Special Feature: Top footballers who definitely fulfilled their potential
Some people thank the good lord for the fact that they are playing football and they are getting every opportunity to do so whereas there are some people who think that football is lucky to have them. There is a plethora of such
players out there but fans do take more liking to players that lack potential. This might sound strange at first but football requires immense hard work and athletes, who lack natural ability, have to go that extra mile in training just to keep themselves
at par with players who are just naturally gifted footballers.
These players do extra work in training, gym, shooting practices, defensive drills and sprinting exercises, so fans take into account all of these things and then determine their levels of admiration for these beloved footballers.
It is not to imply that players who are naturally gifted do not work hard, we have seen the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi set example for younger players to follow. It is already a well known fact that footballers have to work hard regardless
of whatever technical or natural ability they possess, talent has to be refined through hard work.
It is quite possible that people maybe see these hard working and, to put it bluntly, relatively less talented individuals as reflections or representations of themselves on the field. Many people do not have the capability to
make it as a footballer thus these players who do the extra running on the field are likable because they actually signify the working class of every society out there. One of such players was Ray Parlour, who played for the best part of his career at Arsenal
F.C.
When in 1996, Arsene Wenger was appointed the club’s manager, the media pin pointed Parlour as one of the first potential departures from the club. Not only was Parlour a heavy drinker alongside the likes of Tony Adams and Paul
Merson, he also signified the exact type of undisciplined athlete that Arsene Wenger would dispose off at Arsenal. Rather than doing away with the English midfielder, Wenger took Ray under his wing and advised the youthful footballer on how to correct his
lifestyle. He worked with Ray to some of the player’s shortcomings.
After improving immensely under the guidance of Arsene, Parlour developed a work ethic about him that was an example to every English footballer of his generation. He usually played on the wing or as a conventional left sided midfielder,
excelling at his position at Arsenal; Parlour used to be efficient in attack and intelligent in defence as well. As a result of the change in his attitude, Parlour was quite graciously in the Arsenal side which won the double, a team which also included the
likes of Robert Pires, Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry.
Another player who fits the “hard working but talent lacking” profile is Darren Fletcher. Fletcher is a product of Manchester United’s youth academy and after having a relatively mediocre start to his first team career at United;
Fletcher has now cemented his team as Sir Alex Ferguson’s numero uno midfielder. Fletcher was admittedly quite woeful in the start, so average that United’s team captain back then, Roy Keane publically criticized the midfielder for not being good enough to
play for the Red Devils.
After Roy Keane left the club in early 2000s, Fletcher got promoted to the first team in the beginning but was then subjected to a bit part role because of his below par performances. Many Manchester United fans turned their backs
on the midfielder and called him worthless and talent-less but Fletcher’s main breakthrough came in the 2006-2007 season.
It was a season where his best performance came in United’s 7-1 drilling of the Italian giants, Roma in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal. Since then, Fletcher has established himself as one of the best midfielders in the
world. Under guidance from Sir Alex, Fletcher has developed a work rate about him that is unmatched by anyone at Old Trafford at the moment.
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