Are there any players that were really good, but "wasted" their prime?

[Carl]

Because you made a point that without his spectacular goals he wouldn’t be considered a great player which I think is a bit silly. Kane example I thought was quite simple to follow.

Not really. Because you're saying if you take Kane's goals away he isn't in the conversation, which is 100% correct as the goals are what makes him special. To say that's the same as what I said about Le Tissier means you're saying his ability to score outrageous goals is what makes him special. Which surely shouldn't be the barometer, should it?

He was a very silky player with wonderful technical ability, and could do some outrageous things. But, for me, those outrageous things he did from time to time cloud people's judgement of him and put him in conversations he shouldn't be in because the rest of his game wasn't at the same level.

 

[Sweet Square]

Casemiro. Waited until the age of 30 to win his first carabao cup. Poor form considering the talent he has.

But really, Kane is the big one. I mean Weghorst has more trophies than the poor guy. Also would add in RVP, he spent far too long at Arsenal considering how good he was under Fergie.

 

[JPRouve]

The issue that I have with linking a wasted career with trophies is that it's only in the last decade that some teams could guarantee anything and even then it's only three or four of them which means that vast majority of top players "wasted" their primes.

As an example if you go back to the 90s and 2000s which are the last eras during which top players were spread around Europe and not really concentrated in a handful of teams, the likes of De Rossi, Montella, Aldair or Totti didn't win as much as their talent could suggest. And in my opinion they didn't waste their primes, in fact I miss that era I hate this trophy hungry and super team focused era, I hate seeing player move to the same clubs just to be on the bench or be forced into a team that doesn't see their talent valued and showcased. The same applies to a team like Fiorentina in the 90s that has just been slandered in this thread, we are talking about a team that had Mijatovic, Balbo, Toldo, Rui Costa or Batistuta.

To me that's the death of Football as I knew it as a kid. Concentration of talents and focus on everything but actual football games.

 

[Redfan94]

Alex Teixeira. Could’ve been something special under Klopp during the peak of Liverpool’s powers, but opted for a move to the Chinese Super League which cost him his place in the Brazilian national team and meant he returned to Brazil having never played in one of Europe’s top five leagues.

 

[tomaldinho1]

Not really. Because you're saying if you take Kane's goals away he isn't in the conversation, which is 100% correct as the goals are what makes him special. To say that's the same as what I said about Le Tissier means you're saying his ability to score outrageous goals is what makes him special. Which surely shouldn't be the barometer, should it?

He was a very silky player with wonderful technical ability, and could do some outrageous things. But, for me, those outrageous things he did from time to time cloud people's judgement of him and put him in conversations he shouldn't be in because the rest of his game wasn't at the same level.

But this isn’t about comparing player A to player B, it’s about who should have moved to win trophies. There’s no doubt in my mind he was elite - that doesn’t put him in the top bracket with Shearer, Henry, Ruud etc. but he was easily good enough to play for a top four club and stayed with Soton instead. The fact he scored bangers and was a king of nutmegs is just an added bonus.

 

[Loon]

Did Shearer waste his prime not signing for United?

 

[Theonas]

Ajax, Juve, Inter, AC Milan, PSG, Man UTD.
What a loser.

Im comparing him to the likes of Henry, Benzema, Lewa and Suarez. Those guys featured and starred in the biggest CL games and/or title winning campaigns in leagues with the highest quality at the time. I can’t think of similar achievements for Zlatan.

 

[Nico87]

They had great careers but Riquelme and Henrik Larsson should have been stand out players at clubs competing for the biggest titles every year

 

[GreatDane]

Casemiro. Waited until the age of 30 to win his first carabao cup. Poor form considering the talent he has.

I agree, Case and Wout tbh, both waited too long before winning the coveted Carabao Cub.

 

[V.O.]

For a world class player who won multiple league titles and two CLs, it's baffling how Van der Sar spent four years in the middle of his prime at Fulham, of all places.

I know the wheels fell off a little bit for him at Juve, but how was nobody else willing to take a chance on him for that long?

 

[Andre Kagawa]

Neymar

 

[Winrar]

Heung Min Son

 

[Siorac]

Guti — it's hard to say that he had failed, having made 542 appearances for Madrid & winning 15 trophies... but if you saw him play, you know what I'm talking about.

I saw Guti play a lot and I have no idea what you mean. How did he waste his prime?

 

[mshnsh]

None more than Neymar. The most talented of his generation and second most ( after Messi) currently actively playing.

Other than joining PSG in his prime, the other thing that is stupid about him is his style of play, often trying to humiliate opponents instead of playing more directly to win.

 

[Devil77]

Has someone said Gerrard yet? Could have won a lot more had he signed for Chelsea.

 

[pierrethesnack]

The issue that I have with linking a wasted career with trophies is that it's only in the last decade that some teams could guarantee anything and even then it's only three or four of them which means that vast majority of top players "wasted" their primes.

As an example if you go back to the 90s and 2000s which are the last eras during which top players were spread around Europe and not really concentrated in a handful of teams, the likes of Totti, De Rossi, Montella, Aldair or Totti didn't win as much as their could suggest. And in my opinion they didn't waste their primes, in fact I miss that era I hate this trophy hungry and super team focused era, I hate seeing player move to the same clubs just to be on the bench or be forced into a team that doesn't see their talent valued and showcased. The same applies to a team like Fiorentina in the 90s that has just been slandered in this thread, we are talking about a team that had Mijatovic, Balbo, Toldo, Rui Costa or Batistuta.

To me that's the death of Football as I knew it as a kid. Concentration of talents and focus on everything but actual football games.

Spot on, this.

 

[Zehner]

Has to be Neymar for me. I'm no fan of this 'wasted his time in a farmer's league' stuff but I think PSG a a club was just the wrong fit for him. They didn't really get the best out of him attitude wise.

So far I'd also say Joao Felix. Far too talented to be playing in such a toxic Atletico side during what could have been his defining years.

 

[NoLogo]

Guti — it's hard to say that he had failed, having made 542 appearances for Madrid & winning 15 trophies... but if you saw him play, you know what I'm talking about.

Agreed. Always thought he could reach the levels of prime Kaka but never quite got there somehow, felt like consistency was his biggest problem but when he was good he was almost unplayable.

 

[JimmyWils]

Feel like Hazard should fall into this list.

Whether he actually played his prime at Chelsea, or wasn't quite there yet before deciding to move and sit on his arse for a fat paycheck is yet tbc, but it definitely seems like that to me.

At the very least it feels like he cut his prime short for the sake of more money.

 

[Eli Zee]

The issue that I have with linking a wasted career with trophies is that it's only in the last decade that some teams could guarantee anything and even then it's only three or four of them which means that vast majority of top players "wasted" their primes.

As an example if you go back to the 90s and 2000s which are the last eras during which top players were spread around Europe and not really concentrated in a handful of teams, the likes of Totti, De Rossi, Montella, Aldair or Totti didn't win as much as their could suggest. And in my opinion they didn't waste their primes, in fact I miss that era I hate this trophy hungry and super team focused era, I hate seeing player move to the same clubs just to be on the bench or be forced into a team that doesn't see their talent valued and showcased. The same applies to a team like Fiorentina in the 90s that has just been slandered in this thread, we are talking about a team that had Mijatovic, Balbo, Toldo, Rui Costa or Batistuta.

To me that's the death of Football as I knew it as a kid. Concentration of talents and focus on everything but actual football games.

that's a very fair point, and I agree with most of it. To claim that a player "wasted their prime/career" is probably a bit harsh... but in the end, the objective is to win. If you fail to ever win anything meaningful, can you say your career was a big success? In terms of silverware and championships, no.


Some players spend their best years at a team like Tottenham (Kane). Yes, they had a successful career in terms of playing well, making a living, etc... but when it came down to it, their prime was spent on a team that didn't win (enough) when it mattered.

 

[Tom Cato]

Oh, and of course to "enlightened" PL fans, any time not spent in the PL (facing the likes of Everton and Southampton) is a waste. Hence calls for Mbappe to come prove himself on a stage higher than that of the World Cup

Manchester City would steamroll France, so theres that.

No one are saying Mbappe is not world class. Everyone are also correct when saying that France is a weak league comparatively.

 

[harms]

I saw Guti play a lot and I have no idea what you mean. How did he waste his prime?

I do believe that he should've been the next Laudrup (or peak Özil at least) in terms of his stature in the game. His vision and passing technique were out of this world.

Instead he ended up being a squad player who got shoehorned all around the pitch to accommodate shinier names — be it Zidane, Kaká or other strikers/forwards that needed that extra space up front. To be fair, he played more often than not but rarely in his best role. And his NT career was nothing to write home about either — 13 caps for a Spanish side that wasn't truly competing for anything important.

Edit: I did want to name a player who's had an objectively good-to-great career though. Obviously there are many players that wasted their talent in a more drastic fashion.

 

[Eli Zee]

Personally I think it's a big leap to assume players have wasted their career because they didn't win enough trophies.

It's possible that many players are satisfied with having a career as a professional footballer because they love playing.

A lot of players are loyal to their club and work their hardest to do their job, and most are doing what they love, so It's not a waste if they never win anything. This is more geared towards players that were among the best, especially in their prime, but never won or tried to win anything meaningful while they could.

This is a drastic example, but let's say someone like Mbappe decided he's just going to play for Al Nassr and collect millions a year with ronaldo during his prime... to him, he'd value the money and so yeah, it's not a waste.. but to us, we'd say, "he could have done something memorable, he was so good. Now he's retired and we never saw him test himself against strong competition or win anything big."

I'm sure there are also some other ways players may have wasted their prime besides how successful their team was with them on it.

 

[Precaution]

Pavel Nedved and Recoba I feel could had gone onto greater things, Recoba was linked to Real Madrid but stayed at Inter for too long and kinda became abit of a benchwarmer Nedved went to Juve and didn't really win much (going to Seria B didn't help) both great players but they had oodles of potential

 

[Red in STL]

Spot on, this.

I agree

 

[altodevil]

The fact that Henrik Larsson played in the SPL during his prime is a crime against humanity. And I say that as a Scot.

 

[lysglimt]

Van Persie wasn’t always a 30 goal striker. Very different case to the others. The first moment he gave an indication he was that level he moved and won a league title. His prime was very short.

Due to injuries yes. In his last 4 seasons at Arsenal he scored about 90 goals in 140 matches. That is about the same amount of goals that Mo Salah scored in his first 3 seasons at Arsenal, so to say that his prime was short is not entirely correct. I would say his prime was his last 4 seasons at Arsenal, and his first season with us.

 

[Gazautd18]

They had great careers but Riquelme and Henrik Larsson should have been stand out players at clubs competing for the biggest titles every year

Riquelme was a baller.
Used to support Villareal because on him.

 

[Gabriel Djemba-Bebe]

Pains me to say it but I think Mata wasted his prime years with us. He played under managers who didn't know how to utilise his strengths as a no10 so they shifted him out on the wing.

When you look at the number of goals and assists he had at Chelsea, I think he could have replicated that under a manager with a different style to Moyes/Van Gaal/Mourinho.

Not saying the signing was a total disaster though. We'll always have Juanfield.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Son Heung Min. One of the best Asian players I've ever seen and it's ridiculous that he'll only be remembered as a Spurs fan favourite.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

Mbappe.

I know it sounds strange as he’s won the World Cup, but he has the talent of Messi and Ronaldo and is wasting it all in the french league. His ceiling is way too high for that league.

He does not have Messi's talent.

 

[Red in STL]

Pains me to say it but I think Mata wasted his prime years with us. He played under managers who didn't know how to utilise his strengths as a no10 so they shifted him out on the wing.

When you look at the number of goals and assists he had at Chelsea, I think he could have replicated that under a manager with a different style to Moyes/Van Gaal/Mourinho.

Not saying the signing was a total disaster though. We'll always have Juanfield.

I'd go along with that, was a shame becuase he was a class player at the wrong place at the wrong time

 

[Righteous Steps]

Okocha was one I can think of maybe a handful of number 10’s more talented than him in the 90’s and 00’s, he could shoot with both feet pass long range and play splitting passes also, dribble and you couldn’t really bully him out of the game because he was pretty tough.

Sort of wasted his prime years playing in leagues that weren’t as great as the big three of PL Serie and La Liga and came to Bolton at the end of his prime where he showed glimpses of his talent, really should have been spoke in the same breath as all the great 10’s of the 90’s, very little he couldn’t do.

Ariel Ortega maybe the other one that comes instantly to mind.

 

[Righteous Steps]

I do believe that he should've been the next Laudrup (or peak Özil at least) in terms of his stature in the game. His vision and passing technique were out of this world.

Instead he ended up being a squad player who got shoehorned all around the pitch to accommodate shinier names — be it Zidane, Kaká or other strikers/forwards that needed that extra space up front. To be fair, he played more often than not but rarely in his best role. And his NT career was nothing to write home about either — 13 caps for a Spanish side that wasn't truly competing for anything important.

Edit: I did want to name a player who's had an objectively good-to-great career though. Obviously there are many players that wasted their talent in a more drastic fashion.

True if Guti left Madrid to go to a lesser club in the PL for example we would probably talking about him how we do De Bruyne Ozil and co.

 

[Malkovich]

Talisca could have had a nice european career but chose money.

 

[NinjaZombie]

For a world class player who won multiple league titles and two CLs, it's baffling how Van der Sar spent four years in the middle of his prime at Fulham, of all places.

I know the wheels fell off a little bit for him at Juve, but how was nobody else willing to take a chance on him for that long?

Ikr. I was begging for us to get him when Juve were opened to selling him. We had the hapless Mark Bosnich in goal when he moved to Fulham. Then went through the likes of Roy Carroll and Van De Gouw as first choice keepers. Even had the likes of Andy Goram (rip) and Ricardo.

 

[tentan]

Gerrard - should've moved to Chelsea

Harry Kane - should've left Spurs years ago

 

[Demyanenko_square_jaw]

For an older example, i'd mention Carlos Babington: He was Argentina's best playmaker of the early '70s and by the time of '74 world cup, where he was imo comfortably their best player. Domestically was a leader in Cesar Menotti's Huracan team that had several big names of that decade like Rene Houseman and Miguel Angel Brindisi playing for them. For 1974, he came third in the el mundo South American player of the year award.

Watching him at the World Cup, he looks a player of the similar class as more famous names from that tournament like Overath, Van Hanegem and Deyna, despite Argentina being quite a mess tactically compared to those teams.

He follows this up with a move to West Germany...to a second tier regional league team (SG Wattenscheid 09) where he stays until 29, wasting his prime years (and obviously no longer getting picked for the national team) outside of top level league football, before eventually going back to a struggling Huracan, where as far as i can tell he plays very well until 82. By this time (78-82) Maradona has emerged and younger playmakers like Bochini and Beto Alonso are stars of the league; he's an aging player in a stacked position with no chance of getting back into the national team at all, his chances to follow up the 74 performance have passed him by.

I know it was a different, more chaotic era for transfers, but it has to be one of the worst of the 70s.

Some footage that shows his long passing ability and control well, though it's only from a very small number of games

 

[Chief123]

Francesco Totti. Spent his whole career at Roma.

Buffon spent some of his prime years in lower Italian leagues helping Juve come back to the top division.

Batistuta could have won a lot more away from Fiorentina.

Matt Le Tisser - a much better player than Southampton level.

Paolo Di Canio. One of the most talented in the premier league. Could have won more with the biggest teams.

Gerrard - would have won many titles if not wasted in mediocre Liverpool teams.

 

[FrankFoot]

Pavel Nedved and Recoba I feel could had gone onto greater things, Recoba was linked to Real Madrid but stayed at Inter for too long and kinda became abit of a benchwarmer Nedved went to Juve and didn't really win much (going to Seria B didn't help) both great players but they had oodles of potential

What a ridiculous comment.

Pavel Nedved even won Series A and UEFA cups with Lazio(during peak Serie A), that holds more value than winning La Liga with Real or Barcelona, then became successful with Juventus, unlucky to lose the final to AC Milan in penalties after such a great season he had(even won Balloon D'Or), but he certainly was considered a successful phenomenal player by everybody.

Not everybody lose sleep over signing for Real or Barcelona, plus both teams were underwhelming when Nedved was entering his prime.