Wijnaldum and the 10 Netherlands players to crash the last six months

Updated: 1 Apr 2022 13:34 BST
4 min read

Georginio Wijnaldum, PSG, 2021/22 — © ProShots

Wout Weghorst has declined as a player more than any other Netherlands footballer over the last six months, according to SciSports.

Using in-game data to calculate the performance of every player in the league, the Burnley striker has statistically had the sharpest fall in his personal level.

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Weghorst was sublime for Wolfsburg in the 2020/21 campaign, scoring 25 goals in all competitions and earning himself a key role in the Dutch team at Euro 2020.

His performances have dropped in the current season, though, and he has been unable to find good form even after a move to the Premier League with Burnley in the January transfer window.

He has scored just one goal since his transfer to the Clarets.

Second on our list is Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum.

Previously a key player at Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp, even in an unsuccessful 2020/21 season, his career has completely stagnated at PSG. Wijnaldum turned down Barcelona for the riches of PSG, but the move hasn't worked out and he has started just 20 games, certainly not the tally of an automatic starter.

In third is Che Nunnelly, who is part of a struggling Willem II side. He managed 11 goal contributions in the league last season, but he has been very poor for the majority of the current campaign and just one goal and no assists in his last 14 games.

Ola John's output has declined since moving to the Saudi Arabian league with Al-Hazem.

Quincy Promes has allowed his performances to drastically decline but he is more concerned with legal issues off the pitch.

In sixth is Jesper Drost of Hardenberg. Not only has he dropped down a division having previously been at Zwolle but he has barely played with his new club.

In the summer, Memphis Depay was meant to become the new golden boy of Barcelona, but it hasn't worked out that way. A prolific goalscorer and creator with Lyon, he has struggled with injuries at Barca though still has a respectable 10 league goals.

Karim Loukili, Luuk de Jong and Galatasaray full-back Patrick van Aanholt round out the top 10.

Dutch players in Decline

Player	Club	SCISKILL DECLINE
1. Wout Weghorst	Burnley	-9.3
2. Georginio Wijnaldum	PSG	-7.9
3. Che Nunnely	Willem II	-7.3
4. Ola John	Al-Hazem	-7.1
5. Quincy Promes	Spartak Moscow	-6.4
6. Jesper Drost	Hardenberg	-5.9
7. Memphis Depay	Barcelona	-5.6
8. Karim Loukili	Riga	-5.5
9. Luuk de Jong	Barcelona	-5.4
10. Patrick van Aanholt	Galatasaray	-5.2

How is the SciSkill ranking calculated?

Over the course of a season, there are players who will enjoy increasingly poor performances and increasingly positive performances.

FootballTransfers, in partnership with SciSports, has determined 10 Dutch players over the last six months whose performances have declined to a higher degree than anyone else.

SciSports explains how our development ratings are gathered:

"Among others, a positive development could be boosted by more playing time, playing time on a higher level or better performances on the pitch.

"A negative development could be due to the player being active on a lower level than he used to play, bad performances or the fact that he does not play that often as he used to do.

"A SciSkill Development of 0.0 could indicate that a player is performing exactly like our algorithm expects him to do. Another reason could be inactivity (e.g. a long-term injury or suspension)."