Guest firetotheworks Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Im not sure if this has done before, but never mind. Talk of Woodgate for England made me start to think about players that didn't truly fulfill their undoubted talent, either due to injuries, lifestyle, or coaching. It would be interesting to hear about players you think fit into this category. Here's mine so far: Woodgate, Ashton, Pele (I know, but he didn't play in a European league) Dyer, Viduka. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishmael Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Pele I don't think for a second that his talent was wasted. Winner here is Gaza btw Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stephen927 Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 David Dunn to an extent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishmael Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Oh and by your reckoning of Pele, Shearer could equally make your list. As instead of playing at a top European club, he 'wasted' his talent with us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobby_solano Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 robbie fowler (to an extent) patrick kluivert gazza daniel cadamarteri Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest firetotheworks Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Pele I don't think for a second that his talent was wasted. Winner here is Gaza btw I know it's a bit of a weird one, I just think he didn't test himself in the best leagues. I know he did in the WC, but imagine if he'd played for Barca or AC etc? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKSC Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 robbie fowler (to an extent) patrick kluivert gazza daniel cadamarteri Beat me to it Nobby. Could and should have been the very best striker in the world. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest firetotheworks Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Oh and by your reckoning of Pele, Shearer could equally make your list. As instead of playing at a top European club, he 'wasted' his talent with us. Not really, he was in a top european league playing for a team that at the team was tipped for the top, he played in the champions league and the WC. Over the year's he maybe wasted it to an extent, but he proved it more than anything by becoming the top scorer by some distance in one of the toughest and fastest leagues going. Pele proved it in the WC as far as I'm concerned, nowhere else. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 You could argue about players like Le Tissier and Merson, if they could be arsed to do physical training they would've been truly world class. In modern times players like Andy Reid and David Dunn, although they're both doing better recently. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elbel1 Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Nigel Clough - Top, top player til Souness got his hands on him Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobby_solano Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 stan collymore's another one, him and fowler were a fantastic partnership for a brief period Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest firetotheworks Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Ameobi to an extent. If he wasn't the epitome of a confidence player, he'd probably have been a very decent PL striker. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKSC Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 You just know that Le Tissier didn't move to a top club because he couldn't be arsed to exert himself at all. It's unquestionable that United, Liverpool et al made offers for him. Saints would have accepted a decent fee as they never had a lot of cash, but he never would have gone. The ultimate example of a player living in a comfort zone. As such he can't complain that he never got a chance for England. Not that I don't agree he should have had more chances, but he is the ultimate luxury player. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David28 Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Joey Barton for me. Don't really think Viduka should be on this list, though. Had a great career for an Australian by playing Champions League, Uefa Cup, Premier League and at the World Cup. Edit: And of course Sebastian Deisler, who once was "THAT" talent in Germany. Sadly injuries came and he got depressions... which eventually lead to the end of his career. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishmael Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Oh and by your reckoning of Pele, Shearer could equally make your list. As instead of playing at a top European club, he 'wasted' his talent with us. Not really, he was in a top european league playing for a team that at the team was tipped for the top, he played in the champions league and the WC. Over the year's he maybe wasted it to an extent, but he proved it more than anything by becoming the top scorer by some distance in one of the toughest and fastest leagues going. Pele proved it in the WC as far as I'm concerned, nowhere else. These threads are never easy to define as there is too much variety in measures/abilities/expectations etc. So you could say Shearer had the talent to captain a Champions League winning team. He didn't therefore he wasted his talent. Obviously completely subjective here. IMO Shearer did waste his talent with us. But he wanted to and we benefited from it. So no real complaints from either side, probably. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarrenBartonCentrePartin Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Hugo Viana Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest firetotheworks Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Joey Barton for me. Don't really think Viduka should be on this list, though. Had a great career for an Australian by playing Champions League, Uefa Cup, Premier League and at the World Cup. He's always had a tendency to be overweight, lazy and unfit though. He could have been nearly as good as Bergkamp imo. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Ameobi to an extent. If he wasn't the epitome of a confidence player, he'd probably have been a very decent PL striker. You're probably right, his personality is probably his biggest weakness. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gggg Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Pele (I know, but he didn't play in a European league) You're having a laugh, players didn't move around much in those in those days because the pay was similar, was probably more in South American due to the maximum wage, a few English players moved to Columbia in the fifties/sixties for a better wage. So the best leagues were the ones who produced the best players which was clearly Brazil at the time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 I always thought Lua Lua was going to be immense, but he never quite made it. Not sure if it's wasted talent or just lack of talent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest firetotheworks Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Oh and by your reckoning of Pele, Shearer could equally make your list. As instead of playing at a top European club, he 'wasted' his talent with us. Not really, he was in a top european league playing for a team that at the team was tipped for the top, he played in the champions league and the WC. Over the year's he maybe wasted it to an extent, but he proved it more than anything by becoming the top scorer by some distance in one of the toughest and fastest leagues going. Pele proved it in the WC as far as I'm concerned, nowhere else. These threads are never easy to define as there is too much variety in measures/abilities/expectations etc. So you could say Shearer had the talent to captain a Champions League winning team. He didn't therefore he wasted his talent. Obviously completely subjective here. IMO Shearer did waste his talent with us. But he wanted to and we benefited from it. So no real complaints from either side, probably. You don't prove your talent by the team you play for though, it's the opposition you play against. Shearer proved it against every level of opposition in a team that for a long time wasn't as good as the top teams. To me that's proving it more than wasting it, but like we've said, it is totally subjective. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest firetotheworks Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Pele (I know, but he didn't play in a European league) You're having a laugh, players didn't move around much in those in those days because the pay was similar, was probably more in South American due to the maximum wage, a few English players moved to Columbia in the fifties/sixties for a better wage. So the best leagues were the ones who produced the best players which was clearly Brazil at the time. I'll have to take your word for it because I wasn't around for it. Perhaps wasted because he wasn't in the right era then. But fuck it, you could have thousands of players that fit that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishmael Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 You see, you're right in that sense. Totally. But isn't football about winning? So to prove yourself to the up most limit in football is to win the most esteemed competition you can, as many times as you can. Hmm, so by my reckoning. Alan proved his ability, but wasted his talent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest firetotheworks Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 You see, you're right in that sense. Totally. But isn't football about winning? So to prove yourself to the up most limit in football is to win the most esteemed competition you can, as many times as you can. Hmm, so by my reckoning. Alan proved his ability, but wasted his talent. Good compromise. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gggg Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Pele (I know, but he didn't play in a European league) You're having a laugh, players didn't move around much in those in those days because the pay was similar, was probably more in South American due to the maximum wage, a few English players moved to Columbia in the fifties/sixties for a better wage. So the best leagues were the ones who produced the best players which was clearly Brazil at the time. I'll have to take your word for it because I wasn't around for it. Perhaps wasted because he wasn't in the right era then. But fuck it, you could have thousands of players that fit that. I don't see how he wasted anything, he's considered the best player ever ffs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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