Because he went to go play in Qatar
Footballers who faded away
- Thread starter simplyared
- Start date
Michael Ricketts - played for England then went crap
Jose Baxter - smashed loads of Rooney's records as a kid, played for Everton at 16
Jose Baxter - smashed loads of Rooney's records as a kid, played for Everton at 16
Remained a world class party animal though. I dont think it was down to him not trying anymore. Sooner or later the partying will catch up with a sportsmans body and they lose the magic and never get it back even if they wanted too. George Best, Mike Tyson to name just two others.
Our two time player of the season was ruined the moment Jose returned to Chelsea. What you saw at Utd was a pale shadow of the player we had for his first two seasons.
not sure how you work the Owen one out and we should have bought Joe Cole at the same time as we got Carrick
maybe was mentioned here, our former player Giuseppe Rossi, one time was amazing for yellow submarine in spain around 2011, even barcelona considered his availability but everybody knows his knees since then killed his career unfortunatelly, what a player in his days
Bit of a nebulous question.
“faded away” to my mind means a player that was excellent but just inexplicably lost his ability (not because of injuries or whatever).
So I’d have to say maybe Jose Antonio Reyes? Looked absolutely incredible at times but just kind of disappeared.
“faded away” to my mind means a player that was excellent but just inexplicably lost his ability (not because of injuries or whatever).
So I’d have to say maybe Jose Antonio Reyes? Looked absolutely incredible at times but just kind of disappeared.
Thought of Reyes when someone mentioned Liam Miller. Guess he just peaked early.
Joe Cole is a Chelsea fan. His dream was to play for them, so you were never in with a shot of signing him if Chelsea came calling.
Snapped his achilles on England duty and was never the same player again although he did hit that 50 yard ball for Lee Martin to score the winner in the 90 cup final and won a cup winners cup medal the season after as well. He was very good in his last season when we finished runners up to dirty Leeds before being dropped after i believe him and Fergie fell out.
That's the thing — unlike most he actually kept performing but somehow faded away from all general football discussion. At least from the discussion that I'm able to see. His partnership with Raul at Schalke is probably the last I've heard of him — so, 2012.
For me I never quite understood how Lee Sharpe could waste his chance and career at United. He was one of my fave players in the early 90s. Total shambles of a career after leaving United.
United lost boys
bebe
obertan
djemba djemba
poborsky
Mark robins
Anderson ( I think he is working in KFC now with indykalia )
William prunier
Kleberson
Tosic
Graeme tomlinson
Ronnie Wallwork
David Bellion
Manucho
Macheda
Alex Buttner
Dong Fangzhuo
Ritchie De Laet
this is fun , faded in my mind they probably went on somewhere else
bebe
obertan
djemba djemba
poborsky
Mark robins
Anderson ( I think he is working in KFC now with indykalia )
William prunier
Kleberson
Tosic
Graeme tomlinson
Ronnie Wallwork
David Bellion
Manucho
Macheda
Alex Buttner
Dong Fangzhuo
Ritchie De Laet
this is fun , faded in my mind they probably went on somewhere else
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Fergie tried his bet to try and straighten him out, even going round a house to drag him away from a party. Sadly, if a player chooses boozing and womanzing over being a serious professional, then there's nothing anyone can do about it.
He was still a good player when he left. The knee injury at Leeds finished him though.
Owen was tearing up the PL averaging 18 goals/season at Liverpool. He was still only 24 when he left for RM. Normally the prime of a footballers career. Since that move he was never the same player. Whether the dramatic form drop was down to injury or the fear of being injured is not quite clear. However at "the ripe old age of 25-26" he'd fallen from superstar status to mediocrity. So why don't you think he fits the description as explained in the op?
Gifted footballer but away from the game he was doing all tha wrong things. The fact he was competing with Giggs for his place didn't help him either.
Gotze is the main one for me. Ridiculously talented, scored the winner in the final of the World Cup. No idea how he’s doing now or if he’s even a regular.
Actually managed to relaunch his career after leaving United at Benfica and later at Lazio.
Was a bit injury prone and tha tprobably pinned his career.
https://www.zerozero.pt/video.php?id=5380
One for either this thread or players forgotten about but .. Carlos Alberto, scored vs Monaco, looked amazing lil prospect.
Spoken (as always) from a Dutch perspective
Rafael van der Vaart (At some point they called him the new Zidane at Real I think)
Wesley Sneijder (from almost Ballon d'or winner to playing in Turkey within a year or two)
Edwin van der Sar between his time at Ajax and United
Andy van der Meijde (mediocrity doesn't quite cut it)
Ibrahim Afellay
Memphis (this one is to be decided in the next couple of years)
Rafael van der Vaart (At some point they called him the new Zidane at Real I think)
Wesley Sneijder (from almost Ballon d'or winner to playing in Turkey within a year or two)
Edwin van der Sar between his time at Ajax and United
Andy van der Meijde (mediocrity doesn't quite cut it)
Ibrahim Afellay
Memphis (this one is to be decided in the next couple of years)
Federico Macheda
Went from Saviour of the season to a nobody very quickly.
We expected him to be the next Van Nistelrooy but it never quite worked out that way.
Went from Saviour of the season to a nobody very quickly.
We expected him to be the next Van Nistelrooy but it never quite worked out that way.
I think he was still one of the deadliest finishers in the game although I agree that injury did change things for him. Wached him more when he joined us and his runs were brilliant - if he had been picked out a bit more often...
Ronny Johnson.
A starting player during our most successful season yet is rarely spoken about. Was he old that season? was he carried by Stam? I actually don’t remember anything he did after that season.
A starting player during our most successful season yet is rarely spoken about. Was he old that season? was he carried by Stam? I actually don’t remember anything he did after that season.
Carrick went to Spurs and Cole to Chelsea. I seem to remember Fergie saying something about wanting to buy Cole from West Ham but that Carrick was the better player of the two.
Massimo Taibi. Wasn't so much fading away as a total and sudden blackout.
Roberto Soldado.
The phrase " it's better to burn out than fade away " comes to mind. Can apply it to players like adriano, gazza etc.
I loved Harry Kewell. Man!
He was astounding at Leeds. Then...
He was astounding at Leeds. Then...
He couldn’t hit a barn door for us though.
Still remember the first game when he got through and you’re getting ready to celebrate and he sliced it wide and thinking it wasn’t going to work out.
Agreed his runs were brilliant.
He used to do everything at pace and then it got to the point where he was always walking with the ball and not moving at all quickly.
There you go didnt know that . Thanks
You have a better knowledge of him but he was viewed as the future Maradona and his relatively limited physical impact certainly played a role in his path
I've always thought Freddie Ljungberg faded away after the mid noughties. I remember gooners frothing at the gash over him in 01/02 saying he'd end up being better than Giggs.
Fabio 
Underrated I feel. A bit like Henning Berg.
There are some players who fit this because they were all set for "the big move", it didn't happen for one reason or another and they just ended up ambling along for a mid-range club for a few more years, sometimes playing steadily worse while they fade. Brede Hangeland was all set for Arsenal, Winston Reid seemed a cert to leave West Ham a few years ago for a bigger club and he's still there (he'd probably have an 80m plus price tag on him now at the age and level he was at then), Berahino famously went to shit when he didn't get his Spurs move.
Albert Luque and Hugo Vianna
He was a very, very good defender but injuries ruined the guy. I can't remember anything after that season either.
Not a great signing anyway but career not helped by contracting Malaria at AFCON. That was the beginning of the decline for him.