Any player who moved from Forest to Utd.
Players with the steepest declines
- Thread starter Hound Dog
- Start date
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
He was average at best and looked overweight.
Spent more time watching his girlfriend play tennis than playing for us. Miraculously got fit in time for the Euros though.
Didn't know anything about this. Interesting. Would clear up one of the biggest mystery declines of the past 30 years, that.
Yeah, the knee injury with Sheva was definitely an issue at the time, as said he rushed back for the World Cup and looked really bad. Understandable he would take the risk though, as Ukraine had lost three playoffs in a row for '98, '00 and '02. He had taken his fair share of criticism at home for that.
Keano?
He always used to look like he was about to collapse - always had his hands on his hips looking pasty and out of breath.
Read an article recently about Mido. He put on some serious weight at the back end of his career, at his heaviest he was around 23 stone. Only played 18 games in 3 years.
Sheva was such a weird one. Especially when I sat (I remember) for the whole summer annoyed at how they'd bagged a genuine world class goal-machine and it surely (by signing him and Ballack) ended any hope for United catching Chelsea.
Part-delighted that he flopped, part baffled, part disappointed because the real Sheva never showed up in the PL. Although think he started well by scoring against Liverpool in the charity shield from my memory.
Yeah, that was really bizarre as Ballack and Shevchenko were monsters before they came to England and the logical conclusion was doom for the rest of us.
Both players were on such a high before coming to England. Crazy how it turned out.
Van Persie in 2014-15.
Sol Campbell?
Sol Campbell?
Nah he was pushing 35 in that double-winning season and already a bit-part player.
His type of player, wonderkid strikers completely based on pace often peak very early.
Add in severe injuries and it's amazing Owen kept going until 34 or so.
Michael Bridges.
One minute he couldn't stop hitting the target and looked bang on to be a top class striker, then overnight his career went into meltdown and he scored 45 goals over a 11 year period.
One minute he couldn't stop hitting the target and looked bang on to be a top class striker, then overnight his career went into meltdown and he scored 45 goals over a 11 year period.
Deco, it felt like he was on top of the world one minute, then the next he's back in Brazil
Florent Malouda, Chelsea's top scorer in the league one season, courted by Juventus and then he spends a year in the reserves because he refused to drop his wage demands.
Florent Malouda, Chelsea's top scorer in the league one season, courted by Juventus and then he spends a year in the reserves because he refused to drop his wage demands.
Amazingly, my main memory of Ballack (who I have known about since his days with Leverkusen) is him screaming at and running in parallel with that Norwegian referee, doing his best to not touch him.
I thought Ballack wasn't half bad at Chelsea. He played 105 games for them and was an integral part of their midfield in his time there. Sheva on the other hand didn't make it to 50 games and was loaned out to AC Milan.
Was Ballack the great player he was before? No, but its harsh to say he had a steep decline IMO.
Ballack was excellent for us.
Moyes admitted to flogging RVP in pre season. I recall Rio talking of that season where he was stressed a lot as Moyes wouldn't name the team till before kick off. Just bonehead management of delicate players
Yeah strange one that.
Ibrahim Affelay is one of the first that comes to my mind. Seemed destined to be another Dutch great - never quite reached the heights of others - the decline was fast. Too bad because he was an exciting players to watch at his peak.
Sorry for the late reply. You reminded me of Piojo(louse) López , one of my favorite forwards.
In his case there is something in common with many other players that appear in this thread.
With 26, 27,28, in the best moment of their careers, they leave a winning club, or in which they do well and end up disappearing.
In the case of Gerard I think it is a case of decline due to excess of bench.
Of those years in Barça I also remember Dani (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dani_García_(footballer,_born_1974)) .
He was not a bad forward, but he was always in the bench, however he refused to leave several times and then it was too late. Definitely money over football.
About Saviola, I'm not sure if it´s a case of pronounced decline, or simply he was not so good, or he was very overrated from his youth. I think buying an Argentine is always more reliable than a Brazilian talking about immediate performances but sometimes they sell you the new Agüero, the new Redondo (Gago), etc.
Last edited:
Adrian Ilie was another Valencia player from that era that looked to be a possible star, then declined very quickly after a few bad injuries. He was an extremely skilled player with a great affinity for lobbing the keeper and could play as a 10, forward or on the wing.
Heh.
Ballack was a one-man army before he got to Chelsea - a truly phenomenal attacking midfielder who looked like he'd go on to be a proper legendary (on the German scale) midfielder, which he never got near again whilst at Chelsea. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't Ballack. It was a terrifying prospect for him and Shevchenko to be coming into that Chelsea team, but then, when they got there, neither of them were ever the player that their repute in the game was based off of, which was a relief.
If you'd got the real Ballack, I bet your superlative would be superlativer!
Yeah, agree with this. Got to remember he moved to England at 30 and played a slightly more conservative role in order to free up Lampard. And he did that well because he was still a quality all-rounder who had a top class playmaking game about him.
I think you got the dates wrong It was the 07-08 season when his decline started
in 06-07 scored 24 goals in all comps which was his 2nd best season
and was still doing these things
Raul got space jammed.
I ran out of ink before I could add "in the 80s".
Yaya Toure.
Never won the league with Valencia.
The Ballack call is weird. He was excellent in England, without hitting true Ballack-monster heights.
It's interesting how some of you remember that period, too.
What I remember:
- Torres wasn't declining (in 2009/2010 he scored 18 goals in 22 league games under Rafa's last season. Then he had his injury, then there was the World Cup where he was rushed back. Then he was a bit slow to start, but it was difficult to say if that was because he was fecked or because Roy Hodgson. He still scored a few goals but definitely looked off). To those who say or remember that "he was already well on the decline", that was about a 6-8 month period from before the World Cup, through the World Cup, till the end of the year. It certainly wasn't "a couple of seasons" as some of you remember it - he was injured more and more frequently the last two seasons, but when he played he was absolutely frightening (save the last 6-8 months as mentioned above, while showing glimpses. Again, it was hard to ascertain whether that was a proper decline or just Roy Hodgson's shitness).
- Shevchenko, despite a decent final season in Milan (the numbers were good but if I recall he mostly scored a few hat tricks etc vs weaker teams rather than consistently) was already well on the decline. I genuinely don't think he was the same after the 2005 final.
Which isn't to say that I thought Shevchenko would be shit at Chelsea, but I didn't think Chelsea were getting THE Shevchenko.
Basically, I thought they were getting a well on the wane Shevchenko (but I was still scared about what might happen) and a prime-level Torres, albeit currently/temporarily in the slumps, who I thought would definitely find his form again at Chelsea.
Along with Kaka, certainly the biggest declines in recent times.
Two of three were injury related, Shevchenko perhaps also age/adapting to new league at that age, but also think all three were mostly mental.
If I recall correctly, Kaka didn't want to leave Milan but Milan told Kaka that they couldn't reject the offer because it was great money. Torres wanted to leave, or so he thought, at the time, but it's pretty obvious he'd have been happier at Liverpool.
Sometimes things just don't work out the way you plan them to!
It's interesting how some of you remember that period, too.
What I remember:
- Torres wasn't declining (in 2009/2010 he scored 18 goals in 22 league games under Rafa's last season. Then he had his injury, then there was the World Cup where he was rushed back. Then he was a bit slow to start, but it was difficult to say if that was because he was fecked or because Roy Hodgson. He still scored a few goals but definitely looked off). To those who say or remember that "he was already well on the decline", that was about a 6-8 month period from before the World Cup, through the World Cup, till the end of the year. It certainly wasn't "a couple of seasons" as some of you remember it - he was injured more and more frequently the last two seasons, but when he played he was absolutely frightening (save the last 6-8 months as mentioned above, while showing glimpses. Again, it was hard to ascertain whether that was a proper decline or just Roy Hodgson's shitness).
- Shevchenko, despite a decent final season in Milan (the numbers were good but if I recall he mostly scored a few hat tricks etc vs weaker teams rather than consistently) was already well on the decline. I genuinely don't think he was the same after the 2005 final.
Which isn't to say that I thought Shevchenko would be shit at Chelsea, but I didn't think Chelsea were getting THE Shevchenko.
Basically, I thought they were getting a well on the wane Shevchenko (but I was still scared about what might happen) and a prime-level Torres, albeit currently/temporarily in the slumps, who I thought would definitely find his form again at Chelsea.
Along with Kaka, certainly the biggest declines in recent times.
Two of three were injury related, Shevchenko perhaps also age/adapting to new league at that age, but also think all three were mostly mental.
If I recall correctly, Kaka didn't want to leave Milan but Milan told Kaka that they couldn't reject the offer because it was great money. Torres wanted to leave, or so he thought, at the time, but it's pretty obvious he'd have been happier at Liverpool.
Sometimes things just don't work out the way you plan them to!
Lee Sharpe deserves a mention….not to mention Michu 
Only statistically IMO. In everything else he declined. Especially what made him so special - his ability to embarrass defenders in tight situations. He became a set-piece player in 2006-2008 - maintaining a solid goal return, showing flashes of the genius, but doing increasingly less running with the ball.
Owen Hargreaves? Bartez?
Some names belong in the ‘here today gone tomorrow' thread. Michu ha!
Some names belong in the ‘here today gone tomorrow' thread. Michu ha!
Nah he was actually below his best that season despite his goals. His general play became pretty average and his work rate was even worse. I’m not totally sure but a lot of his goals were penalties and free kicks that season.
Has anyone mentioned Michu yet?
Jep, looks absolutely obese
Thats what the tabloids wrote, so it must be true. Naturally, the rest of the squad spent their time 24/7 thinking about match moves and kissing the United crest, which is why they performed so brilliantly as a team under LvG.
Of course, Schweinsteiger should have spent more time in the tattoo parlour, the Bentley dealership and his teammates wifes bedrooms to better fit in with the crowd...
He fit in perfectly with the crowd, he was shite.Jep, looks absolutely obese
Thats what the tabloids wrote, so it must be true. Naturally, the rest of the squad spent their time 24/7 thinking about match moves and kissing the United crest, which is why they performed so brilliantly as a team under LvG.
Of course, Schweinsteiger should have spent more time in the tattoo parlour, the Bentley dealership and his teammates wifes bedrooms to better fit in with the crowd...
Bastian played only 18 league matches for us under LVG. He missed 20, that's more than half of the league ffs!
He was washed out when we got him. Great business by Bayern and Pep
He was washed out when we got him. Great business by Bayern and Pep
Hleb. Looked great at arsenal then went Barcelona and subsequently vanished into dust at the snap of a finger.
Was thinking about how fast Antonio Valencia declined earlier. A beast from 2009-2012, then bulked up and forgot how to play football.
Julio Cesar is another. Probably the best Goalkeeper in the world at Inter, wins the treble and finds himself at QPR 2 years later.
Julio Cesar is another. Probably the best Goalkeeper in the world at Inter, wins the treble and finds himself at QPR 2 years later.