Top ten wasted talents

[Sparky_Hughes]

Imagine Maradona of then playing in our modern day football with the nutrition and top conditioning of players.What kinda player would we have ?

2.5 times better than Messi

 

[Red Pavan]

I thought that was the point of the thread? Ronaldo really should be mentioned in the same breath as pele,maradona,etc if it wasnt for his injuries while ronaldinho had so much talent but he just didnt utilize it to the best of his abilities.

Rooney I also feel could have been so much more, should really be up there with messi and ronaldo as the three best players of this generation.

Not really, not even close.

 

[blythy]

Think a good time to post this article again, one of my favourites:

In most cases, paying £12m for a teenager would be considered rank stupidity, over-indulgence or, at the very least, a gamble which even Chris Kirkland's dad would shy away from.

When Manchester United do it, it's a stroke of transfer genius.
According to everyone who they make listen, United have just signed the best teenager in the world. By God are we hearing about it.

I'm not doubting Ronaldo's abilities. Clearly he's a talented kid who may be on the threshold of greatness. It just strikes me as rather odd that no-one has given the same attention to Liverpool's equally stunning new teenage recruit.

It seems Gerard Houllier's mistake with Anthony Le Tallec was to buy him early rather than delay until everyone in Europe wanted him. Obviously, Liverpool should have waited until Le Tallec's value was £12m.

Soon enough, the rest of the nation will wake up to the fact Le Tallec and Ronaldo played in the same world youth championships not so long ago and it was the Liverpool new boy who was voted the best player.

No doubt both Gerard and Mr Ferguson watched those same youth championships in Malaysia a few years back and noticed the same players.

Indeed, Liverpool had already signed Le Tallec by then and were strongly linked with Ronaldo themselves, but can't afford to splash out like United.

Time will tell who's got the better deal, but for value for money I know who I'm backing. It's a bit like Houllier and Ferguson have both dined at the same top class restaurant and had their pick of the best main courses on the menu.

Houllier has managed to get his dish at a quarter of the cost Ferguson has paid, and yet it's his rival who is getting all the praise.

Indeed, I'm getting an eerie sense of deja vu when it comes to theman dubbed TLT who's about to explode onto the Premier League. I remember how slow our London based number one writers were to realise who Steven Gerrard was a few years back.

The Kop Magazine I once wrote even launched a campaign to get him in the England squad, so little attention was he receiving. Then, when the rest of the country noticed a year later, they decided to make him their own property.

It was a similar story with Wayne Rooney at Everton. A friend of mine who works on a national newspaper tried to get a feature on Rooney into his paper in the summer of 2002. They were having none of it. How times changed three months later when "Rooney Opens Crisp Packet" stories were making the front page.

Le Tallec won't get the same attention as Rooney, Gerrard or Michael Owen because he ain't English. But the few glimpses I've had of him remind me so much of the first time I saw Gerrard.

So young, yet so full of class. So clearly ready to play at the highest level and begin the learning curve which will take him to the top of the game.

One of the most encouraging, but sadly overlooked parts of Sunday was Le Tallec's being named a sub. Pity he didn't get on, although Houllier said he was prepared to play the youngster if the circumstances of the game had been different.

The career paths of Le Tallec and Ronaldo are sure to cross regularly over the next decade. Should the French gem prove himself the better player, you never know, maybe the manager who signed him will get a bit of credit.

 

[blythy]

byland had everything, such a shame

:d

 

[blythy]

Jovan Kirovski

Good shout

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

.....
Matthias Sammer

say what?

 

[gormless]

Robbie Fowler.
And maybe Paul Merson? I remember seeing him for Middlesbrough and he was clearly very talented, but I can't remember him at Arsenal. Did his lifestyle issues start then?

 

[Gio]

Gaizka Mandieta anyone? Always thought he was class but somehow didn't really play at a top club.

Well Valencia streamrollered their way to two consecutive Champions League finals: they had no superiors at the turn of the century. Still I take your point that Mendieta didn't sustain the level of performance he reached in Spain when joining Lazio at what would've been regarded his peak of 27. Lazio themselves were little different than the City of the time, spunking €200m within a couple of seasons, an investment that similarly brought in the title. I don't think anyone ever got to the bottom of why Mendieta didn't remain as one of the very best midfielders in Europe - he had none of the standard fitness or motivation issues that beset most of the other players in this thread.

Matthias Sammer

Odd choice? He might have had to hang up the boots a little prematurely, but he'd already enjoyed a long career at the top with Inter, Dortmund and Germany.

 

[Brwned]

Valerón had a good long career with a great peak and lots of great moments throughout, and his injury problems only really came when he hit 30, but I think he was a bit of a wasted talent in a way. With his style of play his peak could easily have been in his early-mid 30s but that was stolen away from him. One of football's great/tragic stories watching him get relegated with Depor despite doing everything possible in that final game of 10/11 v Valencia, dictating things like few others can.