Sempiternal Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 3 hours ago, Novocastrian said: Joe Cole based on his reputation, he had a decent career but was never the player he was built up to be. Lot of that was down to Mourinho imo. Won a lot of course but he really coached the expressiveness out of him. Similar to grealish/pep Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gottlob Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 When Denilson became the most expensive player in the world in the late nineties, it seemed inevitable at least to me that he'd be Brazil's next big flair player, tearing it up for years to come alongside Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Roberto Carlos. Then Adriano briefly looked like he'd be the dominant striker of his generation given his pace, strength and that stonking left foot. It's a slightly different question but I remember Alexander Baumjohann being highly rated as a youth and for his potential on Pro Evolution Soccer, potential which seemed more likely to come to fruition when he was signed for a brief spell by Bayern Munich. For us Hugo Viana is the one that stands out. I still think he's one of the best passers I've seen and was ahead of the game when he joined us for the way he could pass the ball into feet and find space and look to build triangles. I still wonder how he'd have fared at the right club or a good few years later as ball retention and midfield threes became more popular. The other answer is obviously Adam Armstrong, who looked like and still very well might prove a reincarnation of Sergio Aguero. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 4 hours ago, Ronaldo said: 10/11. He was shit in 09/10 until mid-season. Looked outrageously good in first half of 10/11 in terms of being difficult to defend against. I never thought he'd be top class. The fact we easily replaced him with Ba that summer, then Cisse came in and did what he did, then Remy... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Icarus Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 A bit left field but I thought Martin Palermo and Jared Borgetti would do well in Europe Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mighty__mag Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Has Fredy Adu been mentioned? Cobi Jones, I think this guy played in the USA 94 World Cup, he was rapid, went on to sign for Coventry City, but never did much. Ibrahim Ba, One of the guys who stood out, had the bleached white afro, again lightning quick, got his big move to Milan, and France national call ups, but never really progressed. Kierrison, His numbers at his team in Brazil were so good he got his move to Barcelona, but that seemed to be the move that killed him. I think even we were interested at one time, but he was shipped out on loan to Benfica, then loaned here there and everywhere. Ravel Morrison, Everyone said he was the best player in the group they had at the time, a youth set up that included Pogba. Not sure if I'm stating the obvious now, The first two though were personal ones, I watched and thought they look like they could be stars. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilikenewcastle Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Not sure if anyone has mentioned Tim Krul. After his debut I thought he'd be a star, after 11/12 I thought he'd one day leave us to join an elite club. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnNUFC Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 7 hours ago, Rafalove said: Isco, Gotze, Pogba, Dybala, Sergio Canales, Tiote, Perez, Thauvin, Thiago Alcantara, Sebastian Haller. Absolutely loved Dybala when he was at Juve before Ronaldo signed. 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 he was phenomenal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBrownBottle Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Tommy Svindal Larsen, based on nowt except Champ Man 97/98 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBrownBottle Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 4 hours ago, mighty__mag said: Has Fredy Adu been mentioned? Cobi Jones, I think this guy played in the USA 94 World Cup, he was rapid, went on to sign for Coventry City, but never did much. Ibrahim Ba, One of the guys who stood out, had the bleached white afro, again lightning quick, got his big move to Milan, and France national call ups, but never really progressed. Kierrison, His numbers at his team in Brazil were so good he got his move to Barcelona, but that seemed to be the move that killed him. I think even we were interested at one time, but he was shipped out on loan to Benfica, then loaned here there and everywhere. Ravel Morrison, Everyone said he was the best player in the group they had at the time, a youth set up that included Pogba. Not sure if I'm stating the obvious now, The first two though were personal ones, I watched and thought they look like they could be stars. We were linked to Ba in the late ‘90s. He always looked like he was going to be a cracking winger. Also, the bleached barnet preferred by flair players of the mid- to late-‘90s is still burned into my memory banks, watching Gazzetta hungover to buggery Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lush Vlad Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Seb Bassong I think our defence and the team in general were so bad that season. That he stood out as being much better than he actually was, despite a few mistakes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lush Vlad Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 16 hours ago, Rafalove said: Isco, Gotze, Pogba, Dybala, Sergio Canales, Tiote, Perez, Thauvin, Thiago Alcantara, Sebastian Haller. I think he is world class when he plays. Problem is, he only plays about 10-20 games a season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbandit Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Bassong was great, I loved him. Obviously nowhere near world class but it was great to have someone so solid in defence for once Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezzle Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Did people genuinely think soo many ex nufc kids that had next to nothing careers were going to be world class? Definitely Adriano, Denilson, Adu, Quaresma, Bojan, Saviola, Guti, Pato, dos Santos etc all had huge potential and varied careers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 (edited) Bojan and Dos Santos are great examples. In fact that whole list is spot on. Edited January 2 by Optimistic Nut Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbandit Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Yeah, Bojan might be the king of this thread Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 D'Alessandro who had a spell at Pompey sticks in mind too. Might be CM/FM influenced that one though. I remember everyone absolutely raving about Pongolle & Le Tallec when Liverpool snapped them up from France. Were bigged up hugely by Houllier as the next big things from there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 (edited) Going back to the Ryan Gauld one, kid called Burchill who broke through at Celtic the same time Owen did at Liverpool was meant to be going to be something special. Didn't happen. Just looked him up, 6 caps for Scotland, last of them before he'd turned 20. Edited January 2 by Optimistic Nut Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezzle Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 1 minute ago, Optimistic Nut said: D'Alessandro who had a spell at Pompey sticks in mind too. Might be CM/FM influenced that one though. I remember everyone absolutely raving about Pongolle & Le Tallec when Liverpool snapped them up from France. Were bigged up hugely by Houllier as the next big things from there. Yeah i thought D'Aessandro but was more FM, didnt Aresnal sign a few wonderkids from there that never amounted to much? Sure i remember a French/Spanish few Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilko Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 4 minutes ago, Optimistic Nut said: D'Alessandro who had a spell at Pompey sticks in mind too. Might be CM/FM influenced that one though. I remember everyone absolutely raving about Pongolle & Le Tallec when Liverpool snapped them up from France. Were bigged up hugely by Houllier as the next big things from there. I was convinced Sherman Andres Cardenas was going to be the best player of all time and I've never seen him play once https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Cárdenas Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezzle Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 1 minute ago, Pilko said: I was convinced Sherman Andres Cardenas was going to be the best player of all time and I've never seen him play once https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Cárdenas Same with Fredy William Thompson from CM03/04 whatever it was haha Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbandit Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 I’m not sure that I thought he’d be world class but I thought Aubameyang would have a much better career Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEFAFWISP Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Remember Djibril Cisse had major hype in his Auxerre days, also him, Mexes and Boumsong being there late 90s and looking pretty good. Vikash Dhorasoo was another one for the Le Havre hype train (Le Tallec, Pongolle, Pogba, Boumsong, Lassana Diarra, Mahrez, Ibrahim Ba...the list goes on). Thought he'd play in those great French teams of late 90s way more than he did. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
enthusiast Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Paul Brayson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stal Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Just by who I always used to sign on Football Manager waayyyyy back when, Henri Saivet. Was this great forward player before we bought him, by which time he was a defensive mid who had one good game at Everton, got dropped and was barely heard from again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holloway Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Rebrov, Veron, Torres, Wishire spring to mind, Sanchez at a push Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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