Poor players in great teams - those who were so far out of their depth you felt sorry for them?

[Berbasbullet]

Like I say obertan was v similar and actually got games

Thats fair, I remember him being promising at the start though! Him coming off the bench against Chelsea and a few other games.

I think the game v Leeds he was exceptionally poor if I remember rightly, and never came back.

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

A modern example is possibly Otamendi at City?

They are full of players who can play football and are extremely comfortable with the ball. Even those that aren’t the greatest footballers are top athletes.

Otamendi is neither a ball playing defender or a supreme athlete and over the last few seasons has been shown up again and again, to the point where you must wonder whether his teammates blame him for certain results at times.

He is a costly outlier and has cost them time and time again. Possibly a useful defender for a mid table side, but a massive weak point in a team like City’s.

You got a bit of stick for this but I agree, it's a mystery how he's still playing for City, he's cost them for years. Accident-prone, not particular great at any particular skill and a big blind spot for Guardiola. Has cost them in several big games.

 

[Redcy]

Thats fair, I remember him being promising at the start though! Him coming off the bench against Chelsea and a few other games.

I think the game v Leeds he was exceptionally poor if I remember rightly, and never came back.

I think at the beginning he showed a bit of pace, dribbling and directness. He reminded me of early Ronaldo. Trouble was he never matured like Ronaldo

 

[Gehrman]

Bebe was woefully out of his depth at United.

Nah, he had crossing ablity like Beckham.

 

[Sunny Jim]

The funny thing about Gravesen is that technically he wasn't poor at all. He was a really good passer and was very creative at Everton. The problem was is that Madrid mistakenly thought he was some sort of midfielder enforcer when in reality he couldn't tackle at all.

There is a running joke and funny rumour at Everton that the Madrid scouts confused Gravesen to his partner at the time Lee Carsley who was small , bald and stocky like Gravesen. Carsley was the real midfield enforcer in the team and exactly the type of midfielder Madrid should of been signing after the sale of Makelele. Somebody with much more quality than Carsley though clearly.

Funny enough even Moyes and Graveson have acknowledged the rumour :


"Everyone used to confuse him with Lee Carsley, so when Real Madrid looked for him at Everton, we said is it the right one? Is it Carsley or is it Tommy Gravesen?" smiled Moyes.
"Because they were both bald and all that. Tommy was mental, in a good way. He was a good player. He could control the game.

"He could hold the ball and we loved him. We could not believe it, you know?"



“I heard that,” Gravesen admitted in an interview with the Telegraph a decade ago. “And you know what? If they had signed Carsley instead of me, I wouldn’t have been surprised. He did a tremendous job for Everton. Tremendous.”

Very good and informative post.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

Mariano in Madrid. The fact he wore the number 7 just made it worse

 

[Lay]

Oleguer at Barcelona is my pick. Terrible player yet was the RB of choice in the CL against Arsenal. Didn’t have much of a career after Barcelona.

Controversial but I recall watching Rabiot for PSG against City and he looked woeful, too many touches, loose passes, getting dispossessed regularly. Don’t think I’ve seen him play well ever.

 

[Pink Moon]

Oleguer at Barcelona is my pick. Terrible player yet was the RB of choice in the CL against Arsenal. Didn’t have much of a career after Barcelona.

Controversial but I recall watching Rabiot for PSG against City and he looked woeful, too many touches, loose passes, getting dispossessed regularly. Don’t think I’ve seen him play well ever.

He was absolutely sensational at Celtic Park a couple of years back. They won 5-0, Neymar, Mbappe and Cavani all scored yet everyone came away from that game raving about Rabiot.

Strange how his career has panned out because he was promising at one point. Some real poor decisions off the pitch I think.

 

[MrEleson]

Bebe is by far the best example and maybe the bench mark to compare others too.

Agreed. Every single player mentioned in this thread can play football better than him. He didn't even have some of the crucial fundamental ball skills that every player at that level should have. He was so woefully out of his depth that I feel I knew people at the park that had a better technical level than him. It came to the point that he became a meme amongst me and my friends whenever one of us would play terribly or if we'd come across a player on the other team we thought was poor. We'd just call each other or that person Bebe. Signing for United must've been like winning lotto jackpot for him.

 

[Maluco]

Agreed. Every single player mentioned in this thread can play football better than him. He didn't even have some of the crucial fundamental ball skills that every player at that level should have. He was so woefully out of his depth that I feel I knew people at the park that had a better technical level than him. It came to the point that he became a meme amongst me and my friends whenever one of us would play terribly or if we'd come across a player on the other team we thought was poor. We'd just call each other or that person Bebe. Signing for United must've been like winning lotto jackpot for him.

It’s a strange one. My memory of him is close to this, but it couldnt be wholly true. He was so raw. He has made over 250 professional appearances as a professional footballer though.

Moves to United and Benfica were suspect, but he seems to have done well at lesser Portuguese teams and has found a home at Rayo.

If you were kicking around with him in a park game, I am sure he would look unbelievable.

I always had a soft spot for his story after the tough start to life he had. It’s pretty cool that he has had a pro career after everything.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

I’m surprised that no one has started a “Great players in poor teams” thread yet.

 

[Berbasbullet]

Agreed. Every single player mentioned in this thread can play football better than him. He didn't even have some of the crucial fundamental ball skills that every player at that level should have. He was so woefully out of his depth that I feel I knew people at the park that had a better technical level than him. It came to the point that he became a meme amongst me and my friends whenever one of us would play terribly or if we'd come across a player on the other team we thought was poor. We'd just call each other or that person Bebe. Signing for United must've been like winning lotto jackpot for him.

Another United one I remembered is Manucho! And I’m sure there was another weird fergie transfer around that time.

 

[Lay]

Agreed. Every single player mentioned in this thread can play football better than him. He didn't even have some of the crucial fundamental ball skills that every player at that level should have. He was so woefully out of his depth that I feel I knew people at the park that had a better technical level than him. It came to the point that he became a meme amongst me and my friends whenever one of us would play terribly or if we'd come across a player on the other team we thought was poor. We'd just call each other or that person Bebe. Signing for United must've been like winning lotto jackpot for him.

Not sure if every single player mentioned can play better than him. Although not good enough for us he’s had an okay career. If memory serves me right he led Pacos to the CL qualifiers and got a move to Benfica on the back of that season.

 

[Mr Smith]

Stewart Downing for Liverpool springs to mind. I know they were at a pretty low level across the board around that time, but 0 goals, 0 assists in a season is dire for a winger whatever way you slice it.

What about Emmanuel Frimpong at Arsenal? Do people remember him in a few early games for Arsenal in 2011/12, including the 8-2? He was so bad, really felt sorry for him.

Edit: I know these don't quite qualify as "great teams"; just the ones that sprung to mind as disastrously out of their depth.

 

[MrEleson]

It’s a strange one. My memory of him is close to this, but it couldnt be wholly true. He was so raw. He has made over 250 professional appearances as a professional footballer though.

Moves to United and Benfica were suspect, but he seems to have done well at lesser Portuguese teams and has found a home at Rayo.

If you were kicking around with him in a park game, I am sure he would look unbelievable.

I always had a soft spot for his story after the tough start to life he had. It’s pretty cool that he has had a pro career after everything.

Not sure if every single player mentioned can play better than him. Although not good enough for us he’s had an okay career. If memory serves me right he led Pacos to the CL qualifiers and got a move to Benfica on the back of that season.

You guys do have a point. I guess I was judging him purely from his Man Utd career (8 or so games). When I saw him a few years later he was actually causing Madrid a few problems when they faced Rayo. He looked like he improved dramatically (albeit still poor) and like he finally nailed down some fundamental techniques of the game. He reminded me more of a lesser Gervinho at that point than the woeful imposter he was some years earlier. So perhaps confidence also played a huge part initially at United.

 

[Megadrive Man]

Kezman at Chelsea in 2005.

He had an incredible record in the dutch league but was way out his depth under Mourinho at Chelsea.

 

[Schweigaard]

Laughed a bit at the Matip mention earlier. What the hell? He's so much better than Lovren in every way.

We've had so many terrible players. N'Gog in the 08/09 season comes to mind. Him being Torres' backup player later in the season led to all those draws that lost us the title.

Another player that stuck out was Flanagan. We played some really good fotball in the 13/14 season, so many people didn't notice how bad and limited he actually was.