[Football] Wasted Talent.

[lawros left foot]

https://twitter.com/WestHam/status/...twcon^s1_c10&ref_url=https://theathletic.com/


Which players have had massive talent, but, for one reason or another never achieved their potential.

I’ll start with Ravel Morrison, described by Fergie as the best young player he ever saw.
An absolute tragedy that he didn’t end up as a superstar.

 

[Swansman]

https://twitter.com/WestHam/status/...twcon^s1_c10&ref_url=https://theathletic.com/


Which players have had massive talent, but, for one reason or another never achieved their potential.

I’ll start with Ravel Morrison, described by Fergie as the best young player he ever saw.
An absolute tragedy that he didn’t end up as a superstar.

Saw him playing alongside Charlie Colkett, "the new Frank Lampard", for Östersund a few times... not too impressed.

 

[SeagullinExile]

Robin Friday.

 

[lawros left foot]

Saw him playing alongside Charlie Colkett, "the new Frank Lampard", for Östersund a few times... not too impressed.

That’s the point, no one can deny that he was a huge talent, but, just didn’t have the right mentality.

 

[Live by the sea]

I expect the list of wasted talent is a long one .

 

[Gwylan]

Robin Friday.

Yep, I think anyone who saw him would agree - an absolutely phenomenal player. Had the talent to go a long way but no application/desire

 

[A1X]

Not through any fault of his own, but Duncan Edwards. Bobby Charlton described him as the greatest player he ever saw, and he's seen a few decent ones in his time.

 

[BBassic]

Zaha.

Clearly talented but fluffed his lines when he got his big chance and has since been inextricably shackled to a low to middling Premier League team.

 

[Springal]

Leon Knight

Ian Wright said he was one of the most talented youngsters at Chelsea at the time

 

[Ali_rrr]

Saw him playing alongside Charlie Colkett, "the new Frank Lampard", for Östersund a few times... not too impressed.

Same here at ADO Den Haag. Made 1 start, made a few appearances off the bench and then left a couple of months ago. He was also in a documentary arguing with the now-departed manager who wasn't very popular.



But if anyone is interested, Rio Ferdinand did a great interview with him the other day. It's a heavy watch. He was stealing boots just to put food on his family's table.

 

[scooter1]

Leon Knight

Ian Wright said he was one of the most talented youngsters at Chelsea at the time

I'm surprised we had to wait until the 9th post for little Leons name to come up.

Anybody remember Sonny Pike? He's now a London cabbie(or he was about 8 years ago)

 

[Braggfan]

Leon Knight

Ian Wright said he was one of the most talented youngsters at Chelsea at the time

A friend of mine at Uni went to the same school as Leon Knight. She said that everyone knew who the best young players in the area were, and that hands down everyone believed Leon Kinght was the best. Everyone thought he would go on and play for England, as he had so much more ability than everyone else.

I'm sure he must have known that lots of people thought that about him, and I often wonder whether that affected his motivation. Whether he thought he was good enough that the opportunities would just come to him, rather than having to work for them.

When I went on a tour of the Albion training complex, they said that they were specifically concerned about young players having to much too soon, and to combat it they have tried to show the youngesters what they can have if they get to the first team, but keep them seperate so that they have to work towards it, keeping them hungry.

I wonder if with Knight being told from a young age that he was the best, stopped him trying to become the best because he thought he was already there.

 

[SeagullinExile]

Adrian Doherty - Apparently the best of all Ferguson's class of 92.

 

[Springal]

A friend of mine at Uni went to the same school as Leon Knight. She said that everyone knew who the best young players in the area were, and that hands down everyone believed Leon Kinght was the best. Everyone thought he would go on and play for England, as he had so much more ability than everyone else.

I'm sure he must have known that lots of people thought that about him, and I often wonder whether that affected his motivation. Whether he thought he was good enough that the opportunities would just come to him, rather than having to work for them.

When I went on a tour of the Albion training complex, they said that they were specifically concerned about young players having to much too soon, and to combat it they have tried to show the youngesters what they can have if they get to the first team, but keep them seperate so that they have to work towards it, keeping them hungry.

I wonder if with Knight being told from a young age that he was the best, stopped him trying to become the best because he thought he was already there.

I think there is probably an element of that but the big factor is attitude. I really don't think he has the right attitude or right attitude towards authority and you have to be something really special to keep putting peoples noses out of joint and getting away with it.

 

[Frankworthington]

Nile Ranger

One of the most talented U 21 players to come out of Newcastle

Allegedly

 

[Braggfan]

I think there is probably an element of that but the big factor is attitude. I really don't think he has the right attitude or right attitude towards authority and you have to be something really special to keep putting peoples noses out of joint and getting away with it.

I think both things go hand in hand. He did have a really bad attitude, which combined with arrogance about how good he was, meant he probably never worked hard enough to fulfill the potential he had.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I suspect than sneering at 'attitude' is a bit harsh with some of these young men, and mental health problems may well play a major role. I have seen the occasional psychotic episode in some of the students I teach, especially in one particular ethnic group. Students, footballers, all young men. We also have some young players with very challenging backgrounds. Therefore I'm wary of the concept of wasted talent. I'l prefer to call it lost achievement.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

I’d put Rodney Marsh and Stan Bowles into this category for whilst they both played at the top level and were internationals for a brief time, they could have been so much better.

 

[Braggfan]

I suspect than sneering at 'attitude' is a bit harsh with some of these young men, and mental health problems may well play a major role. I have seen the occasional psychotic episode in some of the students I teach, especially in one particular ethnic group. Students, footballers, all young men. We also have some young players with very challenging backgrounds. Therefore I'm wary of the concept of wasted talent. I'l prefer to call it lost achievement.

That's an excellent point. It's very easy for us to explain things in terms of wasted talent. As fans we see things through a filter, and there's a whole side to players and manager's lives that we don't see. But if we see someone with what we percieve as having a bad attitude or not reaching their potential we say it's waste. I'm guilty of that on my previous posts #12 and #16. But there may well be variety of reasons that lead people to those places, that in any other walk of life we would make allowances for and would attribute actions to root problems out of their control. Yet because they're footballers, and we see them through that filter, and hold them to a much a higher level of scrutiny. I do try to remember about that when it comes to football, but obviously fail sometimes. Thanks for making that point and reminding me that we all must try to see things in that larger context.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I’d put Rodney Marsh and Stan Bowles into this category for whilst they both played at the top level and were internationals for a brief time, they could have been so much better.

Some of these fall into the 'clubs didn't get the best out of them' category. This includes players who were not coached properly and who took advantage of the opportunity to booze and shag birds (as it was called in the 70s) and were overlooked for internationals because the manager of the time wanted clean-cut robots rather than maverics, so the players got a bit bored and cynical perhaps:

Marsh and Bowles, as above
Tony Currie
Alan Hudson
Frank Worthington
Duncan McKenzie
Charlie George
and the biggest of all, George Best, a man in a fury as the old guard at Man U were allowed to carry on playing well past their sell by date, and then a series of unfit managers were brought to the club, a man who eventually gave up trying.


Then there are those who were happy to stay a big fish in a small pond.

Matt Le Tissier
Er, I can't think of any more. Which is odd as it is a football cliche.

The biggest category of player, especially now, is the man of modest talent who carves out an impressive career by training like a dog, listening carefully to the coaches, and giving the fabled 110% ever week:

This list is far too long to even start