The start of a new season for footballers is just like the start of a new year for common folk; time to set new goals, break new ground and attain new heights.
But every year, some players come into a new season with a make or break mentality. More often than not these players are coming off a poor campaign last time out, or making up for lost time due to injury, or even trying to justify massive transfer fees.
Below are five players who with something to prove in the 2016/17 football season:
4James Rodriguez (Real Madrid):
Big money signing James Rodriguez must have been living the dream in 2014, winning the Golden Boot at the World Cup and making the team of the tournament.
The achievements were followed by a move to his dream club Real Madrid, where he had a stellar first campaign. But his second season he struggled with injuries, only to find himself on the bench with the likes of Casameiro and Lucas Vasquez getting the nod ahead of him.
Zinedine Zidane has recently said he cannot guarantee him a place in Madrid’s first team this season, meaning James will have to work twice as hard with the limited opportunities he gets to ensure he stays in the first XI.
Why do people keep repeating the lie that Depay had a good start to his United career?
He had a terrible debut against Spurs, then was just as bad at Villa, then had a pretty good game against FC Bruges and then quickly went back to being poor once United started playing decent teams in the Premier League again.
Depay can obviously perform well at a certain level but that level clearly isn’t the Premier League, so he needs to leave ASAP.
There is absolutely no point in him staying at United because he isn’t going to go from the worst player in the PL to one of the best and he isn’t even going to come on as a sub once Jose realises how bad he is!