Top ten wasted talents

Ole's_toe_poke · 12th October 2010, 19:06

Got the idea from F365.

F365's Top Ten Wasted Talents...

Any more nominations?

Quote:

10 - Ryan Green
Most Wolves fans were only vaguely aware of a 17-year-old right-back called Green when Bobby Gould called him up to the Welsh squad in 1998. Remarkably, Green would make his senior Wales debut (at that time, becoming the youngest player to ever appear for the country) before he even played for the Wolves first team, and on his Molineux bow the crowd discovered what all the fuss was about. However, the next 18 months were spent in and out of the treatment room with an array of non-specific injuries, and when he finally found his fitness again, he had regressed. Green has spent the intervening years kicking around the lower rungs of the Football League (he's now at Hereford), and while the 'Looked brilliant, turned out to be pony' story is a common one, few rises and falls could be as stark.

9 - Joe Cole
Here is a man who has been promising for the past decade. Around 15 years ago, you didn't exactly have to be 'in the know' to hear about this kid at West Ham. Every time Alex Ferguson (sans the 'Sir' back then) would meet Harry Redknapp, the opening gambit would not be 'Hello Harry' or 'Wine?', but 'How's that Cole boy?' This was going to be the kid who would change English football, the flair merchant we'd been missing since Gazza's prime. As it turns out, Cole has burned brightly but sporadically, starring on occasion for Chelsea but never being particularly reliable. That he never seemed to finish a game while at Stamford Bridge tells you a lot. Cole will point to his impressive medal collection, but we expected so much more.

8 - Robin Friday
The original remit of this column was to keep things relatively recent, but it would be remiss of us not to include the cover star of the Super Furry Animals single 'The Man Don't Give A F**k'. Predictably, Friday is portrayed flicking the Vs at a prone goalkeeper after scoring a goal. For those that aren't familiar with his work, Friday was an outrageous talent who never made it beyond the Third Division (playing for Reading and Cardiff), but whose skill was only matched by his capacity for, erm, 'off-the-field' distractions. If nothing else, notable for taking a dump in Mark Lawrenson's kitbag after being irritated by the future pundit extraordinaire while playing Brighton. Charming. As was perhaps inevitable, Friday was found dead in his flat aged 38.

7 - Billy Kenny
Those that saw him say he was a peerless giant, a midfield maestro who would go on to dominate the Premier League for years, possessing the skill of Gascoigne and the toughness of Bremner. The trouble is, those that saw him could probably gather in a modest pub function room to discuss his talent. Kenny made only 17 appearances for Everton, before self-destructing. "Some mornings I got home at four or five, had a couple of lines of cocaine, slept for an hour and then went to training," he reflected, after ending his professional career aged just 21. A sad story? Or was it in fact a blessing that Kenny's career ended so quickly, saving us and him from 18 years of car-crash tragedy?

6 - Winston Bogarde
Bogarde was a beast, a battering ram of a defender who could just as easily boot you in the air as play a cultured pass into the midfield. You might suggest that a player who won the Champions League once and four league titles can hardly be described as a waste, but Bogarde arguably wasted the prime of his career. As a centre-half, 29 is possibly the key age - you have experience and nous without losing your pace. That's when Bogarde signed for Chelsea (on a free from Barcelona with legendarily hilarious wages), but he made a grand total of four starts, before Claudio Ranieri arrived and decided he wasn't much to look at. A move to another club then? Not on your nelly. As you'll know, Bogarde spent the next three years in the Chelsea stiffs, counting his money. "Why should I throw fifteen million euros away when it is already mine? At the moment I signed it was in fact my money, my contract," was his justification, when asked to take a move on lesser wages. Brilliantly, his autobiography is entitled 'This Negro Bows for No One'.

5 - Carlo Cudicini
It's slightly curious that Bogarde has such a bad reptuation while Cudicini is generally seen as a pretty good guy despite both spending large portions of their career on the Chelsea bench with no prospect of making the first team. For a spell, Chelsea were regarded as having the best two keepers in the Premier League on their books, but with Petr Cech so far ahead, the Italian was always going to be second best. Still, that didn't stop him from sitting quite happily on the sidelines, even signing a new contract, until he swapped one bench for another with a move to understudy Heurelho Gomes at Spurs.

4 - Adriano
To step away from these shores for a moment, this piece would feel incomplete without mentioning Adriano. When he arrived in Europe back in 2001, Adriano looked genuinely unstoppable. Signed by Inter but loaned out to Fiorentina, then dual-owned by Parma (where he partnered fellow waste Mutu), the Brazilian scored goals in the notoriously tough Serie A for fun. The problem was, he wasn't having fun at all. A classic case of a kid taken away too soon (he was 19 when Inter bought him), one senses that Adriano has never really grown up. He had problems with turning up to training, which led to problems with his weight, and he was sent back to Brazil to get his head right twice, before Inter finally gave up in 2009. A good spell with Flamengo was enough to persuade Roma to take the mother of all chances and bring him back to Italy this summer, but he promptly got injured and missed the start of the season. A sign of things to come? Unfortunately, it looks likely.

3 - Adrian Mutu
The purchase of a relatively little-known Romanian for £15million was almost lost in the projectile vomit of cash that sprayed from Chelsea in 2003. Mutu, owned by Inter but loaned out, was a glorious talent who starred in a Verona team full of such talents (Mauro Camoranesi, Alberto Gilardino, Sebastian Frey, Massimo Oddo) in the early 2000s, before moving to Parma and eventually London. He started off fantastically, scoring goals in his early games, but it did not last. The malaise led to the cocaine incident that defines his career. If you thought Chelsea sacking a man with apparent problems was harsh, how about suing him for breach of contract and insisting he pay £22million in damages? Mutu was eventually ordered to pay around £14.8million, and is still wading through the swamp of the appeal courts. One could say Mutu has never recovered, despite occasional flashes of his promise for Fiorentina and Juventus, and failed another doping test last year. Incidentally, his ban for that one is up on October 29.

2 - Stan Collymore
This might be slightly skewed by your correspondent watching Collymore most weeks for the two years he was at Nottingham Forest, but by God he was special. If you were to design a perfect centre-forward, Collymore would be what you'd come up with. Tall, strong, lightning quick, two-footed (he famously scored against Manchester United with his right foot, after United scouts informed Pallister, Bruce et al he was all left foot, and defended accordingly), a brilliant touch and could score from anywhere. His only slight weakness was in the air, which is perhaps appropriate given that all of his problems came from his head. A move to Liverpool followed (where he didn't get on with anyone), then Villa (ditto), then a series of false dawns and starts at Fulham, Leicester, Bradford and Real Oviedo. Read his book if you want a full account of the demons, but had his head been in the right place, Collymore could genuinely have been one of the greatest strikers in the world.

1 - Paul Gascoigne
What could've been done about Gazza? Was there any manager who could've turned the raw genius into a functioning footballer, but more importantly a functioning human being? A couple of years ago, Sir Alex Ferguson gave an interview in which he suggested he could've been that man. United had a promise from Gascoigne that he would sign for them, but he changed his mind at the last and moved to Spurs. "We had Bryan Robson, a Geordie, Steve Bruce, a Geordie, Gary Pallister, from Middlesbrough," said Ferguson. "We had a structure of players who could have helped him and it could have given him some discipline."

Danny Baker once said the young Gascoigne was the best footballer in the world, because he made crowds gasp, in a way that they hadn't in years. Some blame Baker, Chris Evans and Jimmy Five Bellies (now down to just the two bellies, if you've seen pictures of him recently) for leading him astray, but one suspects/fears that even if they'd abstained, Gazza would've found someone to join him on the lash. Read the section in Baker's latest book about Gazza, and you feel genuine affection for the man.

Every time I see the name 'Paul Gascoigne' in the news, I recoil, because I fear the day it's going to be followed by '...was found dead'. It's almost a relief to hear he's just been arrested for being pissed again. It's hard to see how he can be helped - he has a perfect storm of illnesses that are tragically only pointing one way.

SirAF · 12th October 2010, 19:27

Denilson

Nick 0208 Ldn · 12th October 2010, 19:30

Saviola

TonyMontana · 12th October 2010, 19:32

Diego Latorre

Makki · 12th October 2010, 19:34

Quaresma.

TonyMontana · 12th October 2010, 19:34

Steven Gerrard?

charleysurf · 12th October 2010, 19:34

Robbie Fowler

Lance Uppercut · 12th October 2010, 19:36

De La Pena.

Berlinknives · 12th October 2010, 19:36

Dean Sturridge

Boss · 12th October 2010, 19:37

Adriano is actually fucking TRAGIC

R.N7 · 12th October 2010, 19:38

Sebastian Deisler

Anderson15 · 12th October 2010, 19:38

Pablo Aimar

TonyMontana · 12th October 2010, 19:39

Danny Murphy

Ole's_toe_poke · 12th October 2010, 19:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by charleysurf

Robbie Fowler

Was he wasted? He had quite a number of good seasons. Leeds and Houllier really fucked it up for him though.

TonyMontana · 12th October 2010, 19:39

Ryan Babel

wr8_utd · 12th October 2010, 19:40

Bhaichung Bhutia

Carl · 12th October 2010, 19:41

Lee Sharpe.

::sonny:: · 12th October 2010, 19:41

Cassano
Paulo Sousa (injuries)
Jamie Redknapp (injuries)
Darren Anderton (injuries)
Casiraghi (injuries)
Le Tissier

::sonny:: · 12th October 2010, 19:43

Prosinecky
Boksic
Zickler
Ziegler

Mighty Boosh · 12th October 2010, 19:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by R.Nilsson7

Sebastian Deisler

Great shout, was meant to be the rising star of German football for so long but ultimately came to nothing

Makki · 12th October 2010, 19:46

Le Tallec and Pongolle

Supposed to be better than Ronaldo.

wr8_utd · 12th October 2010, 19:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Makki

Le Tallec and Pongolle

Supposed to be better than Ronaldo.

Can't believe they rejected Ronaldo for Le Tallec

RDCR07 · 12th October 2010, 19:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by wr8_utd

Can't believe they rejected Ronaldo for Le Tallec

Wait who rejected Ronaldo?

RDCR07 · 12th October 2010, 19:54

Maurice Edu. He signed a million dollar deal with Nike when he was like 16 or 17. Its been downhill since then. He is not even a starter for the United States.

mboRa ndomHer0723 · 12th October 2010, 20:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by RDCR07

Maurice Edu. He signed a million dollar deal with Nike when he was like 16 or 17. Its been downhill since then. He is not even a starter for the United States.

Thats Freddy Adu not Mo Edu

Rams · 12th October 2010, 20:12

Van Basten was forced to retire at 29 after 5-6 seasons of injury hell.

Pat_Mustard · 12th October 2010, 20:34

Some great shouts so far. Aimar was the first one that sprung to mind for me too. He was a joy to watch before the injuries took their toll.

Edmundo was a superb talent, but he was too crazy to produce consistently. Cassano too. I'm ancient enouh to remember the buzz around him when he was emerging at Bari. Superb talent.

Paul McGrath is similar to Van Basten in that he's a great of the game but could have done even more in the game. If it hadn't been for the injuries and alcoholism he'd be talked about in the same breath as Baresi as one of the greatest defenders ever.

Gio · 12th October 2010, 20:35

I don't think they've got enough Chelsea players in that list.

Gio · 12th October 2010, 20:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pat_Mustard

Some great shouts so far. Aimar was the first one that sprung to mind for me too. He was a joy to watch before the injuries took their toll.

Undoubtedly. Both Aimar and Riquelme should have enjoyed longer careers at the top than they did. They should both have been contending for Ballon D'Ors throughout the last decade.

HsJ · 12th October 2010, 20:40

A lot of those players in the top 10 played for Chelsea...

Randall Flagg · 12th October 2010, 20:58

Fernando Redondo

TheGame · 12th October 2010, 21:05

Pierre Van Hoojdonk
Ruud Van Nistelrooy????

Ekeke · 12th October 2010, 21:10

Honestly Aimar wasnt much more wasted than Veron. And Aimar had the excuse of injuries. Despite them he won la liga twice and got to the champions league final, won the uefa cup and won the supercup. And now he's won the title in Portugal with Benfica. And he delivered on his big money move unlike with Veron.

Joaquin is a much better candidate. Along with Denilson as already mentioned.

Randall Flagg · 12th October 2010, 21:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheGame

Pierre Van Hoojdonk
Ruud Van Nistelrooy????

eh?

Valentino · 12th October 2010, 21:17

well for me every great player that have never played for Man United is talent wasted. I feel sorry for players like Zidane , brazilian Ronaldo. After many years, when they are old somebody will ask them, had you a great career? had u played for manchester United the greatest club in the world. And it will eat them inside, to know that though they were one of greatest players ever to play this game, they never played for the toppest club. Can u imagine how it must feel, to be one of all time great, and never been able to play in one team with the greatest geniusses of your generation like Scholes, Giggsa, Keane and Rio Ferdinand. I think the same will happen to Leo Messi, when he will retire, he will look back at the United team, led by such a talents like berba, Rooney, Nani, Bebe, Da Silva twins. And he will know that that was the team he should have belonged to. And it will destroy him that it will be to late to change anything. Poor Messi. what a waste of the magnificent talent.

Pat_Mustard · 12th October 2010, 21:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gio

Undoubtedly. Both Aimar and Riquelme should have enjoyed longer careers at the top than they did. They should both have been contending for Ballon D'Ors throughout the last decade.

Aye, with Riquelme I feel it was a mix of questionable mentality and arriving in an era where players of his type were being squeezed out of the game a bit. Had forgotten about Redondo until Randall mentioned him. Andrea Fortunato is another name I always forget about until thread like this pops up. I remember thinking he was shit hot when I watched him for Juve as a kid. Couldn't believe it when I found out he had died.

Pat_Mustard · 12th October 2010, 21:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ekeke

Honestly Aimar wasnt much more wasted than Veron. And Aimar had the excuse of injuries. Despite them he won la liga twice and got to the champions league final, won the uefa cup and won the supercup. And now he's won the title in Portugal with Benfica. And he delivered on his big money move unlike with Veron.

Joaquin is a much better candidate. Along with Denilson as already mentioned.

He'll be largely forgotten about in 10 years time. He's largely forgotten about already actually. For a player that many thought was talented enough to be one of the best of his generation, that's still a waste.

Ekeke · 12th October 2010, 21:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pat_Mustard

He'll be largely forgotten about in 10 years time. He's largely forgotten about already actually. For a player that many thought was talented enough to be one of the best of his generation, that's still a waste.

The same goes for most players. If he hadnt played for us, we'd have forgotten about Veron too. And many of our other good players.

Randall Flagg · 12th October 2010, 21:23

Aerial Ortega? Lots of Argies

TheGame · 12th October 2010, 21:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randall Flagg

eh?

I think he could have carried on at United for a while. Wasted his career at Madrid and now in the German League.

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12th October 2010, 19:27	#2 (permalink)
SirAF Reserve Team Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: RedCafe 24/7 Posts: 4,610	Denilson

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::sonny:: First Team Sub Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: If you have got a car and somewhere to sleep, Someone who loves you? Something to eat? I would say you're doing better than most Posts: 6,375	Cassano Paulo Sousa (injuries) Jamie Redknapp (injuries) Darren Anderton (injuries) Casiraghi (injuries) Le Tissier

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::sonny:: First Team Sub Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: If you have got a car and somewhere to sleep, Someone who loves you? Something to eat? I would say you're doing better than most Posts: 6,375	Prosinecky Boksic Zickler Ziegler

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Makki Banned Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: freguson y u rest the ginger prawn hes most importntat playr n he cn done us much betr! Sell all them stinkiers like carick/cuberley/ and old man giggs shud go to retardment castle! Posts: 10,806	Le Tallec and Pongolle Supposed to be better than Ronaldo.

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RDCR07 Not a bad guy (Whale Killer) Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Special One on the Great One: "I don't call him Alex or Sir or Mister. I call him Boss!" Posts: 14,459	Maurice Edu. He signed a million dollar deal with Nike when he was like 16 or 17. Its been downhill since then. He is not even a starter for the United States.

12th October 2010, 20:12	#26 (permalink)
Rams extremely handsome, intelligent, gay and talented poster Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: midtable anonymity Posts: 35,100	Van Basten was forced to retire at 29 after 5-6 seasons of injury hell.

12th October 2010, 20:34	#27 (permalink)
Pat_Mustard Reserve Team Player Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: A never-nude? I thought he just liked cut-offs. Posts: 4,410	Some great shouts so far. Aimar was the first one that sprung to mind for me too. He was a joy to watch before the injuries took their toll. Edmundo was a superb talent, but he was too crazy to produce consistently. Cassano too. I'm ancient enouh to remember the buzz around him when he was emerging at Bari. Superb talent. Paul McGrath is similar to Van Basten in that he's a great of the game but could have done even more in the game. If it hadn't been for the injuries and alcoholism he'd be talked about in the same breath as Baresi as one of the greatest defenders ever.

12th October 2010, 20:35	#28 (permalink)
Gio First Team Sub Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Bonnie Scotland Posts: 6,314	I don't think they've got enough Chelsea players in that list.

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HsJ First Team Sub Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: LUHG Posts: 5,880	A lot of those players in the top 10 played for Chelsea...

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TheGame Reserve Team Player Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1,465	Pierre Van Hoojdonk Ruud Van Nistelrooy????

12th October 2010, 21:10	#33 (permalink)
Ekeke First Team Regular Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 26,414	Honestly Aimar wasnt much more wasted than Veron. And Aimar had the excuse of injuries. Despite them he won la liga twice and got to the champions league final, won the uefa cup and won the supercup. And now he's won the title in Portugal with Benfica. And he delivered on his big money move unlike with Veron. Joaquin is a much better candidate. Along with Denilson as already mentioned.

12th October 2010, 21:17	#35 (permalink)
Valentino Banned Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 1,903	well for me every great player that have never played for Man United is talent wasted. I feel sorry for players like Zidane , brazilian Ronaldo. After many years, when they are old somebody will ask them, had you a great career? had u played for manchester United the greatest club in the world. And it will eat them inside, to know that though they were one of greatest players ever to play this game, they never played for the toppest club. Can u imagine how it must feel, to be one of all time great, and never been able to play in one team with the greatest geniusses of your generation like Scholes, Giggsa, Keane and Rio Ferdinand. I think the same will happen to Leo Messi, when he will retire, he will look back at the United team, led by such a talents like berba, Rooney, Nani, Bebe, Da Silva twins. And he will know that that was the team he should have belonged to. And it will destroy him that it will be to late to change anything. Poor Messi. what a waste of the magnificent talent.

12th October 2010, 21:23	#39 (permalink)
Randall Flagg shitline Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 24,804	Aerial Ortega? Lots of Argies