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Players who peaked too soon?
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Like Michael Owen or Ronaldhino or potentially Wayne Rooney?
Any more examples? and if you wish , explain your decisions?
Any more examples? and if you wish , explain your decisions?
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Ronaldinho, Best, Gascoigne and many others were engulfed by the lifestyle, media attention and income explosion and never had complete careers in the game as a result. Some also had injuries (Gazza) which may have contributed as they enforced lengthy periods not playing football with time and money to burn.
Players who rely heavily on pace will naturally fade quicker as that's usually the first attribute to go.
Even relatively overlooked injuries dull a talent - Fowler had two successive injuries at Liverpool and then Leeds that effectively blunted his mobility and reduced his pace a little (which wasn't lightning to start with). He could still finish but the other aspects were important in getting him there. Owen's hamstrings were similarly problematic as his career progressed.
The very sad tale of Gabriel Batistuta tells a story too. As soon as he stopped playing, he was thrown into a world of pain. It may be that the efforts to get players out on to the pitch at the expense of their long term physical well-being is too well hidden. Pain killing injections should be banned in my book as they mask issues and risk further injury.
Others just fall out of love with the game. David Bentley said as much but I don't think he was prepared to put the work in - he was probably one of those who wanted to turn up and play and all the other stuff was a chore.
Hunger goes too - once the money's good enough some just lose that edge that took them where they were. Other things take priority and take energies - family mostly - and in most cases rightly so. You can dedicate your life to football once you've got a family or there will be issues.
Rooney's probably been partially affected by all of these. He's had a decade at the very top level and in the spotlight and looks burdened on the pitch. Still talented, of course, but the happy-go-lucky kid who thrilled us as a teenager has long since gone - the smile is a rarity these days.
The last category is a modern phenomenon - decent players who are snapped up by big clubs (or were already there but big spending limits their opportunities) and relegated to years of bench warming (if they're lucky) at a time that's crucial to their development or when they should be approaching their peak. Richards, Bridge, Sinclair, Wright-Phillips, Rodwell, Zaha, Powell - and so on. Either the move was too big (for those that were bought) or they just didn't get the game time. Such moves can kill a player's confidence.
Francis Jeffers too. His big move never really worked out.
Michael Johnson at Man City.
Arguably, Alan Smith too.
It's difficult thinking of players that peaked too soon without coming across as harsh, players like Carroll for instance had a decent first 4-5 months of a league season, got a £35M move and didn't live up to the hype. Is it a case of peaking too soon, or just being seen as potentially better than they are?
Since 2008/2009, it's been an ordinary season followed by a very good season for Rooney and before 2008 his return was relatively consistent. Those average seasons coincide with the times he's been unhappy at United. Of late, it's this undulating outputs that's given the impression that Rooney has stalled somewhat.
I'm not even a fan of Wayne Rooney personally, a few times I wanted the club to sell him, but I'm not going to deny how good a player he can and has been upto now. At the start of his career he was being touted as the next Pele more or less, even if he was 100% fit and focused every game that was never going to happen. A fully fit and motivated Rooney is still a very good player.
Except Rooney hasn't stalled what so ever and has continued to be our most important player, bar possibly Ferguson's final season (and I think you could put that down to the fall out between the two). You won't find a single player at the club who has put in more work than Rooney on the pitch, plain and simple (Some might dislike the guy for what's happened off of the pitch at times, but for me it's tough to question what he does on the pitch). Almost always puts up good numbers in terms of goals/assists and that's not even taking into account that there's much more to Rooney's game than just goals and assists. Shouldn't even be mentioned in a thread like this.
That doesn't happen to every player though does it? Look at Giggs for example.
He was so good so young & it was impossible for LFC not to play him every week & for him to be a first pick for England when he was 18/19/20.
this will seem weird in a thread like this, but IMO Messi's absolute peak was also in 2010. obviously he's still been better than everyone else since then, but back then he was about as close to unstoppable as I've seen.
In terms of players in the public eye, I think a case can be made for Ricardo Quaresma. He was pure magic at Porto. Not so magic when he decided to move on.
Whatever terminology you want to use, Rooney's output has been variable for a number of seasons.
Here's league games per goal for United:
2004–05: 2.64
2005–06: 2.25
2006–07: 2.50
2007–08: 2.25
2008–09: 2.50
2009–10 : 1.23
2010–11: 2.55
2011–12: 1.26
2012–13: 2.25
2013–14 1.71
So, as a young player (up to 2008-2009) it was relatively consistent albeit not spectacular and you'd expect him to get better as he reached his peak. And, at 25/26, he hit his current peak. Even if that's deemed "too early" are there mitigating reasons why this has been the case? Very possibly.
Thereafter, he's had a very good ratio, followed by a very average one.
What's striking here is that every other year, his average deteriorates. Is that a stamina thing - as those seasons follow an international tournament?
To be fair to Rooney, some seasons he's been asked to play wider/deeper - and in a lot of the seasons where he's not scored as many goals, his assists have doubled which supports this.
It's hard to say whether he deserves to be in this thread as there are clearly a lot of factors at work here. If he plays up front for United and scores at a very healthy rate then he may prove people wrong but I suspect he will play deeper and maybe wider if Falcao plays or RVP regains form, therefore opening things up for conjecture.
Personally, my stance is that he's not improved exponentially as much as some but that's not to say he deserve the stick he gets as his output has been clearly very good overall. However, he doesn't look like he's enjoying his football as he once did and it's been evident that unhappiness does affect his form drastically (as it would many players) - whether that's affected him becoming one of the world's great players is another debate entirely. I think a lot of people's frustration has been at international level where he has not met expectations when it really mattered - but that's not entirely all his own fault.
At 28 coming on 29, he doesn't deserve to be categorically included in this thread but he does warrant being part of the debate. We'll not know the full story until he's retired. There's a difference between not reaching your full potential and peaking too soon and I think Rooney's more the former.
I don't think he ever peaked. Just didn't develop properly.