I didn't say 'bad', I said underwhelming.
Fabregas was a luxury signing that didn't help their cause because they've changed the way the play and he doesn't really fit in. Not his fault and I'm sure he'll do well, eventually. But the timing was off.
Then you have the likes of Keirrison, Hleb, Cáceres along with Ibrahamovic and Chrystangsky. I've not been massively impressed with Alexis Sanchez or Affelay but they deserves more time. Although Affelay is only a year younger than Podolski.
In the middle of the spectrum, they have the likes of Keita and Maxwell who were decent enough, I guess.
Didn't realise Pique was away from Barcelona for that long, still I can't imagine he was radically altered as a player in Manchester, unlike Fabregas. Which is why I count the latter as a new signing/unknown quantity and not the former.
Villa is probably the best striker around but he wasn't firing either, he was underwhelming because there was talk that he wasn't the right fit for the team. Just like Fabregas.
