Players with the steepest declines

Hound Dog

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Someone mentioned Shevchenko's move to Chelsea in the Martial threadand it made me remember of how remarkably quickly he turned to crap. It was like he went from world class to mediocre within the space of six months or so.

What similar examples are there?

Players who spring to mind for me are:

- Kaka, following his move to Real Madrid
- Torres, somewhere around the 2010 World Cup (which is actually before he moved to Chelsea, unlike what most think)
- Ronaldinho after winning the CL in 2006. He was already crap at the WC and never recovered

Does Rooney have a place here?

Please, add your own...
 
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TwoSheds

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Gaizka Mendieta hands down. From quality player for title winning Valencia to not really good enough to hold down a regular spot at a shite Middlesborough.
 

OldSchoolManc

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Hound Dog said:
Someone mentioned Shevchenko's move to Chelsea in the Martial threat and it made me remembered of how remarkably quickly he turned to crap. It was like he went from world class to mediocre within the space of six months or so.

What similar examples are there?

Players who spring to mind for me are:

- Kaka, following his move to Real Madrid
- Torres, somewhere around the 2010 World Cup (which is actually before he moved to Chelsea, unlike what most think)
- Ronaldinho after winning the CL in 2006. He was already crap at the WC and never recovered

Does Rooney have a place here?

Please, add your own...
Click to expand...
I think Rooney had 2 pretty rubbish seasons at United before fans admitted it to themselves.
His last decent season was under SAF and SAF knew he was past it.
One of Jose’s big plusses was phasing him out.
 

GuyfromAustria

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Not as big a name as the ones mentioned above and I'm not sure why he's the first I remembered, but .... Mario Jardel.
Look at his goal scoring record before and after 2003 ffs.

Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1996 Vasco da Gama 50 (26)
1995–1996 → Grêmio (loan) 73 (67)
1996–2000 Porto 125 (130)
2000–2001 Galatasaray 24 (22)
2001–2003 Sporting CP 49 (53)
2003–2004 Bolton Wanderers 7 (0)
2004–2005 Newell's Old Boys 3 (3)
2005–2006 Goiás 4 (1)
2006–2007 Beira-Mar 12 (3)
2007 Anorthosis Famagusta 7 (2)
2007–2008 Newcastle Jets 11 (0)
2008 Criciúma 17 (6)
2009 Ferroviário 6 (5)
2009 América (CE) 11 (8)
2010 Flamengo (PI) 16 (12)
2010 Cherno More 8 (1)
2010–2011 Rio Negro 13 (8)
 

Revaulx

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Roy Keane.

If it had been less sudden and more gradual he would probably been able to deal with it more graciously.
 

sugar_kane

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AltiUn said:
Falcao picked himself right back up for Monaco for their title winning season.
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Aye, I was just trying to get involved on the back of the Schweinsteiger/Sanchez shenanigans above...

In fairness though it was a deep, deep lull that he had at United (and Chelsea)

Sticking to the United theme I'd put forward Rooney and Van Persie. Not the steepest declines ever but fairly rapid.
 

Irish Jet

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Rooney's decline was very progressive.

Alexis was arguably the best player in the league 18 months ago. Has been utter dogshit for the last 12.
 

Aloysius's Back 3

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Adriano for Inter Milan - was unstoppable by any team. Would score goals from absolutely anywhere - I watch some of his videos to this day.

Shevchenko for me had been consistent for Milan for a very long period & moved to Chelsea when he was around 30 - arguably coming off his prime so I wouldn't call it a sharp decline.
 

Revaulx

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OldSchoolManc said:
I think Rooney had 2 pretty rubbish seasons at United before fans admitted it to themselves.
His last decent season was under SAF and SAF knew he was past it.
Click to expand...
He was still very good for the first part of Moyes’ season, but was pretty much finished by the end of it after being rushed back from injury once too often.

His decline was masked in LvG’s first season by RvP and Falcao being even worse.
One of Jose’s big plusses was phasing him out.
Click to expand...
Absolutely. The way it was done with so little drama was brilliant!
 

Greck

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royboy16 said:
Sanchez to Utd.
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Hard to tell how much he's declined. He's looking for consistency in an attack that's generally inconsistent. Players that have been here 3 years haven't even found it. Biggest concern with him is if he'll end up one of those players whose games don't mature. He's lost a step and still tries to play the same
 

Ether

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Rio declined quite quickly, by the end he was sticking out as a liability in a QPR side battling relegation.
 

carvajal

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I would name three, maybe less known. Farinós, a very good defensive midfielder from Valencia. He went to Inter and from there everything went downhill although to be fair he had very serious injuries. He played in Mallorca, Villarreal, Hércules ... During the last years his career seemed to resurge a little but it really was not the same.
Another is Flavio Conceiçao. Really dominant in Deportivo, Madrid paid for him 4000 million pesetas, something like 25m€. Probably he was one of the most expensive signings at that time. He was really disappointing in Madrid. I do not even remember in what teams he was after that.
Another striking case was Julen Guerrero. He debuted with Spain with 19, 20 years, and for a while he was very fashionable. Good player and handsome, the girls of 15 years were crazy with him. There was much talk of a signing with Madrid that never materialized. With 24/25 years he was finished.
 

IAmAWinner

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Maybe a bit harsh, but Juan Mata. World class at Chelsea, one of the best players in the league. Average at best for United most of the time.
 

Wishbone Ash

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Stan Collymore. Even in an era of great English strikers (Shearer, Ferdinand, Wright, Sheringham, Fowler, Cole etc.) he stood out as having that little bit extra to his game; could have been the complete forward.

Basically achieved nothing after leaving Forest. A solid, though unspectacular, first season at Liverpool. An average second one. After that and the move to Villa, he probably had another half-dozen decent games in his whole career before jacking it in.

Brilliant in 1995, washed out by 1997 aged just 26.
 

Hound Dog

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Wishbone Ash said:
Stan Collymore. Even in an era of great English strikers (Shearer, Ferdinand, Wright, Sheringham, Fowler, Cole etc.) he stood out as having that little bit extra to his game; could have been the complete forward..
Click to expand...
Fowler is a good shout as well, is he not?
 

Ibi Dreams

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Hound Dog said:
Good shout. It was like there was a mutual understanding between him and Utd fans. He turned to shit after winning the title and no one seemed too surprised or upset.
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He wasn't that bad in the season afterwards and would probably have been a lot better if SAF was still the manager
 

WR10

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It was a beautiful steep decline with RVP. It seemed like he gave us his last breath. Unlike Sanchez who is showing up, robbing us and stinking up the place. Rooney’s decline was also sharp but the reason it seemed progressive was because Moyes and LVG were just in denial and we were just being dragged in the mud. Falcao after his knee injury is also a good shout but he didn’t really go through his decline at United.
 

Alabaster Codify7

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Gotta be our boy,Sanchez.
From one of the best players in Europe to playing like Gabriel Obertan with a workrate....in the space of like,a year. while earning around 350-400k a week.
 

MyOnlySolskjaer

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Van Persie, absolutely adored him playing for us in 12/13 and a small spell in 13 but he suddenly lost his ability to move and didn’t have that edge or sharpness anymore.

Went from being a Premier League hero to a Fenerbache player.
 

Andersons Dietician

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DiMaria, just shocking how he basically quit playing, never seen anything like it. Went from the season of his life and arguably the 3rd best player in the world to not being able to pass 5 yards.
 

Minimalist

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Rooney wasn’t a steep decline. From late 2010 he slowly got worse and obviously until 2013 he was still a decent player (but incredibly overrated). After that he was protected badly.

Still a shocking decline given what age he was when it started.
 
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