Players held back by injuries

[CherryBoy]

Plenty:

Louis Saha
R9
Ledley King
The West Ham striker (cant remember the guys name, had to retire at 28)
Luke Shaw
Abou Diaby
Momo Sissoko

 

[CherryBoy]

Phil Jones.

No, I am serious. While I think Fergie went way overboard when he spoke about him being 'our best player ever', there was serious potential in Phil Jones early on. Raft of injuries completely derailed his career.

The "next Duncan Edwards" to be precise, I always get a chuckle when reminded of that now!

 

[Neil_Buchanan]

Plenty:

Louis Saha
R9
Ledley King
The West Ham striker (cant remember the guys name, had to retire at 28)
Luke Shaw
Abou Diaby
Momo Sissoko

Dean Ashton? I liked him, he had something special about him. I mean he was never a top level player but he scored some absolute beauties.

 

[Neil_Buchanan]

Hargreaves stands out for me, my kind of player and he was brilliant in the champions league winning season. Struggled without him which was made worse by Fergies reluctance to sign a centre mid.

I think some of these players unknowingly make decisions that badly effect their recovery. Diet, posture, lifestyle choices etc even small decisions or deficiencies. I see the results of what someone like Ronaldo can do by taking the perfect approach and wonder what would happen if Wilshire, Sturridge or Carroll had that lifestyle. There are obviously underlying issues with somebody getting reoccurring injuries but I always wonder if they are managing it optimally.

 

[MVBDX]

Arsenal FC, around a decade ago.

 

[Pughnichi]

Louis Saha

This. And iirc Rio said something along the lines of him being the best striker he’s played with/against

 

[Nick7]

Michael Owen. Great player. Could have been so much more

Phil Jones.

No, I am serious. While I think Fergie went way overboard when he spoke about him being 'our best player ever', there was serious potential in Phil Jones early on. Raft of injuries completely derailed his career.

Completely agree with this. There’s a great player in there but injuries have hampered him

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

Gonna say it, gonna get roasted, Ledley King could have been seen at Rio levels if he had knees.

Anderton also, was quality.

Nah, King was quality. To think of the depth England would have had a centre-back in the mid to late 2000s if it weren't for injuries and circumstances. Ferdinand, Terry, King, Campbell, Woodgate, Carragher, Brown etc..

 

[Coxy]

For me the big two are Ledley King and Hargreaves.

 

[Shakesy]

Sturridge.

Could never build on his fantastic 13/14 season. Pretty much missed the whole of the next season injured.

This!

Sturridge was really superb that season.

 

[0le]

What about Steven Defour?

 

[Rish Sawhney]

I'm gonna make an out of the box proposition. I think Rooney was never the same player after his ankle injury against Bayern in 2011. Before that he was talked about in the same breath as Messi/Ronaldo.

 

[Red Comet]

Phil Jones. He was immense for Blackburn; I was sure he would be the next big thing in defence. He also pretty much shut out Ronaldo when we played Real Madrid. Injuries and lack of constant game has really ruin him.

Same goes for Bailly as well. I was looking forward to him building on after a good first season with us but now it seems that he's nearer the exit door.

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

Vincent Kompany. I remember he was absolutely phenomenal when City won the league in 2012. An absolute rock and fantastic leader. After that he started picking up injury after injury, setback after setback. Was still a good defender in his last few seasons but nowhere near as good back then.

 

[USREDEVIL]

Eric Bailly

 

[2plus2is4]

Sebastian Deisler was one of the greatest talents during an era in which Germany didn't have a lot of potential. His knees where so damaged he had to retire with 27.

 

[FootballHQ]

Just come to mind Martin Laursen.

I believe he started having injury problems at AC Milan. We signed him for only 3m in 2004. Played first 3 games of that season and then didn't play again until March.

Played opening game of 05/06 season and then was out for whole year.

06/07 he was actually fit but we eased him into the team, took until November for him to become first choice....3 games laster he's out for four months. Came back in March and had good end to the season.

07/08 he was fantastic at both ends. Scored 6 league goals and incredibly started every single league game that season. 08/09 he again played majority up to January, did his knee v West Brom and that was it...never played again.

Was only 32 when he called it a day, such a shame.

 

[Redcy]

Redknapp, torres and Fowler are all players for Liverpool who prior to their injuries looked like top class players and faded fast.

For me the loss of Neil Webb after a promising start was gutting.

 

[JakeC]

Rafael-Jones-Johnsen-McGrath
Fletcher-Anderson-Hargreaves
Rossi-Saha-Petrucci

 

[adexkola]

Reus has to be up there

 

[Sterling Archer]

Ryan Giggs

 

[SambaBoy]

I'm gonna make an out of the box proposition. I think Rooney was never the same player after his ankle injury against Bayern in 2011. Before that he was talked about in the same breath as Messi/Ronaldo.

I think a few of the metatarsal injuries affected him, lost that pure explosiveness he had when he was 18/19. The problem with Rooney in addition to some poor lifestyle choices was his sheer determination not to miss games/tournaments which probably affected his explosiveness as well. That Bayern ankle injury you mention should have ruled him out for 3-4 weeks minimum but he was back playing in the return leg. He rushed back for Euro's and WC when he was nowhere near fit enough.

 

[Hitsu]

One that hasn't been mentioned yet. Petr Cech. While he was still great after that tackle, he was truly exceptional before it.

 

[Big Andy]

Andres Escobar

 

[Massive Spanner]

One that hasn't been mentioned yet. Petr Cech. While he was still great after that tackle, he was truly exceptional before it.

Great players who deteriorated after their injuries isn't really the same as players who were held back by them, though. Everyone knows Cech was the best GK in the world at one point, not sure how his injury "held him back", it just caused his decline earlier than otherwise.

 

[GloryHunter07]

Louis Saha

This. Could've been so good for us.

 

[xonyo]

Van Persie - During the only 2 seasons in the EPL he played more than 30 games, he got 30 and 26 goals.

 

[Beagle]

Louis Saha and Ledley King.

There have been a few players who have been shafted after a major injury and never recovered their previous levels. Torres is the obvious one. Also Giggs was quite held back by injury during early 2000s I guess.

 

[golden_blunder]

Adrian Doherty
Gary Walsh
Ben Thornley
Alan Smith

Dion Dublin was on the cusp of greatness

 

[squiggle]

As an Arsenal fan, Abou Diaby of course.

But also Tomas Rosicky. He wasn't affected to nearly the same degree but he was one of Arsenal's best players when fit and doesn't get enough recognition.

 

[KirkDuyt]

Robben (though weirdly not really)
Van Persie
Strootman
Afellay
Van Basten

My world ends at the border of The Netherlands.

 

[groovyalbert]

Mario Gotze and Marco Reus