Ten most drastic collapses from once-great players.
They say in football that you’re only as good as your last game, but it’s fair to say some footballers have fairly good games nearly every time they play, and that is how they earn their reputation. However, very quickly a player can also start having nightmare after nightmare on the football pitch, getting things wrong with nearly every touch. Read on for a list of ten great players who totally lost it later in their careers…plus one bonus!
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10) Kaka
An absolutely world class performer for many years in his first spell at AC Milan, Kaka just never got going again when he made the big-money move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2009. Injuries played their part in the Brazilian playmaker’s decline, but it is startling quite how ineffectual he became at the Bernabeu, and despite still only being 32, he is back playing at a much lower level with Brazilian side Sao Paulo.
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9) Alexandre Pato
Another Brazilian star whose career went all wrong, Alexandre Pato started out as a hugely exciting prospect when he moved to AC Milan as a teenager, looking instantly like one of the best young strikers in the world. Again, however, he lost his way and is now embarking on something of a journeyman career back with clubs in Brazil, for whom he has barely managed to perform either.
8) Robbie Fowler
With 147 goals in the first six seasons of his career, Robbie Fowler looked an absolute goal machine in his early Liverpool days, though the numbers sadly tell the whole story as he then only managed a further 83 goals in his remaining ten seasons as a player. Despite a romantic second spell at Anfield, there’s no doubt Fowler never built on that superb early start.
7) Michael Owen
Another former Liverpool star who made it big as a youngster, Michael Owen looked to have the world at his feet when he broke onto the scene as a teenager, starring for both club and country with the immense combination of blistering pace and slick finishing. Injuries no doubt played their part in Owen’s decline, but much of the second half of his career was highly disappointing despite spells at big clubs such as Real Madrid and Manchester United.
6) Andrey Arshavin
Although a bit of a late bloomer, Andrey Arshavin looked a sensational talent when he first caught big clubs’ eyes in Euro 2008, putting in some fantastic performances for Russia as they reached the semi-finals of the competition. He then earned his big move to Arsenal, where he started in similarly excellent fashion, including an incredible four-goal haul against Liverpool at Anfield. Slowly, however, he faded into total obscurity and spent his final season at the club barely making the bench before being released.
5) David Bentley
Although never a truly excellent player, David Bentley’s quick decline was still pretty staggering. After showing some promise as a youngster at Arsenal, Bentley truly found his feet at Blackburn Rovers before earning regular call-ups for England and then a big-money move to Tottenham Hotspur. After a bright start, it all fell apart for Bentley and he spent years struggling to find a club before retiring at the age of just 30.
4) Adriano
A player who looked to have everything – pace, strength, power and exceptional technique, Adriano was an absolute beast in his early days in Serie A with Parma and Inter Milan. A party-boy lifestyle derailed his career badly and he is now something of an overweight joke who continues to move around various Brazilian clubs without ever playing.
3) Andriy Shevchenko
A player who will probably still be remembered largely as one of the finest strikers of his generation, but there’s no doubt Andriy Shevchenko’s career went totally downhill after his big move to Chelsea in 2006. The Ukranian goal machine was world class at AC Milan but couldn’t find the back of the net for love nor money at Stamford Bridge before an uneventful peetering out of his career back at Dynamo Kiev.
2) Iker Casillas
A goalkeeping legend no matter what happens, but there’s no hiding the fact that Iker Casillas has looked in a steady decline over the last few years for both Real Madrid and Spain. Now unreliable and error-prone, the veteran shot-stopper looks to have totally lost confidence and was particularly poor for his country at this summer’s World Cup in their humiliating early exit.
1) Fernando Torres
Without injuries as an excuse, there can surely be no polar career than that of Fernando Torres. The Spanish striker was absolutely phenomenal during his time with Liverpool, building on his early promise shown at Atletico Madrid, but his £50m move to Chelsea seemed to ruin him and he is now reportedly being offered to clubs for free after a failed loan spell at AC Milan, who want to send him back to Stamford Bridge just six months into what was supposed to be a two-year deal.
BONUS: Arsene Wenger
Not a player, but is there a better example of a manager who has suffered a similar decline to Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger? The Frenchman revolutionised the English game when he first joined the Gunners, introducing new diet and fitness regimes as well as a superbly stylish brand of attacking football that saw him win the Premier League in just his first full season in charge. An unbeaten campaign in 2003/04 followed and will forever be in the history books, but what followed has been almost a decade of shocking mediocrity with just one trophy to show for it, plus a host of poor decisions in the transfer market with big names leaving and woeful replacements coming in.