League Focus: Europe's Flops of the Season Over the course of 12 months, a player can see his form rise significantly, making himselfone of Europes most courted footballers, or drop markedly, seeing potential interest from bigname teams cool as a result. Be it fewer goals scored, an increase in goals conceded or fewerpasses completed, a number of mitigating factors can determine the fall in performance, withsome of the players across Europes top five leagues seeing their average rating drop over theprevious 12 months, as such seeing their value decrease as a result. sing !ho"cored.coms uni#ue rating system, we can see whose average rating dropped themost from performances in 2$11%12 to those of 2$12%1&, with one player to have made atleast 1' starts this term standing out from each respective league. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (FC Schalke 04) (he )utchman saw his average rating drop from *.+, to +.-' over the last 12 months, a fallof $.*./ the largest across Europes top five leagues. 01 "chalke $, may have #ualified forthe 1hampions 2eague once again, securing a fourth placed finish on the final day of theseason, but 3laas45an 6untelaar underperformed in a year where the Bundesliga side scored7ust '- times, a drop from *, the previous campaign. (he 2.4year4old might have started fewer games this season 4 &2 compared to 2+ 4 but inscoring 1. fewer goals his team won only '' points, a drop from +, the previous campaign,while alsofallinga positionin the Bundesliga. 6untelaar nettedonlysevenclear cutgoalscoring opportunities this season, a significant drop from 2' in the 2$11%12 campaign,while his on target conversion rate also dropped significantly 8',.*9 in the 2$11%12 season to&2.29 this year:. (he loss of ;aler 81$: and 5efferson 0arf?n 8+: helped shoulder the goalscoring burden, notto mention 2ewis 6oltby netting four prior to his move to the @remier 2eague. 6owever, as "chalkescrapedintothe1hampions 2eaguefollowingtheir 241winover0reiburg on the final day of the campaign, the monumental drop in form of 6untelaar will bea cause for concern to "chalke and the player himself as they aim to press on ne>t season,both domestically and on the continent. a!" (#arcelona) (he lynchpin in the Barcelona midfield may have maintained the highest pass success rate inEuropethisseason8.,.-9:,animprovementonhis.2.,9ofthe2$11%12campaign, butAavi saw his average rating drop from *.*+ to *.1+/ a fall of $.+, the highest in the @rimera)ivision. 6owever, while his passing accuracy improved, Aavi created fewer goalscoring opportunities8,,: for his teammates in 2a 2iga than the previous year 8+':, while seeing his defensivecontributiondrophavingmade7ust 22interceptions this seasoncomparedto&&inthe2$11%12 @rimera )ivision campaign. (he &&4year4old won possession fewer times in the midfield third of the pitch 8.&: this year,whilst alsoscoringfivegoalscomparedto1$inthe2$11%12season. Branted, Barcelonamatched;ealCadrids2a2igapointstotalrecord81$$:thisyear,andachangeinheadcoach from @ep Buardiola to (ito Dilanova could well have seen the Blaugranaalter theirapproach to games, but Aavis influence in the middle of the park has diminished somewhat,as evident in his average rating drop. E$$anuel %&e'a(or ()ottenha$ Hotspur) =fter a blistering debut campaign at !hite 6art 2ane, (ottenham 6otspur fans were e>citedabout the permanent arrival of Emmanuel =debayor, only to see supporters #uickly 7ump onhis back after a number of lackadaisical performances in the opening games of the season.6is displays may have been crucial in the finalgamesof the campaign,butthe (ogolesefrontman saw his average rating for the whole season drop from *.2 to +.+'. =fter aseasoninwhich =debayorscored1*goalsandassisted11moreinthe@remier2eague, a return of five goals and one assist undoubtedly wouldve been a contributing factoras to why his rating drop so considerably. 0urthermore, with the striker also attempting 7ust,2 shots this season, a fall from 1$$ the previous campaign, the hesitancy to shoot wouldhave limited his opportunities to add to his final tally. =s a target man, the onus was also on =debayor to bring his teammates into the game, but incompleting fewer accurate layoffs 8*2: and accurate passes 8,.*:, the "purs manunderperformed in the role, also winning 7ust &- aerial duels, a drop from the +, he won theprevious season. nderstandably, the change in system under =ndre Dillas4Boas from 6arry ;edknapp mighthave played its part in his drop in form, and =debayor might have struggled to adapt, startingthr season particularly poorly. 6ad he not done so, "pursEseason might not have ended infailure to secure a top four finish. E*e+u"el La!e**" (,ar"s Sa"nt--er$a"n) @aris "aint Bermain secured their first 2igue 1 title since 1..,, but the transition from Ftalianto 0rench football evidently had an adverse effect on EGe#uiel 2aveGGi, who saw his average!ho"cored.comratingfall by$.,*from*.&1to+.-,followinghissummermovefromHapoli to the @arisian side. Hetting three and assisting a further four 4 a drop from nine goalsand si> assists during his final year in "erie = 4 was not up to the standards that saw him winthe big money move in the first place. 0amed for his dribbling capabilities, the =rgentine completed 7ust &+ of his attempts to runpast the opposition with the ball for @"B, with the figure dropping from *+ in the 2$11%12season with Hapoli/ his success rate dropping from '*.19 to ,,9 over the last 12 months.Coreover, with one of 2aveGGis key !ho"cored strengths being his ability to Ehold on to theballE, the =rgentina international also found a teammate with fewer layoffs 8,,: with @"Bcompared to a massive -. in his final year with Hapoli. Fnterestingly, the Partenopei netted more goals this season 8*&: compared to last season 8++:while amassing *- points, 1* more than in 2aveGGis last year at the club. "imilarly, @"Bscored more goals during the 2$11%12 season 8*': than in 2aveGGiEs debut year in @aris, inwhich the club netted +. times, with the player perhaps not as much of a necessity to the teamas many may suspect. Fa'r"*"o ."ccol" (,aler$o) @alermos relegation from "erie = means key duo 5osip Flicic and @aulo )ybala will likely bethe sub7ect of intense speculation throughout the transfer window, while teams willundoubtedlyshowaninterest in0abriGioCiccoli, regardlessofhisaverageratingfallingfrom *.,1 to +../ a drop of $.'1. = primary reason for this came as the Ftalian netted onlyeight goals this season, compared to the 1+ in his 2$11%12 campaign. (helackofgoalsplayedasignificant part intheirdropdownto"erieB, with@alermosecuring ,& points last season compared to the &2 this year, comfortably staving off the threatof relegation a year ago. (urning over possession due to a poor first touch &2 times this termcompared to 2* the previous year wouldnt have aided in their #uest for survival, while inpicking out a teammate with 7ust . crosses 8e>cluding corners: this season, compared to 2.last term significantly reduced his sideEs goal threat. 0urthermore, in completing fewer accurate passes 8&2, compared to ,2.:, Ciccolis link upplay saw @alermos frontline suffer as a result, with the Ftalian completing 7ust &2 layoffs 4 adrop from ,'. =s a result, the Rosanero scored 7ust &, times in 2$12%1&, a fall from '2 in the2$11%12 season, culminating in their drop from "erie =.Follow Ben McAleer on Twitter.com