Sky Sports Focus – Fantasy Football Scout League Details

tl;dr

I don't have a particularly nice way to present it but I've been having a quick look into how well Premier League players start the season after reaching the late stages of the last couple of major tournaments (Euro 2012, WC 2010 - couldn't be bothered to go back further)

The quick version is that there's no clear discernible pattern which isn't a great surprise given the small sample size I've taken. I advise you to stop reading now. The long version is...

In 2010 there were 10 PL players in the squads of the World Cup finalists (Spain and Netherlands) Their starts to the season were as follows:

Fabregas: played just 215 minutes of the first 8 league games.
Silva: played all of GW1 then only 14 minutes of next 3 fixtures. Started returning FPL points in GW8.
van Persie: played just 260 minutes of the first 19 league games missing 11 games entirely.
Heitinga: unused sub in GW1 then used as sub or subbed off in most games up until Christmas after which he became more nailed on.
Torres: late sub in first game, played at decent standard after that (5 goals/4 assists in first 12 games).
Kuyt: played full 90 in each of the first 3 games. Missed next 2 through injury, returned for 2 then missed another 3 through injury. Played the rest of the season ok. Goalscoring form was poor until near the end of the season.
Van der Vaart: missed first 3 matches as didn't sign until August 31, from GW4 onwards played most matches with consistently good output.
Babel: scarcely used all season (on account of being cack).
de Jong: no noticeable impact on gametime/output.
Reina: no noticeable impact on gametime/output.

Also, Jerome Boateng was in the Germany squad which came 3rd. He didn't feature in a league game until late September after which he achieved a run of 7 league starts and then was in and out of the team.

Those who were knocked out at the quarter final stage experienced no noticeable problems in the main.

In 2012 there were 7 PL players in the squads of the Euro finalists (Spain and Italy):

Torres: barely missed a minute in the first half of the season including 180 minutes in DGW1. 4 goals and 2 assists in first 7 GWs.
Mata: subbed off in the second half of each of the first 3 games, missed GW4 then embarked on a run of 4 goals and 5 assists from GW5 - GW9.
Cazorla: barely missed a minute all season and featured in every game scoring fairly consistently throughout.
Silva: subbed on in 2 and off in 2 of the first 4 games before completing 90 minutes in each of the next 3 then getting injured for a few weeks. 2 assists in that period.
Reina: no noticeable impact on gametime/output (although was injured GWs 8 through 11)
Balotelli: in and out of the team through squad rotation, no goals until the end of November.
Borini: started the first few games before falling out of favour and fracturing a metatarsal. Scored one goal at the end of the season.

The semi finalists (Germany and Portugal) gave the Premier League:

Podolski: started and subbed off in every game until the end of November scoring 4 goals in 13 games.
Mertesacker: benched in GW6 but otherwise played every minute of the first 18 weeks.
Nani: in and out of the team early on before suffering a hamstring injury which kept him out for a couple of months. Sporadic appearances once fit.

The players in the squads of the quarter finalists appear broadly to be a typical cross section of injuries/performances.

Those due to be playing in the Premier League this season who reached the latter stages of World Cup 2014 as far as I can see:

Germany: Ozil, Schurrle, Podolski, Mertesacker
Argentina: Zabaleta, Demichelis, Aguero
Netherlands: Vlaar, de Guzman, van Persie, Vorm, Krul, Janmaat
Brazil: Fernandinho, Paulinho, Oscar, Ramires, Willian

Obviously I'm not saying any of the above is directly as a result of the summer tournaments as opposed to predisposition to injury, managerial tactics, etc. I'm just offering this up for consideration.