Players that didn't live up to their hype? [Archive]

irishultra

26/03/2009, 4:00 PM

For me the one that strikes me is Kevin (Keegan) Hofland. As a youngster with PSV he was thought of to be an amazing defender, and all the top European sides were flocking for his signature, it was around the same time we played Netherlands in 2001. His career never really went anywhere, went to generally mid-table team Wolfsburg for a few years, but now is back in Holland playing for Feyenoord.

Weatherman

26/03/2009, 4:50 PM

same as mexas for roma

irishultra

26/03/2009, 5:13 PM

i know mexes was outragously hyped(along with boumsong :D) at auxerre but in fairness he is playing in the heart of a defence of a team that has finished second in serie a second for 2 conescutive seasons(might be wrong on that)

Angus

26/03/2009, 9:05 PM

Geoff Thomas

sullanefc

26/03/2009, 10:28 PM

Danny Cadamateri

L37Ultra

26/03/2009, 11:15 PM

osarusan

26/03/2009, 11:23 PM

Richie Humphreys.

Red&White Rover

26/03/2009, 11:27 PM

Javier Saviola.

If we're talking about players who've not lived up to the hype, the I would class Rooney as one. The English Media talked him up to be the next Pele, however I would not class him at this stage as a World Class player, say in the same Category as Messi, or god forgive me for saying this, Cristiano Ronaldo.

gilberto_eire

27/03/2009, 12:07 AM

Picking an Irish man i'd say Liam Miller, we all thought he was going to be the next Roy Keane

Would agree on Freddie Adu, first heard off him through Championship Manager:D

gustavo

27/03/2009, 10:40 AM

same as mexas for roma

Mexes is a fine defender IMO

Weatherman

27/03/2009, 10:40 AM

Mexes is doing alright with Roma.

Van der Meyde is a name that stands out for me as wasted potential.

Yeah thats the thing, mexes is doing alrite not great or world class as people would have expected years ago especially when fergie was after him. now he'd be lucky to make the united squad imo

passinginterest

27/03/2009, 10:53 AM

The original Denilson, signed for a world record fee by Real Betis. Liked a step over he did. The hype over him was unreal, never fulfilled his promise at all.

Pike B

27/03/2009, 12:30 PM

Picking an Irish man i'd say Liam Miller, we all thought he was going to be the next Roy Keane

Colin Healy..
You know he's still only 29..

Roadend

27/03/2009, 12:32 PM

Wayne Rooney........

Pike B

27/03/2009, 12:36 PM

Wayne Rooney........
Even as a Liverpool fan, I find this one ridiculous..

Mr Maroon

27/03/2009, 12:42 PM

All of the "next Maradonas". Aimar, Saviola, etc.

Roadend

27/03/2009, 12:52 PM

Even as a Liverpool fan, I find one this ridiculous..

Good for you

Pike B

27/03/2009, 12:59 PM

Good for you
That should be this one... :(

irishultra

27/03/2009, 1:04 PM

a few more
cissé
pedretti
d'allessandro
giovanni pasquale

KK77

27/03/2009, 1:56 PM

Mark Kennedy

Roadend

27/03/2009, 1:57 PM

Jughead, Franny Jeffers

The Fly

27/03/2009, 2:02 PM

Picking an Irish man i'd say Liam Miller, we all thought he was going to be the next Roy Keane

Errrrrr..............no we didn't.

* I didn't anyway.

Torn-Ado

28/03/2009, 5:11 PM

Rafael Scheidt

sligofan4ever

28/03/2009, 5:30 PM

Razors left peg

29/03/2009, 1:43 PM

Richard Wright was gonna be the 2nd coming of Gordon Banks at one stage according to the English media

Docboy

29/03/2009, 2:06 PM

Freddy Adu would be one in my opinion. Some will agree that he is still only 19 and he could still be a great player but after signing for DC United at 14, massive things were expected from him. Hasn't really taken the world alight as much as people expected

I really wouldn't be suprised if he was one of those African kids that is a good few years older than they claim to be. Hence the unbelievable achievements at under age level. Then when it comes time to play against lads their own age they suddenly disappear.

By all accounts it used to happen a lot in underage tournaments leading everyone to conclude that African football was on the rise.;)

Lionel Ritchie

29/03/2009, 3:23 PM

I really wouldn't be suprised if he was one of those African kids that is a good few years older than they claim to be. Hence the unbelievable achievements at under age level. Then when it comes time to play against lads their own age they suddenly disappear.

By all accounts it used to happen a lot in underage tournaments leading everyone to conclude that African football was on the rise.;)

Isn't it believed that both Kanu and Yeboah were considerably older than they were letting on?

Apparently there's an x-ray that can be taken of some of the bigger bones where age can be accurately calculated ...much like counting the rings on a tree stump.

stojkovic

29/03/2009, 3:59 PM

By all accounts it used to happen a lot in underage tournaments leading everyone to conclude that African football was on the rise.;)

It happens alot in schoolboy football in Dublin aswell !

Closed Account 2

30/03/2009, 10:49 AM

a few more
cissé
pedretti
d'allessandro
giovanni pasquale

He was a total flop in Europe but one of the best players in Latin America last season, he took San Lorenzo almost all the way in the Libertadores (they lost to LDU -eventual winners- on pens) and then was signed by Internacional (of Porto Alegre, Brazil) and has done very well for them. It's worth noting that it's culturally hard for Argentines (and foreigners in general) to do well in Brazil - the language and climate are very different and Brazilian fans, and to a lesser extent coaches, have a fixation with mediocre domestic players ahead of foreign ones. Even the sucessfull ones (e.g. the Bolivian Marcelo Moreno Martins, ex Cruzierio, now at Shakhtar) usually have some link to Brazil (he played for them at youth level)...

SaucyJack

31/03/2009, 6:28 PM

Gian Luigi Lentini,the car accident didn't help.

John83

31/03/2009, 7:03 PM

I really wouldn't be suprised if he was one of those African kids that is a good few years older than they claim to be. Hence the unbelievable achievements at under age level. Then when it comes time to play against lads their own age they suddenly disappear.

By all accounts it used to happen a lot in underage tournaments leading everyone to conclude that African football was on the rise.;)
I once know a Cypriot who scorned every underage result with the words, "If youth football mean jack ****, Ghana would have more World Cups than Brazil."

African players have long been accused of this stuff. I don't know if there really is a reliable medical test for age, but I have been told by an American "soccer fan" I discussed this with that Adu was so tested and found to be the age he claimed to be. That's about as reliable as O.J.'s testimony, so take from it what you will.

Ozymandias

01/04/2009, 1:38 PM

All of the "next Maradonas". Aimar, Saviola, etc.

Artega while your on that subject

Mr Maroon

01/04/2009, 1:45 PM

The "next Del Pieros" too. Davide Chiumiento and Raffaele Palladino.

hunt4the

01/04/2009, 1:52 PM

Liam Miller. I wasn't expecting him to be the next Roy Keane but i was expecting good things of him. Djibril Cisse,Lucas Leiva,Ryan Babel,Francis Jeffers,David Nugent and Javier Saviola would fall into this category aswell.

There both just 22 I think that's a bit harsh,
I wouldn't say lucas was hyped up by anyone bar his mother and agent.

I'd go for Owen Hargreaves or the next zidane Bruno Cheyrou,

eamo1

01/04/2009, 2:05 PM

Le Tellec when at liverpool-Houliier called him the next platini.
Dos Santos too,i think hes still at Spurs now,he was the next big thing at Barca 3 seasons ago and was going to rule along with Messi for the next 10 years.
A defender called Pavon,was at Real Madrid a few years ago and was going to be their linch pin for the next generation.To be fair injuries made it more difficult for him.
Rustu:i know he always does well for his country but he went to Barca a few seasons ago as probably the best keeper in the world but he had some awfull bad games and was gone by the following summer.Hes still at Fenerbache i think it is so hes not exactly dissapeared.
Harpal Singh:He's at Dundalk is it now??Was another next big thing at Leeds a few years ago.
Ger Crossley:played centre midfield for Brian Kerr's u18 euro cup winning team and was at celtic,he went right down the ladder till he eventually couldnt get a game at Galway Utd.Most of that u18 winning team though can be marked down as dissappointments.

Ozymandias

01/04/2009, 2:13 PM

david bellion

Steve Bruce

01/04/2009, 3:17 PM

Veron, never reached the heights that we where expecting for United/Chelsea
Chris Eagles, supposidly the next Beckham
Joe Cole, although a great player, he was expecting to be unbelievable, at one time ranked as the best youngster in England (as in school boy)

Lee Feeney before he went to Rangers, he looked unbelievable, had all the talent in the world and should be playing at a high standard now, rather than for Newry City. His attitude cost him.

Francis Jeffers - Next Ian Wright (apparently)

John O'Shea - Although regular in the United squad, when he first came onto the scene he looked like he would be an absolute gem, but just didn't develope. Jack of all trades master of none.

Kleberson, Paborsky, Jordi Cryuff, Paul Dalglish & Will huge potential, never fulfilled.

Wangball

01/04/2009, 3:44 PM

..Paborsky....

Karel Poborsky has over 100 caps for the Czech Republic and has played for some huge teams and in World Cups.....its more than a tad harsh to suggest he didn't live up to his "hype"

El Hadj Diouf is the obvious one for me, looked like the new Thierry Henry in Japorea, signed for Liverpool and turned out muck! Also weren't Salif Diao & Momo Sissoko both supposed to be the new Patrick Viera??

dfx-

01/04/2009, 3:47 PM

Baros
Adriano
Recoba
Ibrahimovic..
Oleguer

Saviola would still befit any club. Dos Santos is somewhere like Norwich now isn't he? I don't have great expectation for Bojan either. Have to separate one person's opinion from hype - otherwise you could name an entire Houllier XI

eamo1

01/04/2009, 4:13 PM

David Trezequet.Was the answer to France's search for an out and out goal scorer apparently but just didnt do it.Didnt do it at Juve either.Yes,he won major honours has individually been dissapointing.

Sonny Anderson at Barca too.Barca like Liverpool have had many strikers come to the club with a growing huge rep but just didnt cut it at that level.

Myself too-Ran the show in centre midfield for Salthill Devon u16s a few years ago,also for my school in a final aswell.Where oh where did it all go wrong????:rolleyes::p

superfrank

01/04/2009, 4:32 PM

AFAIK, Trezeguet is one of Juve's top all-time scorers.

He's done pretty well to get there considering he's been playing with Del Piero the whole time.

AFAIK, he scored 34 goals for France in 71 games. Nearly one in two, not bad at all.

gustavo

01/04/2009, 4:36 PM

gustavo

01/04/2009, 4:38 PM

Mr Maroon

01/04/2009, 5:43 PM

Also weren't Salif Diao & Momo Sissoko both supposed to be the new Patrick Viera??
Sissoko is getting there.

Baros
Adriano
Recoba
Ibrahimovic..
Oleguer

I don't have great expectation for Bojan either.
I definitely agree about Recoba!! Not about Bojan though, I still think he'll be a top player.

David Trezequet.Was the answer to France's search for an out and out goal scorer apparently but just didnt do it.Didnt do it at Juve either.Yes,he won major honours has individually been dissapointing.

Oh dear oh dear oh dear. How on earth can you have come out with that? He's a Juventus legend, all time top foreign goalscorer (ahead of Platini, Charles, Sivori, etc). How can you say he "didn't do it at Juve" and has been individually disappointing?

AFAIK, Trezeguet is one of Juve's top all-time scorers.

He's done pretty well to get there considering he's been playing with Del Piero the whole time.

AFAIK, he scored 34 goals for France in 71 games. Nearly one in two, not bad at all.
Correct. Also, for Juve 222 league appearances and 131 league goals. A goal every 1.6 matches and against "defensive" Italian teams aswell!

52 goals in 93 for Monaco, 34 in 71 for France and 5 goals in 5 caps for France u21 too (just to show it wasn't a fluke;))

Individually disappointing?
*Serie A Footballer of the Year: 2002
*Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year: 2002
*Serie A Top Goalscorer: 2001-2002 (runner up last year too).

Closed Account 2

01/04/2009, 11:46 PM

Still be remembered for missing important penalties in shoot outs though! :)

I think he is overrated too, I know he has scored lots of goals for Juventus, but to be frank he had some of the best midfielders in the world setting him up. Everytime I've seen him on a really big stage he's looked like a bunny in the headlights of a lorry. Additionally some of those goals came when Juventus had a hidden hand helping them in the league. I wouldnt have him anywhere near the top ten of foreign strikers in Serie A in the 15 years (e.g. Batistuta, Shevchenko, Ronaldo, Zamorano, Claudio Lopez, Pandev, Crespo, Alen Boksic, Abel Balbo (pushing the time frame out a bit)... etc) I'd even say Edmundo in his one season at Fiorentina did better than Trezeguet.

Kildare Lad

06/04/2009, 10:18 AM

Dont know if its been said, but Keiron Dyer? Thought he was going to be the big thing in English football and now seems to be an average player at West Ham is it? Unlucky with injuries though.

DeLorean

06/04/2009, 11:17 AM

I'd go for Owen Hargreaves or the next zidane Bruno Cheyrou,

Hargreaves in a fine player imo and don't think there was that much hype about him really. He was just in an unusual situation of being a English player playing with a big European club. Fair enough United paid big money for him but the intensity with which Bayern tried to hang on to him would suggest he did a more than decent job for them. Was also a major factor in United's success last season I thought and think they could do with him at the minute.

irishultra

06/04/2009, 12:23 PM

lol ye hargreaves situation was really weird. i had to laugh at the british press and the fans deriding him, when he was up against portugal i was so supporting england and then he started dominating the match. what a player.

i just loved the way he proved the idiots wrong.

Wangball

06/04/2009, 2:34 PM

Correct. Also, for Juve 222 league appearances and 131 league goals. A goal every 1.6 matches and against "defensive" Italian teams aswell!

52 goals in 93 for Monaco, 34 in 71 for France and 5 goals in 5 caps for France u21 too (just to show it wasn't a fluke;))

Individually disappointing?
*Serie A Footballer of the Year: 2002
*Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year: 2002
*Serie A Top Goalscorer: 2001-2002 (runner up last year too).

Outscored by Gary Breen in the 2002 World Cup though......................

Oink

15/04/2009, 11:58 AM

Joe Cole, although a great player, he was expecting to be unbelievable, at one time ranked as the best youngster in England (as in school boy)

Dont know about that one, can't think of any other English winger playing at a higher level or with more honours for his generation.

FA Premier League (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FA_Premier_League): 2004-05, 2005-06
(runner-up): 2003-04, 2006-07, 2007-08
FA Cup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FA_Cup): 2007
Football League Cup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_League_Cup): 2005,
(runner-up): 2008
FA Community Shield (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FA_Community_Shield): 2005
(runner-up): 2007
UEFA Champions League (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Champions_League):
(runner-up): 2008
Chelsea Player of the Year (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Player_of_the_Year): 2008