horsechoker
The Caf's Roy Keane.
Nicholas Anelka had one of the strangest career trajectories in the modern era. I don't know about his early career at PSG but for most people his story starts at Arsenal as an 18 year old where he would show signs of being an elite striker and Ian Wright's successor. Anelka won a league and couple double in his first season with the Gunners and a season later he'd then get his dream move to Real Madrid but could never live up to expectations. Following that he'd go back to PSG, then out on loan to an early 2000s Liverpool and looked to be losing much of that early promise. By this point he was 24 and amazingly had his longest spell at a club with City for 3 seasons where probably had his best spell since his Arsenal days, after that he disappeared to Fernabache for a season but would return to England with Bolton Wanderers. He had started out as one that people were expecting to be an elite level striker but had turned into somewhat of a journey man at 27 playing for some average teams for most of his 20s.
However, his Bolton spell would culminate in the highlight of his career when he moved to Chelsea. It was here that he would finally come close to being a top player in a big team but he was overshadowed in my opinion by players such as Drogba and really became more of a team player than an outstanding talent. He would infamously he would miss a crucial penalty in the 2008 Champions League final and would only be a bit part player in a flukey Champions League win in 2012, however he would become one of the few players to win a Premier League title with 2 different teams. After Chelsea, he went to China, had a brief loan spell at Juventus, played for West Brom where he was fired for a racist gesture and ended his career in India.
Honours
European Champion - 2000 France
Champions League - 2000 (Real Madrid), 2012 (Chelsea)?
Premier League - 1998 (Arsenal), 2010 (Chelsea)
FA Cup - 1998 (Arsenal), 2009, 2010 (Chelsea)
Serie A - 2013 (Juventus)
Turkish Super Lig - 2005 (Fernabache)
and there's a few more but that's an impressive trophy haul.
So what do you make of Nicholas Anelka? A player who failed to live up to the hype or a renaissance man who had an impressive career throughout Europe?
However, his Bolton spell would culminate in the highlight of his career when he moved to Chelsea. It was here that he would finally come close to being a top player in a big team but he was overshadowed in my opinion by players such as Drogba and really became more of a team player than an outstanding talent. He would infamously he would miss a crucial penalty in the 2008 Champions League final and would only be a bit part player in a flukey Champions League win in 2012, however he would become one of the few players to win a Premier League title with 2 different teams. After Chelsea, he went to China, had a brief loan spell at Juventus, played for West Brom where he was fired for a racist gesture and ended his career in India.
Honours
European Champion - 2000 France
Champions League - 2000 (Real Madrid), 2012 (Chelsea)?
Premier League - 1998 (Arsenal), 2010 (Chelsea)
FA Cup - 1998 (Arsenal), 2009, 2010 (Chelsea)
Serie A - 2013 (Juventus)
Turkish Super Lig - 2005 (Fernabache)
and there's a few more but that's an impressive trophy haul.
So what do you make of Nicholas Anelka? A player who failed to live up to the hype or a renaissance man who had an impressive career throughout Europe?
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