Rooney always had a Dog n Duck type performance in him even when he was good. So the fall, when it came, didn’t look that unusual or sudden to me
Players with the steepest declines
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Not sure why Bastian and Mata are being posted here. Thought their decline was obvious and not a surprise.
For me it's Torres. Went quickly from one of the best strikers in the world to a meme for missing open goals in no time.
For me it's Torres. Went quickly from one of the best strikers in the world to a meme for missing open goals in no time.
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Regarding Carroll, I thought it was way premature when Liverpool bought him. You need to give players like that full seasons to see if it's a purple patch or not. I don't think you can say he declined because he wasn't that great to begin with. Same with Benteke
Carrolls career has been mostly upset by injury. I reckon he'd still be in England squad if not for those.
Amr Zaki.
Appeared out of thin air to join Wigan for one season. Was quite the goalscorer IIRC. Then disappeared back into thin air.
Appeared out of thin air to join Wigan for one season. Was quite the goalscorer IIRC. Then disappeared back into thin air.
Under Southgate? Don't think so. Under Hodgson? For sure.
RVP. it was like his form went off a cliff after he won the league with us and Fergie left.
his form had declined at liverpool due to injuries, he's lost more then a yard or two of pace but the team was still set up to play to his strengths so it wasn't as noticeable.
he then went to chelsea and they were use to playing with a big man up top, and it just didn't suit him and all the injuries he had had just caught up with him.
There was a lot of talk at the time about how most people just believed his motivation went after SAF hung it up. The consensus seemed to be that he came to United because of SAF, and to win the league, and when we won the league in his first season, and Fergie hung it up, it seemed pretty understandable that he would lose his edge.
Not saying that is right or wrong, it's just how I read the "mutual understanding" between RVP and the fans
Ya i get that where he ended up was a decline but he did have that good year at boro, i saw them live that season a few times and boro fans loved him.
Too much is made of Torres knee injury (which, fwiw, was aggravated by his decision to rush back in time for the world cup). He still had some good games the next season, Hodgson factor notwithstanding, before moving to chelsea.
But mostly, it was so fecking obvious when you saw him play that his problem was mental. He was missing ridiculous chances and after a while, you could see he was hiding, deliberately choosing runs and positions where he wouldn't be the one having to get on the end of things and focusing on contributing to 'team play'. Bad knees don't do that to players. It's not like he turned super slow either.
But mostly, it was so fecking obvious when you saw him play that his problem was mental. He was missing ridiculous chances and after a while, you could see he was hiding, deliberately choosing runs and positions where he wouldn't be the one having to get on the end of things and focusing on contributing to 'team play'. Bad knees don't do that to players. It's not like he turned super slow either.
Rooney when LVG arrived. Sanchez in 2016/17 vs Sanchez in 2017/18, its hard to believe they are even the same player.
Not only injuries but a medical condition as well — myopathy. And he was already in decline when he scored that goal.
RVP was good in the Moyes season just injured a lot, it was the first van Gaal season that he went to poop.
If you look at stats, Rooney was still one of our most productive players under Moyes and LVG's first season. His wasn't a sudden decline, age just caught up with him as he approached 30.
Kaka seemed to drop off a cliff pretty radically as well.
I think he's more of a one season wonder.
Samir Nasri
Rooney, Fernando Torres.
Rio, Rooney and RVP were all still top players when Moyes took over, and finished by the time he was sacked.
Fergie was brilliant at managing injury-prone players who were getting on in years. He never played Rio more than once every seven days, and both he and RvP were allowed to train at a lower intensity than the rest of the squad.
Sergeant-Major Moyes arrived, made them run up slag heaps till they were sick, and picked them for every game. Rooney was dragged back early from injury more than once. So it’s not surprising they burned out.
Torres, Kaka, Rooney, RVP, Sanchez, Nesta. Im sure there are many over examples
Rivaldo... went downhill as fast as erm rivaldo
ironically not long after that incident
ironically not long after that incident
His dad dying affected him greatly from what i remember.
2 players who were both world class at Liverpool they signed for RM and became mediocre:
Steve McManaman
Michael Owen
Steve McManaman
Michael Owen
Yeah don't get where this Torres became dog at Chelsea myth came from. He was dog at Liverpool in the end.
2 players we've bought from Everton:
Both top strikers at their previous club.
One of them, for some reason, we play in a midfield role and he has struggled throughout to hold a regular place. The other one, although decent hasn't reached the same level he was at at Everton. Hopefully the latter can recreate his previous form.
Fellaini and Lukaku
Both top strikers at their previous club.
One of them, for some reason, we play in a midfield role and he has struggled throughout to hold a regular place. The other one, although decent hasn't reached the same level he was at at Everton. Hopefully the latter can recreate his previous form.
Fellaini and Lukaku
well he got game time here but well was poor in almost of the games he played. pace of the game here was just to much for him, if he had came at his peak then it might have been different.
Evra, was outstanding until he had the big fall out when he was away with the France squad and was never the same player after it. didn't get much help as we never really had a winger in front of him either
Huh?
?!
Fellaini was never a striker.
Zambrotta went from world class to mediocre at Barcelona and Milan rather quickly. I think he lost his legs when he turned 30.
At which point in his career? Celtic??
I liked him the most when he was playing LB for Juventus despite being right-footed, although he was great for Juve and on the right side of the pitch. Once he moved to Barcelona he started to play only on the right side and that's when his form went down as you said.
People mentioning RVP, I think in his Moyes season his minutes per goal was actually better than under Ferguson, he was fecked with injuries though and that's why he's remembered like he is (add crap season overall). With LVG it's a bit different as no other striker (Falcao, Rooney, Danby sold to Arse and Chicharito loaned out to RM) really worked.
So I think it's unfair on RVP.
So I think it's unfair on RVP.
Ljungberg and Pires. It felt like one moment they were winning doubles and then they fell off a cliff. Ljungberg took a hiatus from football a year after he left Arsenal.
Arshavin.
Arshavin.
Rooney's season under Moyes, him and De Gea were our star players and I remember back in the day everyone thanked Moyes for keeping him at the club. Then the next season with LVG he was alright. Not the old Wayne but he scored some good goals and had good games. He declines after that.
Torres at Chelsea is definitely one of the weirdest declines I've ever seen. One of the best of his generation. He could do so much with the ball and score from so many areas.
That's a ridiculous post (the one you replied to). I think maybe he means Fellaini wasn't a striker but player as an SS kind of having that free role in the hole. He is wrong though. Fellaini played midfield for Everton a lot.
Harry Kewell looked like a worldie at Leeds but ended up choosing Liverpool and didnt really do much, obviously injuries didnt help.
Marc Overmars looked like he could achieve greater things, left Arsenal at his peak to Barca and became nothing more than a so so player eventually ending up back at Go Ahead Eagles his first club.
Marc Overmars looked like he could achieve greater things, left Arsenal at his peak to Barca and became nothing more than a so so player eventually ending up back at Go Ahead Eagles his first club.
That was purely down to that injury playing for England though. Those last couple of months before the injury though he really had become quite unbelievably good. I genuinely thought he was going to be world class.