Players that have turned their career around from a decline

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Inspired by another thread on goalkeepers.

Do you have any examples of where it’s worked? Where a player has changed their fortunes from what seemed like an obvious decline?

Apologies for the title gore.

 

[Lay]

Raul? Had a poor couple of seasons there and went to
Schiller and did well

 

[minh_loc_xoay]

Luka Modric went from a shadow at Real Madrid to a mainstay in their midfield. Sadly enough, his Real Madrid career turned around after his goal against us which knocked us out of Europe in Fergie's last season.

 

[AltiUn]

Falcao bounced back well after his injury and his stints at United and Chelsea.

 

[AltiUn]

Luka Modric went from a shadow at Real Madrid to a mainstay in their midfield. Sadly enough, his Real Madrid career turned around after his goal against us which knocked us out of Europe in Fergie's last season.

He wasn't on the decline though, he just had a rough start to life in Spain then settled and was fine.

 

[harms]

Andrea Pirlo. He had stagnated for a while before being benched for Milan. Then he came to Juventus, they’ve built a midfield around him and he had one of the most impressive spells of his career.

 

[Aidan Azar]

Falcao's done well for Monaco considering how bad he was for us and Utd.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Ronaldo? The more decline he has, the more Ballon D'or he won?

 

[STYLOISRED]

Arjen Robben

 

[Snafu17]

He wasn't on the decline though, he just had a rough start to life in Spain then settled and was fine.

It's only a decline if you don't turn it around. Otherwise people will just call it a bad run of form.

 

[harms]

It's only a decline if you don't turn it around. Otherwise people will just call it a bad run of form.

It’s normal to perform worse for a while when you move to another league, especially if it’s a move to a bigger club. That’s what happened.

 

[harms]

We also have 2 obvious examples in Scholes and Giggs, both of whom declined in their original roles before reinventing themselves in different ones.

 

[do.ob]

K.P. Boateng hit rock bottom at Schalke (iirc) was paid to terminate his contract, followed by a short stint at Milan that didn't go so well either. Then a quite good season at Las Palmas, followed by another one at Frankfurt, where he instantly became a leader.

Aubameyang was sold for next to nothing by Milan at age 23 and then had a spectacular surge via ASSE and Dortmund.

Schweinsteiger had a his moments with Podolski for DIE MANNSCHAFT, but before he was converted to CM he looked like an eternal talent.

Paulinho came back from China.

 

[dablem_10]

Edwin van der sar, was considered finished around start of 00s then juve sold him to fulham and rest of it everybody knows

 

[Snafu17]

It’s normal to perform worse for a while when you move to another league, especially if it’s a move to a bigger club. That’s what happened.

So it was a bad run of form because of those reasons. If he never managed to get back to his best that would be noted as a start of his decline. Shevchenko had a bad run of form likely because he moved to another league, only he didn't turned it around and that lead to his decline.

Anyway, everybody wanted to murder Carrick for a couple of years, following that he had his best two seasons.

 

[carvajal]

Donato arrived at Deportivo with almost 31 years. He was a slow player but he was intelligent,positioning very well. Good touch and great with free kicks and long shots
Holding midfielder,CB and even some kind of "líbero".
He debuted with Spain with 32 years and played the Euro England 96.
He was so important that in 2000, with 37 years he scored one of the goals that gave la liga to Deportivo.

 

[shamans]

Gareth Bale. There was an ongoing joke on how Totenham Lose every time he plays. I even read posts on how we dodged a bullet when he signed for spurs instead of United and how stupid he was for doing that.

 

[Theafonis]

Scott Parker? Had been passed around for years before he found home at Spurs and finished at a respectable level.

 

[Frasbul]

Gündogan was seen as a flop, when he first came to Dortmund.

 

[Theafonis]

Gündogan was seen as a flop, when he first came to Dortmund.

His career has been steadily declining since he joined City. I’d imagine him at a team like Liverpool or Arsenal would be more beneficial for him.

 

[Frasbul]

While we're at it: Immobile after his terrible Dortmund spell.

 

[Casanova85]

Anelka (good with Arse,+then failed Galáctico, "so-so/decent at best" second stint in the PL...Fenerbahçe...and finally Chelsea legend)

 

[Invictus]

Juan Román Riquelme and Walter Samuel, IMO. The former is a pretty straightforward candidate: umpteenth New Maradona from Argentina and seen as a top-shelf talent following the 1997 U-20 World Cup, dominant in South American football as a youngster, didn't do that well in his dream move to Barcelona and looked like another “what could have been” waste-of-talent — but turned things around in great fashion for the national team (most prominently the 2006 World Cup and 2005 Confederations Cup) and for Villarreal at club level under Pellegrini (finishing 14th in the Ballon D'Or in 2005 and 2007). Went on to cement his legacy in the South American club game with a Copa Libertadores title with Boca Juniors (where he was also adjudged the MVP).

As regards the latter he was viewed as a prodigious centerback in South American football, being elected to the South American Team of the Year at the tender age of 20...

http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/sam-toy.html

Which led to a world record (for centerbacks) move to Roma. Did well there but hit a snag after joining Madrid and subsequently returning to Serie A. But then reclaimed his standing as one of the most fearsome defenders in the world — peaking under Mourinho alongside Lúcio, and earning a spot in the FIFPro World XI.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Sanchez at Inter.

 

[Hound Dog]

Gareth Bale. There was an ongoing joke on how Totenham Lose every time he plays. I even read posts on how we dodged a bullet when he signed for spurs instead of United and how stupid he was for doing that.

It wasnt a joke, he genuinely held the record for most premier league games played without a win.

 

[shamans]

It wasnt a joke, he genuinely held the record for most premier league games played without a win.

What I mean is he was laughed at for it

 

[SilentWitness]

Pukki.

Schalke -> Celtic -> Brondby

Got into the European big leagues and then had to go back to Brondby because it didn't work out and his record there wasn't even that great. Banging them in now for Norwich.

 

[shamans]

Also, what about Quaresma? Bright start, then fading into obscurity but past 4-5 years he has found some consistency with Besiktas and Portugal scoring important goals for both.

 

[Tickle Lad]

John Terry; in his 30s and lost his place in the Chelsea team under consecutive managers before being reinstated by Mourinho and getting into the PFA Team of the Year.

 

[JarkiJarko]

Stefan Effenberg

Effenberg's star rose in the late 80s, early 90s, then he went from Bayern to Fiorentina and was relegated in the 2nd season there (a team that had not only Effenberg but also Batistuta and Brian Laudrup), he was nowhere close to his performances in previous years. The icing on the cake was by his performance in the 94 WC where he was sent home after showing fans the finger.

Then he returned to Gladbach followed by his 2nd stint at Bayern 4 years later. He turned into one of the best 10s in Europe. He was the heart and brain of the legendary Bayern Team of the late 90s, early 2000s, winning the CL with Bayern during his peak.

 

[Bubz27]

We also have 2 obvious examples in Scholes and Giggs, both of whom declined in their original roles before reinventing themselves in different ones.

Came in here to say Giggs. Some fans wanted him sold at one point. He transformed his style of play, and added being a CM to his bow as well.

 

[gormless]

There is gonna be a common factor of Real Madrid in here.
Raul, Walter Samuel, Robbin, Sneijder

 

[Redplane]

Robin van Persie.
From barely hanging on, scoring loads of useless goals for a shitty team that wouldn't win the PL, to scoring them for a team that did.

 

[Dancfc]

Natural declines don't get reversed, if you have recovered from a lengthy run of bad form you still had it but circumstances got in the way.

Alexis for example won't suddenly re create his Arsenal days because in the present day he's simply a crap footballer.

 

[fps]

Came in here to say Giggs. Some fans wanted him sold at one point. He transformed his style of play, and added being a CM to his bow as well.

Yes Giggs, very much so. He had a very difficult spell where he wasn't going past people like before, and he changed his game enormously.

James Milner. The move to Liverpool seemed to me an acceptance he couldn't be a key player in a top side, and was going to be a squad player instead at a team just below. Instead, he has maintained his fitness and dedication and shown even more to his game.

 

[bazalini]

Johnny Evans
Teddy Sheringham

 

[damageinc.]

Andrea Pirlo from Milan to Juventus
Arjen Robben from Real Madrid to Bayern Munich
Wesley Sneijder from Real Madrid to Inter
Walter Samuel from Real Madrid to Inter
Thiago Motta from Atletico Madrid to Genoa (and then Inter)
Dennis Bergkamp from Inter to Arsenal
Patrick Kluivert from Milan to Barcelona
Edgar Davids from Milan to Juventus
Angel Di Maria from Man United to PSG
Andy Moller from Juventus to Borussia Dortmund
Matthias Sammer from Inter to Borussia Dortmund
Van Der Saar from Juventus to Manchester United
Christian Panucci from Monaco to Roma

 

[B20]

Veron after moving back to Argentina.

 

[B20]

Sheringham is a good shout.

 

[LARulz]

Scholes and Giggs already mentioned but Beckham? He went off to the MLS but kept coming back to Europe playing pretty well for Milan and PSG

 

[B20]

Baggio tanked at Milan, signed for fecking Bologna, turned it out in style and joined inter.