Every year, there are many young potential players joining football teams. However, for some players who have special abilities or stand out from others, the coach or the press often exaggerates and puts high expectations on them.
That is the main reason why fans, even the players themselves, often overestimate their abilities and build high hopes on them. There are also some other reasons such as their injuries or even their bad luck that result in the flop of those players.
Below Fun88 lists the top 10 English wonderkids in the football world right now that fail to meet the fans’ and press expectations. Fun88 is a major online casino website, and also the number one international gambling house in Asia. You can visit Fun88 at Happythais.com to register and play sports betting and more online games.
1. Freddy Adu
With a natural talent for football, 14 years old Freddy Adu had played for DC United’s 1st team and became the youngest player to launch MLS. With his special technique, speed, power, and mindset superior to his teammates, Adu made everyone who had watched him play fascinated and admire his ability.
Because of that, he attracted several companies’ advertisers to collaborate with him as a brand ambassador. Not only Pepsi but also a series of big brands raced to invite Adu to advertise.
He also appeared in the biggest sports papers and was considered the best prodigy of his generation. All the big teams, from Real Madrid, Inter to M.U, were closely following Adu to invite him to join the team.
It was that easy life, and the indulgence of the MLS teams, as well as the American public press, ruined Adu. Not knowing how to try and progress, Adu gradually drowned and then collapsed when he had to compete in more competitive and fierce environments.
That’s why from 32 goals in his years with the American youth teams, Adu only scored 5 goals when he made it to the Under-23 team and the worst achievement of him was only 2 goals in 17 games for the national team.
During the 14 years he played for clubs, Adu had only made 33 goals.
2. Jack Wilshere
Jack Wilshere was once hailed as the “wonderkid” of English football. However, a series of injuries made the midfielder’s career ruined.
During the 2011 summer tour, Wilshere was injured when Arsenal played a friendly against New York Red Bulls. Initially, Arsenal’s doctor gave him the solution that Wilshere had to take a rest for 2 months to recover.
After that, the midfielder had to go to the operating table and rest for most of the season.
During the years from 2010 to 2014, he repeatedly encountered injuries such as back injury, ankles injury, knees, thighs, hamstring, … During his career, Wilshere has been injured 14 times and has been away from the pitch for 1,433 days.
The number of minutes Wilshere was in hospital was more than the time he played. It was the reason why many of the clubs were quite concerned when considering whether to choose him in the matches or not.
3. Ravel Morrison
Sir Alex Ferguson – a former Scotland football coach and football player wrote in the book Leading published in 2015 that: “Ravel Morrison is a football genius”. He was the model of a good and talented attacking player: Fast, strong, dexterous, and mischievous.
The complicated and unhealthy social life was the biggest reason why Morrison lost his bright and promising future. Morrison was met with predictable criticism of a poor attitude.
On his 18th birthday, Morrison appeared in court for assault and intimidation. He received a 12-month probation sentence and a fine of £ 1,445. And so, Morrison slipped. And there was nothing that Sir Alex and his associates could help him to gain back his career.
At the age of 27, Morrison was supposed to be on top in his career. After all, he is still groping on his way to find himself again because of his indulgent lifestyle.
4. Nile Ranger
Nile Ranger is one of the potential players to fail in his football career because of scuffles and penalties.
Nile Ranger is one of the few players rated as potential by Newcastle United. He was also quite famous for his soccer technique and was a well-regarded striker. However, despite having only scored 2 goals/49 games for Newcastle in the past, the former Southampton player is often famous for fights and penalties.
Ranger’s “criminal record” is quite thick. At the age of 15, Ranger was sentenced to 11 weeks as a young criminal for armed actions in Mushill, London. In 2011, the 1.88m high striker was arrested twice on suspicion of assaulting a man and charged with a drunken disorder in the city of Newcastle.
In March 2012, Ranger was again fined by the English Football Federation for discriminating against homosexuals on Twitter. In addition, he is also suspended for 12 months after being accused of driving drunk. He also had to appear in court for smashing his ex-girlfriend’s house.
It was the undisciplined lifestyle that turned Nile Ranger from a promising Newcastle United player into a player who was not recruited by any club.
5. Gael Kakuta
Gael Kakuta was once one of the top targets for many European giants, including Chelsea. The Blues were even almost banned by FIFA from participating in the transfer for two years after being accused by Lens of illegally pulling Kakuta, who was then less than 17 years old.
Chelsea did not really respect Gael Kakuta. He only played very few matches in the blue shirt. During his time playing for Chelsea, Kakuta was pushed through a total of six teams, including Fulham, Bolton, Dijon, Vitesse, Lazio, and Rayo Vallecano, all on loan.
Chelsea had been criticized for exploiting this loan system to benefit the club. The age between 18 and 21 is extremely important in a footballer’s career because this is the time that a player can grow mentally as well as physically.
The one who is able to develop into great talent will have great leaps in this period. Therefore, young players at that age need to be “cared for” and “nurtured” properly. That’s something Chelsea didn’t do with Gael Kakuta.
As a result, his talent was slowly dwindled after being loaned to other clubs by Chelsea. That also is the biggest reason why the experts consider that he is incapable of developing.
Final words
There are many reasons for young and potential players to fail in their football careers. It could be from their injuries, their mental problems, or even worse, their bad behavior and illegal actions.
Those players with the mistakes above are the most trustworthy examples for the next generation of football players if they want to continue their careers. They should be more careful of what they do and keep them safe in the matches so that they can avoid failure and losing their reputation.
