As we come to the end of the 2018-19 season, there are several players who have had remarkable breakout seasons. Declan Rice, Joao Felix and Luka Jovic are just three examples of players who have performed above and beyond just about anyone’s wildest expectations. This, of course, is the case with a number of players every season, and some such players are labelled with the tag ‘one-season wonder’.
There have of course been some genuine one-season wonders over the years, the likes of Michu and Roque Santa Cruz spring to mind just from the Premier League, but oftentimes, it turns out that a players impressive form was much more than a mere flash in the pan.
Today we wanted to take a look at some such cases, here are our 7 players who were wrongly labelled one-season wonders:
7. Jamie Vardy
In many respects, it was easy to see why some supporters and pundits might label Jamie Vardy a one-season wonder. The Leicester City striker bagged an incredible 24 goals in the 2015-16 season, which included breaking Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record of consecutive top flight games scored in since 1992, en-route to Leicester’s first ever top flight league title. It looked to be a bit of an anomaly from the former non-league man, who had scored just 5 goals the previous season, and only managed 16 in his best season in the Championship.
Three years on, Vardy has proved his class though. The industrious frontman bagged 16 goals the following season, 23 goals last season, and has 18 as we come to the end of the 2018-19 season at the time of this recording.
6. Peter Crouch
Peter Crouch of Burnley reacts prior to the Premier League match between Burnley FC and Arsenal FC at Turf Moor on May 12, 2019 in Burnley, United Kingdom.
Whilst Jamie Vardy was labelled a one-season wonder due to his track record as a player, one suspects it had rather more to do with appearance and style of play in the case of Peter Crouch. In addition to being 6’7” tall, Crouch has a slight frame, which has always given him a slightly gangly and unusual style. His breakthrough season came at Portsmouth, where he scored 18 goals in what is now the Championship.
Many felt he was a one-season wonder, but Premier League Aston Villa took a chance on the towering frontman. At Villa, it appeared a though the sceptics may have been right, but Crouch has gone on to have successful spells with Southampton, Liverpool, Portsmouth again, Tottenham and Stoke City, becoming the Premier League’s record scorer in terms of headed goals in the process.
5. Gareth Bale
This is a slightly British-centric seven, I have to admit, and that’s just because I live in England so I’m far more aware of when an English-based player is called a one-season wonder than players in any other country. If you have any non-English based suggestions, do leave them below in the comments. Anyhow, in at fifth, is Welsh superstar Gareth Bale. Bale had played plenty of football for Tottenham in the 2009-10 season, but it was during the 2010-11 season, particularly during Tottenham’s two-legged tie with Inter Milan, that Bale really announced himself to the world.
His fine form and 11 goals that season were called out as a one-off by many, but the left-back turned left winger hit 12 the following season and 26 the season after that, which preceded a big money move to Real Madrid. Bale has enjoyed mixed fortunes in the Spanish capital, but he has still had a glorious career, and no one could accuse him of being a one season wonder.
4. Andrea Belotti
Andrea Belotti of Torino FC celebrates a goal during the Serie A match between Torino FC and Udinese Calcio at Stadio Olimpico di Torino on February 11, 2018 in Turin, Italy.
Our first inclusion from outside the UK, many Italians felt Andrea Belotti was just a flash in the pan when he bagged 28 goals in a single season for Torino. His previous seasonal best had been 12 goals, and in fairness, Belotti hasn’t hit 20+ goals in the two seasons since, but it would be absurd to call him a one-season wonder now. He is Torino’s talisman, leading the team from the front with his strength, tremendous work ethic and still fairly prolific goal scoring output.
3. Kylian Mbappe
This one always seemed a little ridiculous to me, but after PSG signed Kylian Mbappe for a potential €180 million, there were an awful lot of people claiming the young Frenchman was a mere flash in the pan. Now, if they had said €180 million seemed steep for a player with just one full season under their belt, I could agree, but Mbappe looked every bit a top class prospect at Monaco, and PSG could most likely sell him for a profit to a Barcelona or Real Madrid in 2019, although one doubts they’d want to.
The 20-year-old World Cup winner bagged 26 goals in 44 games in his breakout season at Monaco, but he has well and truly topped that this season, with 36 goals in 40 games in all competitions for PSG.
2. Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool and his wife Magi walk on the pitch after the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield on May 12, 2019 in Liverpool,…
The most recent inclusion in this seven, it was only last season that Mohamed Salah set the Premier League alight and helped Liverpool reach a Champions League final in his first season at Anfield. It was one of the finest debut campaigns of the Premier League era, and many doubted whether Salah could maintain that level of performance. In many respects, he couldn’t, he has scored 25 goals this season as opposed to 44 last season – at the time of this recording at least – but it’d take a harsh critic to stick by the claim that he was a one-season wonder. Salah is one of the most deadly wingers in the world, and he’s been among the top 10 players in the Premier League once again this season.
1. Harry Kane
There are no prizes for guessing who tops this seven, since the phrase one-season wonder and the erroneous prediction of such a fate has never been as synonymous with one man as it is with Harry Kane. Kane’s breakthrough season at Tottenham was quite extraordinary, bagging 31 goals and finishing just one place behind Sergio Aguero in the race for the Premier League Golden Boot, having scored just five goals in his previous best campaign, which came in League One with Leyton Orient.
Tottenham fans were constantly berated the following summer that Kane was a one-season wonder, and even the Spurs faithful must have been starting to question whether the boy from Walthamstow would be able to maintain those kind of numbers. Well, he could, indeed he better them in two of the next three campaigns, and would have done again this season were it not for injuries. Now a two-time Premier League and one-time World Cup Golden Boot winner, last season was the most prolific of Kane’s career, as he bagged 41 goals in 48 games.
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