Tottenham - featuring yet more abysmal defending Gunners fans are left far from content. Mertesacker came out recently and said he is having difficulties adjusting to English life, with Sebastian Squillaci and Laurent Koscielny as the Germans back up, he needs to start living up to expectations - and fast!Moving from the defence to attack now, we have Fulham's new Costa Rican Bryan Ruiz, costing the London side a whopping £10.6m in late August. Prolific in the Dutch league, it is fair to say he has not enjoyed the start to English life he would of hoped - being prolific in the Dutch league, is not a necessity for English success though, as Afonso Alves, Mateja Kezman and Dirk Kuyt found out ahead of him. Since his debut on the 11th September at Blackburn, he has hardly set the Premier League alight with 2 full 90 minutes and 3 cameos from the bench he is yet to net, with Fulham's stalwarts Clint Dempsey and Bobby Zamora in the goals followed by the re-emergence of Andy Johnson, it is difficult to see where Ruiz will fit in. No doubt he'll take off, but will it be too late? Not the starts Cottagers fans had in mind.
Fellow summer movers Yohan Cabaye, Jose Enrique and Shay Given - costing a mere £14.3m between them have all shone for Newcastle, Liverpool and Aston Villa respectively, perhaps signaling less expectation, headlines and price tag could equal more success.
We do, of course remain only in October, it would be impossible to rule players of this quality out so early in the season. Arsenal's side will tighten up and climb the table whilst Fulham should come to rely on Ruiz, who wasn't once one of the hottest prospects around for no reason. This article simply highlights the pressure added with extensive price tags and little game time to make an impact.
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