Players who gave a misleading first impression

Lee Chapman. You'd think he had no right to be on a football pitch even as a groundsman. Then the goals racked up.
 
I remember thinking David Dunn was a future super star when he was young at Blackburn. He wasn't.

I was also sure Agbonlahor was going to be a top player.

Not a player but manager, when Robson got Middlesbrough promoted debut season I really thought he was United's next manager, he was going to be outstanding.
 
I thought Stephen Ireland was brilliant for a time. He was even linked to us before City really blew up. All I remember him for is now is pretending that his grandmother was dead to get out of international football.
 
Jon Flanagan for Liverpool, seemed like a mainstay at right back in their good season under Rodgers, and didn’t look too out of place. Though admittedly I didn’t go out of my way to watch Liverpool games in their first proper title run in in decades.
 
Going back a few years, but for those old enough to remember how good Veron was in his first couple of months with us. Wow. He was awesome. Think he won the EPL player of the month in his first month, maybe 2nd.
Its a pity he didnt build on that and his United career dwindled away in the end but the early games of his career with us, he was amazing.
 
Jon Stead looked like he could be something special when he first arrived at Blackburn. Turned out that was as good as it got!
 
Song perhaps, especially after Fabregas went to Barca. in past he used to play defensive roles, but he was arguably even better at playmaking once he got the chance to do that.

I don't even remember who were defensive midfielders in major EPL clubs in those years, probably still Sandro, De Jong, Mikel, Ramires etc. but none of them could play through balls as Song. Song assisted as much as prime Mata and Silva that season.
 
Mário Jardel
He barely got minutes during the first couple of months of his first season, and everytime he came in he looked slow and clumsy.
Best composure I ever saw on a striker. Too bad he got addicted to cocaine and alcohol at his late twenties and became just a paycheck player, when he wasn't skipping trainings without club's permission.
 
I remember thinking Davide Santon was the new Maldini when he burst through at Inter. Mourinho playing an 18 year old consistently was unheard of and he looked the part in big Champions League games. Those games turned out to be his peak.

In terms of appearance, I think Peter Crouch gave the impression, even to managers of the day, that he was a big target man that would compete for headers and could be thrown on to go long ball. He was actually great with his feet, and despite his headed goals, never really played football like a target man at all, nor did he want to.
 
Thought Obertan was the bees knees in his first few sub appearances. Turns out he was just a Martian.
 
André Dominguez said:
Mário Jardel
He barely got minutes during the first couple of months of his first season, and everytime he came in he looked slow and clumsy.
Best composure I ever saw on a striker. Too bad he got addicted to cocaine and alcohol at his late twenties and became just a paycheck player, when he wasn't skipping trainings without club's permission.
Click to expand...
328 games and 254 goals
Imagine what numbers he could of got if he was a professional
 
manutddjw said:
I remember Obertan’s debut against Blackburn and thought we had a player on our hands. The end product was poor, but he beat some players, showed pace, made good runs and linked up well with our players. Boy was I wrong.
Click to expand...
Didn’t he run the ball out of play for a throw in, then get outpaced by Ryan Nelson then miss from the edge of the six yard box? I remember thinking we had signed a donkey.

Yep. Classic 00s YouTube highlight clip

 
gormless said:
Didn’t he run the ball out of play for a throw in, then get outpaced by Ryan Nelson then miss from the edge of the six yard box? I remember thinking we had signed a donkey.

Yep. Classic 00s YouTube highlight clip

Click to expand...

Obertan really looked like that one time a GK/CB played out of position in a friendly.
 
Ronny Rosenthal

After a short spell at Udinese, where he failed to play a single game, and a trial at Luton Town which saw him score twice in three games, Rosenthal joined English side Liverpool on loan in March 1990, as manager Kenny Dalglish looked to increase his options for the forward positions during Liverpool's league title run-in. He made his debut for the Reds in a 3-2 win over Southampton at Anfield on 31 March 1990, scoring his first goal for the club eleven days later in a 4-0 away win over Charlton Athletic at Selhurst Park. He scored seven goals in eight Football League First Division games, including a hat-trick against Charlton Athletic, which helped Liverpool secure their third league title in five seasons. His move to Anfield was then made permanent for a fee of £1 million - double the fee which had been quoted before the loan deal was agreed. At Anfield, he became a cult hero.
Click to expand...
 
Pretty much most defenders we've signed over the last decade. Darmian, Telles, Bailly, Rojo, Lindelof amongst others had solid starts, only to wither away to being liabilities or simply being outed as not good enough.

With the flip scenario - De Gea was a trainwreck in his first few games, Onana too recently (hopefully his good form persists), and of course Vidic/Evra looking like duds.
 
Fobal said:
Yeap, but also he is a very old fashioned winger/mediapunta that would clash with many coaches. He needs someone that gets what he gets and that includes him sometimes risking too much the ball...did Louis wanted him? was his call? because it's mental if it's the case, Di Maria it's more of a Rikjaard player if we keep the coach Dutch.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure that he name-dropped Di Maria early on when talking about the potential development of his team (first we establish control and then we introduce risk-takers like Di Maria... that was the gist of it). So it looks like van Gaal actually wanted Di Maria but they fell off massively.
 
Kag said:
I thought Stephen Ireland was brilliant for a time. He was even linked to us before City really blew up. All I remember him for is now is pretending that his grandmother was dead to get out of international football.
Click to expand...
He spoke very candidly about the dead grandmother incident a year or so ago. He was earning a pittence at the time, at City and he was a single parent. He wouldn't play for Ireland on that occasion because he couldn't afford child care. He was that skint that Micha Richards used to give him money to buy nappies and baby food. When Sven took over at City, he gave him a huge pay rise (essentially let him draw up his own contract).
 
harms said:
I'm pretty sure that he name-dropped Di Maria early on when talking about the potential development of his team (first we establish control and then we introduce risk-takers like Di Maria... that was the gist of it). So it looks like van Gaal actually wanted Di Maria but they fell off massively.
Click to expand...
If that it's the case he did like Pep with Ibra, sometimes you have to just take what you have chosen.
 
Monmouthshire Red said:
He spoke very candidly about the dead grandmother incident a year or so ago. He was earning a pittence at the time, at City and he was a single parent. He wouldn't play for Ireland on that occasion because he couldn't afford child care. He was that skint that Micha Richards used to give him money to buy nappies and baby food. When Sven took over at City, he gave him a huge pay rise (essentially let him draw up his own contract).
Click to expand...

Thats interesting. Wasn’t aware of that.
 
redmeister said:
Mikael Forsell
Click to expand...
Are you saying he wasn’t good in his first game for Chelsea? He could have been a Chelsea legend if not for injuries.

Robert Fleck looked really good in his first game for Chelsea, as I remember. Total rubbish after that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.