Talented players with terrible work ethic

[Keeps It tidy]

i don't like the thread title. The fact that we, the supporters, ever heard a specific players name makes it highly unlikely that this fella has "terrible" work ethic, because if that was really the case, he would never have made it to becoming pro at all. It is safe to assume that for every player who makes it even to second league, let alone international fame, there were a few dozens just as talented but not being as determined or hard-working as him.

Exactly.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

i don't like the thread title. The fact that we, the supporters, ever heard a specific players name makes it highly unlikely that this fella has "terrible" work ethic, because if that was really the case, he would never have made it to becoming pro at all. It is safe to assume that for every player who makes it even to second league, let alone international fame, there were a few dozens just as talented but not being as determined or hard-working as him.

Exactly.

Pretty sure everyone realises it’s in relative terms.

 

[Slimcharles69]

Giovani dos Santos springs to mind. Got a little overrated because he physically looked a lot like Ronaldinho, but he shouldn't be playing in MLS at his age. Partying just killed his career completely.

 

[montpelier]

Romario?

Arshavin just greatly overrated for me.

 

[matador]

Nasri

 

[bebeanderson]

It’s really difficult to be a World Player of The Year with terrible work ethic. Romario and Ronaldinho probably busted their tails practicing left leg shots, free kicks, passing etc. It’s just that training regimen were terrible in the 90s. Romario said this another day.. it’s not that he hated practice, he only focused on finishing, box movement drills. They were making every outfield player train the same back then, no specific training, 1000 meter running drills, etc.. They just stopped caring too much after they accomplished everything a footballer can aspire.

Neymar looks unprofessional but he’s incredibly workaholic. He has a personal training team that lives with him, he’s always the top 1 or 2 in athleticism metrics in the teams he plays.

The guys who are lazy are the ones who didn’t make it.

 

[Raru9]

First was Mou but then Pochettino talk about Luke Shaw's trainnig sessions when he was in Southampton in his new book.

Injury and weak competitive mind can really drop a talented player.

 

[Snow]

Adriano, during his short peak, was the freakiest striker football has ever seen. That left leg was a weapon of mass destruction, his whole body was. Talk about gifted.

Not fair, he had serious mental problems.

 

[Blackwidow]

It’s really difficult to be a World Player of The Year with terrible work ethic. Romario and Ronaldinho probably busted their tails practicing left leg shots, free kicks, passing etc. It’s just that training regimen were terrible in the 90s. Romario said this another day.. it’s not that he hated practice, he only focused on finishing, box movement drills. They were making every outfield player train the same back then, no specific training, 1000 meter running drills, etc.. They just stopped caring too much after they accomplished everything a footballer can aspire.

Neymar looks unprofessional but he’s incredibly workaholic. He has a personal training team that lives with him, he’s always the top 1 or 2 in athleticism metrics in the teams he plays.

The guys who are lazy are the ones who didn’t make it.

But do not pin that "not making" it just on being lazy. There is so many factors that are important to be successful - and exercising is just one of the puzzle parts. Talent, mentality, intelligence, life style, a good body (it is not just about being injury free - but other limitations, too), character and especially luck.

 

[Social Madworks]

Carlos Tevez

 

[Harry190]

Great vid. I'm looking for the one where he 360s the a defender and slots in the corner from a tight angle but can't find it, or I misremembered it.

This?


Around the 2:40 mark

Also, this video is quite interesting. It is quite remarkable how they let themselves go.

 

[Physiocrat]

@Harry190

Thanks for suggestion but it wasn't that one. I think Inter were in blue and it was the other side of the pitch. It is possible though he missed after the skill.

 

[SCP]

Unknown to most of non-portuguese people: Dani was considered the most talented player in the world of his generation. Rui Costa was his reserve at U21 and bellow national teams. But all he cared was party hard like there was no tommorrow.

Believe me, with 18 years old from Sporting youth teams the only one with more natural talent than him was Futre, even above Figo, Cristiano, Simão or Quaresma.

Small correction, Rui Costa was from the under 20 generation who won the 91 WC, while Dani was from the generation who reached the 3rd place at Qatar in 95, so it is impossible they played at the same time for the under 21's.

 

[Eleven-Eighteen]

Don't forget Ronaldinho

 

[SambaBoy]

There's some player who just don't train well, yet they will leave everything on the pitch. Apparently Tevez used to frequently miss training session to see the physio or just go through the motions during the week, but come game day, he was non-stop running.

Theoretically you could say if he had applied himself more in training and improved his game, he could have been an even better player but on the other hand, he may have overloaded himself in training if he did this and wouldn't be the same player during game day. In terms of training when you reach pro level, there's only a certain amount you can improve. You are not going to get technically better after the ages of 14-15, but with S&C you can become a much better player.

Even to play at a semi-pro level, you would have had to train hard for a number of years even if you didn't maintain that level of professionalism or training. You don't just amber through training sessions for years and become a pro footballer.

 

[Trizy]

Berbatov.

 

[André Dominguez]

Believe me, with 18 years old from Sporting youth teams the only one with more natural talent than him was Futre, even above Figo, Cristiano, Simão or Quaresma.

Small correction, Rui Costa was from the under 20 generation who won the 91 WC, while Dani was from the generation who reached the 3rd place at Qatar in 95, so it is impossible they played at the same time for the under 21's.

Thanks for the info. My bad about that, thought both of them have been together at Youth National teams.

Dani had everything a modern attaking miedfielder needed: technique, balance, amazing ball control and drible, accurate passing and shooting and despite his height, his aerial game was quite solid. And he was quite an inteligent player.
Unfortunatelly his motivation to actually play football was never along with his talent. He was usually more times in the press because of night out and banging girls than actually for his performances in matches.

 

[montpelier]

Adel Taarabt

 

[SCP]

Thanks for the info. My bad about that, thought both of them have been together at Youth National teams.

Dani had everything a modern attaking miedfielder needed: technique, balance, amazing ball control and drible, accurate passing and shooting and despite his height, his aerial game was quite solid. And he was quite an inteligent player.
Unfortunatelly his motivation to actually play football was never along with his talent. He was usually more times in the press because of night out and banging girls than actually for his performances in matches.

With 18 years old his style remembered me my favourite player, Michael Laudrup, actually I think they played together at Ajax in 1997/98, main difference was actually Laudrup with 34 years went to training and wanted to compete, while Dani with 23 almost looked like a ex player in activity, actually he stopped playing with 27 or 28.

 

[Luke1995]

Arshavin and Milos Krasic.

Arshavin was world class between 2007 and the end of 2009, started to fade in 2010 and by 2012 was already done at the top level. Such a fast fall from grace. He never really settled in at Arsenal, but on his day could be undroppable.

Krasic... I remember his performances in the 2009-2010 Champions League, him playing very well against United, scoring past Van Der Sar... had huge potential, was one of the best wingers I saw in my lifetime. It was just natural for him to dribble past players with such speed and elegance... unfortunately it didn't work out for him at Juventus and he never got back in a big club after. Why it went wrong for him at Juventus I don't know but when I saw him play he never struck me as lazy, not in the games at least. Maybe his training wasn't as good as it could be.