Top Ten Hyperboles of this season

A good performance become “one of the best ever”, a 25 yard free kick becomes “one of the greatest goals ever seen” and a nutmeg becomes “Unbelievable Tekkers”. Throughout the years, so many players have had fantastic debut seasons or even in some cases just a good couple of months but this doesn’t stop a sports journalists using hyperbole deliberately and unapologetically, linking them with Europe’s biggest clubs. Fleet Street’s elite have done this with the likes of Kieran Dyer, Leroy Lita and Francis Jeffers and where are those players now?

So, without further ado, I give you my opinion of the top 10 footballers from this season that are just classic media hyperbole.

Marouane Chamakh

The Moroccan made an explosive start to his Arsenal career with 10 goals in all competitions by the end of November. This then had the media and fans alike, raving that Arsenal had finally found the heir to Henry’s throne, high praise indeed, especially when you consider that since then Chamakh has scored only one goal…against Leyton Orient.

Charlie Adam

The Scotsman was an average player at Rangers but, after dropping down to a smaller ‘pond’ with Blackpool, now looks like the bees knees. Any attacking midfielder was going to thrive within a team that doesn’t comprehend the idea of defending and I just feel that moving on to either Liverpool, Man United or Tottenham will be a big mistake for Adam.

Gareth Bale

Harry Redknapp stated that Bale is worth £80 million, but I find myself struggling to comprehend this over exaggeration; the Welshman managed to destroy a depleted post-Mourinho Inter Milan defence, but when Nemanja Vidic is left spellbound by the former Southampton man then I will take notice.

Scott Parker

We all know Scott Parker is a very good player, but hype has turned this accomplished box to box player into West Ham’s very own Zinedine Zidane.

Connor Wickham

Apparently has the ability to be as prolific as a young Michael Owen, but then again, so did Francis Jeffers.

Adel Taarabt

Admittedly he had limited chances at Tottenham Hotspur, but that doesn’t stop him being a flop. Lets just stop these £10 million rumours to Chelsea now and realise the Moroccan has found his level as QPR’s attacking talisman.

Rafael Van Der Vaart

He had a blistering start to his Spurs career, but in recent months has gone off the boil and struggles to finish a full ninety minutes; £8 million for a 75 minute man isn’t the greatest bit of business after all.

Andy Carroll

If David Seaman can’t pull off the ponytail then Carroll has no chance, but obviously this isn’t the Premier League’s worst haircut. Does scoring 11 goals for Newcastle United really warrant a £35 million transfer? You can nearly get six Javier Hernandez’ for that and he has 19 goals in all competitions this season.

Lionel Messi

Calm down, breathe…right, are you ok? Yes I have put the Lionel Messi in this list. When the little Argentinian scores more goals than games played in the Premier League, then I will be considerably more impressed with ‘Maradona’s heir apparent’.

Nicklas Bendtner

No one is raving about the very self confident Dane, but try telling that to Bendtner himself; such is the Big Dane’s ego that he believes he is amongst the game’s greats. Bendtner is on the list because he has somehow single handed turned himself into a demi-god in his own mind and yet does nothing for the media to warrant such praise.

Top Ten Players Whose Careers Nosedived

The Premier League has been graced with some wonderful talents over the years, with some players turning in good performances for various different clubs, David Ginola for Newcastle and then Tottenham Hotspur, Dwight Yorke for Aston Villa and Manchester United and Patrick Vieira for Arsenal and now Manchester City. Sadly for many players though this isn’t the case, either they can’t live up to the high transfer fee, troubled by injuries or just loss that extra yard of pace. So who are the top 10 players whose careers nosedived after promising starts? Will Fernando Torres be joining them soon?

Stephane Guivarc’h, regularly voted as the worse striker to grace the Premier League. Off the back of some very impressive domestic goal scoring records (68 goals in 110 appearances for Guingamp 22 in 36 for Rennes and 21 in 32 for Auxerre) and leading France’s World Cup 98 team front line, Kenny Dalglish signed the Frenchman for Newcastle United, but Guivarc’h made just four appearances managing one goal, and eventually the striker had to say ‘au revoir’ to the Toon Army.

Juan Sebastian Veron, surely a man with such an illustrious name can’t have a career that has taken a nosedive? After being Lazio’s driving force for two seasons, Veron transferred to the Premier League with Manchester United and then onto Chelsea, but throughout his time in England the Argentinian struggled with the pace of the English game and regularly gets voted into the top 50 of the most expensive flops. Veron now plays back in his home country for Estudiantes.

Richard Wright was signed by Arsene Wenger as the long term replacement for David Seaman, yet he was anything but. Needless to say, after punching the ball into his own net in a 4-2 defeat against Charlton, Wright soon found himself third choice keeper behind Seaman as well as Stuart Taylor and left the North London club after making only 22 appearances. Spells at Everton, West Ham, Southampton, Ipswich again and now Sheffield United have seen Wright fail to live up to the standards he achieved during Ipswich’s promotion campaign that caught Wenger’s eye.

Eusebio, Rui Costa and Figo, Hugo Viana was tipped to join these Portuguese greats after winning the European Young player of the year and then joining Newcastle United for around £10 million. Sadly for the Geordies they had gotten themselves another Stephane Guivarc’h, and Viana left after failing to hold down a starting spot.

Michael Ricketts scored 24 times for Bolton in their promotion season to the Premier League and continued this form by netting 15 goals by February to earn his one and only England cap; however, after this game, Ricketts failed to score for Bolton again that season. Fast forward various failed periods at numerous clubs and weight problems and Ricketts was released by Trammere Rovers at the end of the 2009/10 season, quite a nosedive indeed.

Robbie Fowler, the Premier League’s fourth highest goalscorer with 162 goals, surely must have had a long and successful career? But after scoring 120 goals in eight years with the Merseyside club, Fowler departed Anfield on bad terms, after a strained relationship with Gerard Houiller. Fowler never recaptured the form that had Liverpool fans labelling him ‘God’ and ended up seeing out his playing days Down Under with Perth Glory.

Alan Smith came to prominence as a tough tackling and hard working forward during his time at Leeds, which prompted Sir Alex Ferguson to sign the Englishman after Leeds’ relegation, but during his time at Old Trafford Ferguson deployed Smith in a more central midfield role, and combined with a horrendous leg break that ruled Smith out for 12 months, this led to his failure to excel at United. Smith now struggles to break into Newcastle United’s starting eleven, a fall from grace for what was meant to be a bright prospect for England.

‘The Fox in the Box’ for Everton, but for Arsenal he was more of a rabbit in the headlights. Jeffers was just another example of a promising youngster that choked in the media limelight and after his poor spell at Arsenal, Jeffers followed this up with relatively unsuccessful stints at Charlton, Rangers, Blackburn, Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday, Newcastle Jets and now Motherwell.

Harry Kewell was part of the golden generation at Leeds, a very exciting and talented attacking winger. During his eight year spell with Leeds the Australian international was constantly linked with Arsenal, Manchester United and Inter Milan, to name but a few, but it was Liverpool he chose to leave cash strapped Leeds for. But Kewell never hit the heights at Anfield, and despite occasional good performances serving as a reminder of his former abilities, his spell there was largely spent on the sidelines, with the Ozzie winger eventually limping out of Anfield and now playing for Turkish side Galatasaray.

Michael Owen was nothing short of a superstar during his time at Liverpool, leading the scoring charts and picking up numerous individual accolades. However, during his time at Anfield, Owen had numerous problems with his hamstring and was out for large portions of seasons, but this didn’t stop him from securing an illustrious move to Spanish giants Real Madrid. Yet when Owen exited through the Bill Shankly gate, his career stalled. Mainly used as a substitute in a very unsuccessful period with the La Liga club, Owen returned to England with Newcastle United and is now with Manchester United but has spent most of his time in the treatment room being labelled as a ‘has been.’