Paul McGrath. Absolute legend
If you could pick one injury plagued player to replay their entire career completely injury free, for your team, who are you taking?
- Thread starter Murder on Zidane's Floor
- Start date
RVN
Hargreaves
Phil Jones
Hargreaves
Phil Jones
What could have been If Dion Dublin hadn't broken his leg so early in his career at United.
Luke Shaw. His play style was much more similar to Evra / Marcelo before that Ajax player snapped his leg in half.
Chelsea fans will probably be saying Reece James in 5 years time.
Chelsea fans will probably be saying Reece James in 5 years time.
Saha (For United)
McGrath or Robbo. Saha would be interesting as well
Probably Saha.
I would have loved how great Brazilian Ronaldo could have been without his injuries. He was already one of the greats but without the injuries I think he could have been the best ever.
I would have loved how great Brazilian Ronaldo could have been without his injuries. He was already one of the greats but without the injuries I think he could have been the best ever.
R9
Neither fully established superstars but a couple of thoughts for full-back. Eric Caldow was one of the best left-backs in Europe when he broke his leg against England at 28. Effectively finished his career. For right-back Rob Jones was really promising before injuries took their toll. Likely Neville doesn’t get much of an England career if things turn out differently.
Otherwise for the OP for Rangers, quite a few - Baxter, Durrant, Kuznetsov, Mols. Picking one probably Durrant given his young age when he broke his leg.
Would love to see what Adriano could have achieved if it hasn’t been for his mental health and injuries
Ledley King
Bloody hell, after all the shouts for Ronaldo9 and Paul McGrath you come up with Dean Ashton. Having said that, I do think Fergie would have looked at him back in the day.
He probably wouldn't be a world star, but I always thought Abou Diaby had some real talent we never got to see.
Pick a front 3 of Ronaldo-Van Basten-Robben.
Keep them fit throughout the season.
Put 8 journeymen behind them and you’d probably be in a title race in any of the top 5 leagues in Europe, with a boxer’s chance of landing the big cup too.
Keep them fit throughout the season.
Put 8 journeymen behind them and you’d probably be in a title race in any of the top 5 leagues in Europe, with a boxer’s chance of landing the big cup too.
This. Goddamm Fergie knew a striker when he saw one.
Ronaldo, Giggsy, Robben etc all still had great careers.
Saha for me could have been one of our best, but for the injuries. He had everything a striker needed. Everything.
That 2nd half of 05-06 and 06-07 is the best football I've seen us play. And as far as i remember Saha was instrumental the calendar year of 2006.
Sancho
Ronaldo is the only right answer for this, so excluding him...
Not exactly an injury but Duncan Edwards, and it would be interesting to see how Phil Jones would have turned out.
I also remember the plaudits Norman Whiteside used to get before the injuries.
Not exactly an injury but Duncan Edwards, and it would be interesting to see how Phil Jones would have turned out.
I also remember the plaudits Norman Whiteside used to get before the injuries.
Reece James might be the one in a few years. But hopefully his most recent OP turns out to be the solution to his problems.
Oh, that's a good shout!
Came in to say. Still a phenomenal defender, don’t know how he did it, and seemed such a lovely humble man, deserved more.
At United, Phil Jones. Not least because he could have become a dominant centre back, at a time when we really needed one.
I wouldn't put him as being far and away better than Van Basten, just sticking to forwards. I'd put them on the same level.
Same here
Ronaldo, Van Basten, Dragan Stojkovic, Robert Prosinecki, Dejan Savicevic, Roberto Baggio are some of my favourite injury-prone/ruined players. For just one, i'd toss a coin between Ronaldo or Van Basten, and for a non-forward, i'd pick Stojkovic or Prosinecki.
The OP says 'for your team' so it shouldn't be.
If the question limits the answer to the team support -- as opposed to a player who may have played for another team or teams but you wish had playing "for your team" -- then I would say Phil Jones. Robbo and others had great careers though obviously ravaged by injuries at times, but Phil was a highly regarded young prospect who essentially lost his entire career to injuries.
But if the question is who among all players who were ravaged by injuries you wish you could bring in to your team, there's only one answer.
But if the question is who among all players who were ravaged by injuries you wish you could bring in to your team, there's only one answer.
I think they end up being the same level but Ronaldo had a higher ceiling, R9 without injuries is probably mentioned with Pele Messi Maradona.
R9 would be an easy choice, but bare in mind his ex-team mates said he was lazy at training, either on the pitch and was never seen at the gym. So, probably due to being more professional on the training I would say Paulo Futre.
Prosinecki and Savicevic weren't just injury-prone; they were also lazy and very inconsistent, even by 90s playmakers standards. When people say "this player looks much better on youtube than he really was", it's players like them they are looking at.
I've seen them play in lots of full games (no need for youtube highlights) and don't entirely agree.
Prosinecki, yeah, he did become unfit and eventually inconsistent even by those standards, but only after a severe injury that took over a full season to get back on the field from and which badly eroded his physical capabilities. Maybe he'd have gone down that road anyway, however i'd like to see how he would have done without it, as he was extremely impressive and dynamic beforehand for Red Star.
savicevic consistency in terms of producing on the ball and getting involved was perfectly fine by top league 90s creative player levels, defensively probably about average/slightly below average. he didn't start to have more regular issues until his feud with Capello and the repeated injuries that had started by then. Even then he produced repeatedly when given his few chances and played himself into being a leading star player for a few seasons, but the injuries became too severe soon after.
90s players with a lot of creative/on the ball talent, but also very lazy and inconsistent by the standards of the era even before suffering notable injury troubles better fits as a description for players like Viktor Leonenko by about 95, Igor Korneev after cska, or Shalimov after his first season at Inter. Or someone like Javier Pastore to use a more recent player if compared to his own time (or the 90s tbh).
Nah. He lost a yard and stopped being the domineering box to box player he was before. He became a better player as he aged, but a fitter Roy would have been unquestionably up there with the best ever.
Robbo. All day every day.
There are so many obvious names mentioned that I would normally pick but I'm gonna go with a 'what if'... Ben Thornley.
We'll never know how good he could have been.
We'll never know how good he could have been.
Bryan Robson with Paul McGrath a close second.
Non United has to be R9.
Non United has to be R9.
Neymar is the most talented footballer I’ve ever seen, Ronaldinho with directness.
Injuries and attitude killed him.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He didn’t deserve his playing career to end the way it did with huge injury problems for years. He’d have gone on a few years if not for that pesky knee. Would have been nice for him to get a second CL too.
Imagine what a Wayne Rooney who actually took care of himself physically and mentally would have been capable of. He still had a great career of course, but it could have been so much greater.
Did you ever see Best? Best at peak form blows Neymar away.
Sergio Aguero
That's a fair shout, he always seemed to miss a quarter to a third of the season injured
Yep, first injuries took a toll on the amazing no.10/no.9 hybrid he was in his first season, and made him change a bit as a player. Then when he turned into more of a poacher injuries probably kept him away from multiple 30 league goal seasons considering his scoring rate