Outside90 are counting down the top five players whose careers went downhill due to their respective egos and off-field antics.
5. Andrey Arshavin
The Russian burst onto the scene at Euro 2008 and earned himself a big money move to Arsenal the following January. Four goals against Liverpool and a win against Barcelona are the highlights of his career with the Gunners. Arshavin is not what you call a “hard worker” and devoted his efforts to complaining about the squad and giving his opinion on women who he said should be banned from smoking and driving. He moved back to Russia with Zenit Saint Petersburg, before signing a one-year contract with Kuban Krasnondar which only lasted a fleeting six months.
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4. Emmanuel Adebayor
Another player who never seemed to like working hard, Adebayor is one of the most frustrating footballers in Europe. On his day he is capable of resembling one of the best strikers in the world, but his day comes round about once every three years. Thirty goals in a season at Arsenal took him to Manchester City and then Real Madrid, but the Togolese forward never reached 20 goals again and seemed more interested in pumping his bank balance than getting on the field.
3. Samir Nasri
The frenchmen, once again was an Arsene Wenger find, moving to Arsenal from Marseille. After a good run Nasri felt like he should have been paid more and asked for a transfer to Manchester City. There he picked up a cool $210, 000 weekly salary and a premier league title at his first season. Overtime he fell out of favor, with a string of injuries and competition in the squad pushing him out of the first team.
2. Mario Balotelli
Balotelli was once one of the most feared youngsters in world football. Mario was the heart of the Italy attack, led them to the Euro 2012 finals and more. In the last two years or so, Balotelli had started to lose his confidence and the downfall of the enigmatic striker had begun. Two-thousand and fourteen was a year of disappointment for Super Mario. He struggled with AC Milan under Clarence Seedorf. He scored just 14 league goals and a lot will argue he finished on that tally mainly due to penalties.
Caesare Prandelli, Italy’s coach at the time, kept faith in Mario and brought him to the World Cup in Brazil, despite the likes of Dominico Berardi, Luca Toni and even Mattia Destro who were in much better form and had better work rates than Mario. Seasoned veteran Toni had notched 20 goals for Hellas Verona, a weaker side with a lot less ability on paper than AC Milan, but he was not selected given his age. In Brazil, Balotelli scored in his debut against England, but for him and Italy it all turned south really quickly from there. The then Milan striker failed to deliver for Italy in the next 2 games which resulted in an early trip home for the Azzurri. A lot of Italians were disappointed in him because of his laziness.
1. Ronaldinho
After the Champions league and La Liga double in 2006, The downfall of the great Ronaldinho had begun, compounded by Brazil flopping in Germany. This was the start of his sad decline. He could not bring himself to overcome the low point that he encountered at the World Cup. There was late night partying, loss of commitment, fitness and motivation. One may suggest how do you motivate a player who has won the world cup, champions league, world player of the year (twice) and two La Liga titles? It was believed that then coach Frank Rijkaard was very lenient, unlike his successor in Pep Guardiola.
To summarise, Ronaldinho has been responsible for his own downfall, with his attitude, mentality and lifestyle being the reasons. There are a number of players in the professional game who are only there because they are “try hards”. The players who don’t posses that much skill but make up for it with pure effort. Some players have even got to the very top level simply because they put 100 per cent effort in each and every minute of the game. Players such as James Milner and Yossi Benayoun immediately spring to mind.
Which footballer do you think has seen their career take a downward spiral?
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