Players who scuppered their careers due to bad career management

[GDaly95]

So what players shot themselves in the foot regarding the way they handled their careers and as a result never really got the chance to have the success their talent deserved?

Loads of players who joined Arsenal come to mind. Aubameyang for example waited too long to leave Dortmund and then ended up having to join Arsenal. Lacazette while not being as good did similarly. Ozil perhaps.

Zaha arguably came to United when he wasn't ready (although it was a bad time to join), went back to Palace and failed to join a top side when it was the right time and will likely now wonder what could've been.

Kane has possibly fecked things by not forcing a move earlier and is now in and now or never situation himself.

So what players have massively hindered their careers by staying at a club too long or by joining the wrong club at the wrong time, they could've had so much more success but by poor career management, they utterly fecked it?

 

[sullydnl]

Neymar to PSG.

 

[DeepSpace]

Coutinho? Robinho?

 

[Canagel]

Anelka

 

[Dancfc]

Tierney

 

[WeePat]

Bendtner.

 

[ivaldo]

Ben White.

 

[Gandalf]

Not out of chances yet but Rabbi Matondo fecked up royally going to Schalke. I am sure both he and they were thinking it would be Sancho all over again but instead he barely played, got loaned to Stoke and again barely played and is now off on a loan to the Belgian League hoping it turns into a permanent deal.

 

[P-Ro]

Anelka

Anelka was decent for us and spent his latter years of his prime here. I think he's one of those players who people expected to be far better than what he was able to be just because of how impressive he was when younger.

 

[Isotope]

Veron to United. All I remember is Fergie telling journos they're idiots, because of him.

Ballack to Chelsea, became a mere Gattuso lite.

Cavani to PSG.

 

[Josep Dowling]

Grealish. Left it too late to leave Villa and now will rot on the bench when he can’t play tiki-taka football.

In all seriousness I’d say Neymar’s decision to join PSG was poor. Barcelona could have dominated for a few more years. Wanted to get out of Messi’s spotlight only to beg him to join his club again.

 

[TwoSheds]

Griezmann? Gaizka Mendieta? Or was he just shit anyway? Renato Sanches (still got time mind).

 

[JPRouve]

Based on the players named I find the concept weird. First because players goals and enjoyments go beyond football and it's difficult to judge from the outside. Secondly because talent is a blurry concept, most players achieve their "talent" outside of injuries, someone like Lacazette isn't where he is because he plays for Arsenal, it's because he isn't better than that, when he was with Lyon there were question marks about his ceiling due to his performances in CL and with France. Some players simply don't have the ability to reach an other level.

 

[That'sHernandez]

Asamoah Gyan

 

[PoTMS]

Pogba.

 

[crossy1686]

Anyone joining PSG? It's like joining the MLS at this point, Harlem Globetrotters stuff. No one takes them seriously.

 

[Look-a-Hill]

Rodwell joining City ended any potential he had (and he was good on FM, so obviously good in real life).

 

[FrankDrebin]

Messi

 

[Daniel_de_Foe]

Mkhitaryan has to be on the list. He did not realise he has the technical and tactical abilities for a top tier club, but not the mental strength.
The shopping mentality in the PL didn´t help him either. He could be a legend on par with reus for Dortmund but decided against it and lost his best years being a bench player.

And my favourite choice is Hummels. Going to Bayern to prove himself and winning the champions league he did neither. Wasn´t accepted by Bayern fans because he still had his head in Dortmund, hated by Dortmund fans because he chose Bayern.
He was partly responsible to steal Dortmund their BL title under Kovac and no one praised him for this because it was just another title for Bayern beside being nine points down in the middle of the season.
Then he was regarded as not good enough for Bayern, went back to Dortmund and directly after they won the CL with inferior CBs.

 

[flappyjay]

Loads of players who joined Arsenal come to mind. Aubameyang for example waited too long to leave Dortmund and then ended up having to join Arsenal. Lacazette while not being as good did similarly. Ozil perhaps

Lacazette is where he belongs, if arsenal have any serious ambition replacing him is their next step, there isn't a point in his career where he could have moved to the biggest teams. He was behind Lukaku and Morata when Chelsea and United were looking for strikers in 2017. With Ozil you might as well say the same about Pogba, Di Maria basically any world class player that came to United during the banter years.

 

[James Peril]

Anyone joining PSG? It's like joining the MLS at this point, Harlem Globetrotters stuff. No one takes them seriously.

Stupid comment. Did you not take them seriously when United were thrown out of the CL last season? Perhaps you should have?

 

[crossy1686]

Stupid comment. Did you not take them seriously when United were thrown out of the CL last season? Perhaps you should have?

Nah, they're a joke. Didn't take them seriously when United dumped them out the season before either

 

[Chief123]

Biggest one for me in the history of the Premier league was Alan Shearer.

Record goal scorer in the premier league and barely won a trophy. Should have had multiple league titles and European honours.

 

[Nogbadthebad]

Kagawa.

Wasn't up to the physicality of the premier league, and joined us at the worst time possible as well.

Should have stayed at dortmund, lost 2 years really.

 

[lysglimt]

An entire page without the name Saido Berahino - we can't have that.

 

[big rons sovereign]

Stupid comment. Did you not take them seriously when United were thrown out of the CL last season? Perhaps you should have?

When they brought their own ref? Yeah, super seriously.

 

[JPRouve]

Kagawa.

Wasn't up to the physicality of the premier league, and joined us at the worst time possible as well.

Should have stayed at dortmund, lost 2 years really.

I don't get that, he joined a team managed by SAF and did pretty well during his first season outside of his injury. Was he supposed to predict that SAF was going to retire and that Moyes would replace him?

 

[FrankDrebin]

Cassano - Real Madrid

 

[slored1]

Neymar to PSG.

Winner. Easily the most legacy-damaging move of the past decade.

 

[Attila]

Messi to psg
Neymar to psg
Pepe to arsenal
Lukaku to Manchester United
Di Maria to Manchester United

All world class players who could have done better

 

[LoneStar]

Fernando Alonso

 

[LoneStar]

Messi to psg
Neymar to psg
Pepe to arsenal
Lukaku to Manchester United
Di Maria to Manchester United

All world class players who could have done better

Don't agree with Lukaku and maybe Di Maria, they could have been massive successes and it was the right move at the time.

Messi to PSG is too early to say. Besides, Messi is at the tail end of his career, so not sure how he's runing his reputation at this point. If he helps them win the CL, you could argue he would be regarded even more highly.

 

[AltiUn]

Messi to psg
Neymar to psg
Pepe to arsenal
Lukaku to Manchester United
Di Maria to Manchester United

All world class players who could have done better

Messi's joined one of the best teams in Europe who I'd say are favourites for the CL. Also neither Lukaku nor Di Maria scuppered their careers by going to United, they both did really well after leaving.

 

[Attila]

Messi's joined one of the best teams in Europe who I'd say are favourites for the CL. Also neither Lukaku nor Di Maria scuppered their careers by going to United, they both did really well after leaving.

Messi is playing in the 5th best league in Europe

 

[a_devil_inside]

Gazza

 

[RedKnight88]

Paul Gascoigne to Tottenham
Nicolas Anelka to Real Madrid
Gabriel Batistuta to Fiorentina? Well he did stay there too long. seems waste for me
Patrick Vieira to Juventus?
Marc Overmars to Barcelona
Emmanuel Petit to Barcelona
Jaap Stam to Lazio?
Antoine Greizmann to Barcelona
Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona
Richard Wright to Arsenal
Juan Veron to Manchester United
David Beckham to Real Madrid
Harry Kewell to Liverpool
Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Barcelona
Denilson to Real Betis
Kaka to Real Madrid
Cafu to AS Roma? maybe too loyal for them.
Radamel Falcao to Monaco

 

[KirkDuyt]

Donny van de Beek.

 

[Hastar]

Scott Sinclair to City
Drinkwater to Chelsea
Joe Cole to us
Jack Rodwell to City

Owen to Madrid. Was unwanted by Camacho and then used sparingly. Still did well there, but was then discarded. Rafa didn't want him. We reluctantly bid, but Newcastle out bid us. At least he got a medal at United, but ruined his relationship with us. Also, could have had a better career if he had stayed.

Turan, Hleb, Afellay, Coutinho, to Barcelona. At least Cou had a good loan spell at Bayern.

Bobby Duncan. Misled by his agent and now trying to salvage his career.

Origi. He deserves his cult status, but he is wasting his time at LFC.

 

[AltiUn]

Messi is playing in the 5th best league in Europe

He's playing for one of the best teams in Europe, he's probably a lot more arsed about winning the CL again.

 

[JPRouve]

He's playing for one of the best teams in Europe, he's probably a lot more arsed about winning the CL again.

And the 5th best league in Europe is still a good league. While there is a clear hierarchy between top leagues, people continuously overestimate the gap.