he was always crap.
Footballers who faded away
- Thread starter simplyared
- Start date
On top, most of the Brazilian footballers.
I am going with a few recent ones
Martin Odegaard
Renato Sanches
Adnan Januzaj
Alexandre Pato
Martin Odegaard
Renato Sanches
Adnan Januzaj
Alexandre Pato
At least half the players in any England U21 tournament squad.
Marko Marin
Marko Marin
That's a great post.
And Stephen Jordan is definitely one for the footballers you forgot existed thread. Haven't thought about him for about a decade. He looked like the Hot Topic Harry Maguire.
He actually played 39 games and scored twice for United in the three years after the treble season which is something I have no memory of. I remember he went to Villa on a free after that but had no idea he actually played over 50 games for them and his Newcastle spell is news to me.
Blomqvist is another one. Never played for United again after the CL final. Had a brief spell at Everton a few years later after his United contract expired, then an even briefer spell at Charlton once Everton released him before going back to Sweden and barely playing over a seven year spell (including three retirements).
Denílson de Oliveir Araújo, known simply as Denilson is one who comes to my mind as he the first youngster I saw go for massive money who flopped when I was younger. Real Betis paid a world record fee of £21.5m, which was a huge fee at the time for him, when he was 20 but in his first season he only managed 2 goals in 35 games. Altogether he played for 17 years at 10 clubs and managed just 332 games scoring 31 goals. He spent the last 2 years of his career playing in Vietnam and Greece. Despite being a member of the 2002 Brazil World Cup winning squad. To may he is seen as not fulfilling his potential despite such initial promise.
A couple of Tim Vickery's obsessions were Éder Álvarez Balanta and Jefferson Montero, both of whom have faded into complete obscurity.
Quintero was close to joining them but he's had a bit of a comeback in the last couple of years.
Quintero was close to joining them but he's had a bit of a comeback in the last couple of years.
Even in 2002 he was already a busted flush. Probably the biggest flop in football history considering the hype.
Totally agree with you. It shocked me for a team Betis to come out and pay that much cash at the time. I for one was expecting something special from him and feel sorry for the fans.
Afellay
Afonso Alves scored 45 league goals in 39 games for Heerenveen, including 7 in one game and earned 8 Brazilian caps that season and a lucrative €20m move to Middlesbro where he managed on to score just 10 league goals in 42 appearances over 2 seasons and then transferred to the Qatari league where he spent the last 5 years of his career.
A bit of an older one but Tomas Brolin.
Fantastic at Euro 92 and WC 94. Top scorer in the former and in the best XI in the latter. Was playing for Parma at club level (who were really big back then), winning Coppa Italia, Europa Cup 2 and 3. He was 4th in 1994's Ballon D'Or. At the very top and wasn't even 25.
And then Leeds (and injuries) happened ...
Retired at 28 and later turned into an overweight poker player.
Fantastic at Euro 92 and WC 94. Top scorer in the former and in the best XI in the latter. Was playing for Parma at club level (who were really big back then), winning Coppa Italia, Europa Cup 2 and 3. He was 4th in 1994's Ballon D'Or. At the very top and wasn't even 25.
And then Leeds (and injuries) happened ...
Retired at 28 and later turned into an overweight poker player.
A bit of an older one but Tomas Brolin.
Fantastic at Euro 92 and WC 94. Top scorer in the former and in the best XI in the latter. Was playing for Parma at club level (who were really big back then), winning Coppa Italia, Europa Cup 2 and 3. He was 4th in 1994's Ballon D'Or. At the very top and wasn't even 25.
And then Leeds (and injuries) happened ...
Retired at 28 and later turned into an overweight poker player.
He must have a really shit hand in this pic! Guy looks devastated! Or is he a Bluffa D'or?
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Dwight Yorke
You can say this about the vast majority of all squads that play in the comp. People seem to fail to understand the nature of the competition that features a lot of B & C list players that will never make senior international grade.
A better example would be the Holland sides that won the tournament back to back in 2006/07. Holland hoped it would be a new golden generation but the players that had ended up having the best careers were Huntelaar and Babel.
Another great example for this thread from those sides would be Royston Drenthe. Real paid big money for him on the back of his performances there. He totally flopped and was playing in the Championship a few years later.
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Michael Essien was absolutely finished by 28, when he should've been approaching his prime. Was an absolute monster in his mid-twenties.
Most Brazilian forwards are finished by their mid-to-late-twenties.
Most Brazilian forwards are finished by their mid-to-late-twenties.
Maybe. I just remember how "Experts" predicted (at the time he had his first games under Pep) that Hojbjerg will have a better career than Kroos, because he seems to be so "complete".
I absolutely loved Essien, phenomenal player but his decline was rapid.
Alexis Sanchez
Marco Rigters
Ben Arfa? Faded before he ever got anywhere though
Rooney has had one of the most successful careers of any footballer ever. Hard to classify him as the faded type.
He just had a very early start and a very early peak, so people were expecting more of the same from him in his late 20s and early 30s...but he just ran out of steam.
He is actually 30. Born in 1989.
Ran out of steam at like 28, that’s not a common occurrence at this level.
He’s had a fabulous career, but I think most people expected him to do well into his 30s.
He had a phenomenal career, but it's still a fair shout. He was finished as a world class player by 26 (Fergie saw this), and was completely finished as a PL player by 29, his 15/16 season was genuinely embarrassing at times. Considering his passing ability, footballing brain, and workrate, many expected him to excel as a midfielder well into his 30's. He is still only 33, he could easily still be at United right now if he didn't decline so badly.
In today's football you just can't get away with eating junk food, smoking cigars and downing too many lagers.
Yes, the injury took away his enourmous running powers and he ended up looking like he was towing a tractor. Really sad!
Yep. It's mental to think that he's a year younger than Ronaldo. The difference in career trajectory is quite sad.
Micah Richards. Looked absolutely class when he burst on to the scene at City. Was tipped for a big things. Constantly shifted from CB to RB and vice versa which probably didn't help. A bad lifestyle and being reliant on his physical attributes basically ended his elite level career.
Antonio Cassano. Again lifestyle issues meant he didn't carry on his career as he should have.
Antonio Cassano. Again lifestyle issues meant he didn't carry on his career as he should have.
Richards is a great shout. Somehow only just turned 31, having not played a minute of football since 2016.
Was England's regular right back for a year or so when he was only 18-19 while G.Nev was injured. Sad how his career turned out.
Along with not looking after his body the he should have,, was there also a bit of him running himself into the ground with his workrate? It was great seeing him work his socks off, but maybe he over did it and might have lasted longer if he'd paced himself a bit better duing games?
Actually thought you were on about the Arsenal Denilson. He was a regular for them up to 2011 despite not showing that much. Just checked and seems he left Arsenal in 2013, had two spells with Sao Paulo and then he didn't play for anyone between 2017 and 2019. Signed for Botafogo this year, he's still only 31.
I'd actually forgotten about the Arsenal Denilson. Thanks for informing me about him mate
Leandro Damiao, we were linked with him for I’m sure 3 seasons. Then he seemed to die. Any Brazilian posters tell me how good he was?
True, but such a waste of talent. Injuries didn't help either, but still.
Sold to protect Giggs as well more than anything. Like you said he doing all the wrong things and not showing his career the respect it had shown him.
He must really regret the chance he threw away. He'd have still been playing during the treble season if he'd stayed fit.
Complete show pony of a footballer, even the Brazilian manager used him as a party piece when a match was won.
Throw him on and watch him so 20 step overs when he could have just beat them with pace.
I'd say more brainless than talented.
Alan Smith