Thrive or Shrivel

some shrink in the spotlight some thrive

Thrive- the stage was built for him
1. Cantona
2. Ronaldo
3. Rooney
4. Tevez
5. Ferdinand
6. Van der Sar

Shrivel - Couldn't cope and wilted
1. Maguire
2. Barthez
3. McDougal
4. Mikytarian
5. Sivabek
6. Birtles

Barthez?!

Originally Posted by Ethers

Barthez?!

I honestly thought OT was perfect for him - larger than life character - he just seemed to shrink- and got more short arsed

Actually Zaha one of the worst - mega-talented but hopeless at OT.

barthez was just short. nothing to do with attitude.

Shrivel - Di Maria

Originally Posted by redhegemony

Actually Zaha one of the worst - mega-talented but hopeless at OT.

again, not attitude. just very inconsistent talent. he's been no better anywhere else.

Originally Posted by jem

again, not attitude. just very inconsistent talent. he's been no better anywhere else.

Been very good for Palace

Barthez was a £#%&!ing liability.

Schneidelin shrivelled like a salted slug

Originally Posted by redhegemony

That's the point. Eric was born to play on that stage and nothing he had done before singled him out. I expected Barthez to step up and be 'the keeper' but he didn't.

I thought the thread title suggested it was more to do with not being up to the challenge like a sort of fight or flight thing.

Like Maguire. Anyone expecting him to be anything else as a footballer mustn’t have watched him before. I expected more as a personality, but not as a player.

Originally Posted by M33mike

Schneidelin shrivelled like a salted slug

Yes. Di Maria has to be up there too.

And, ya know, this whole squad.

Originally Posted by jem

again, not attitude. just very inconsistent talent. he's been no better anywhere else.

It's not attitude it's character - is the stage built for him - Some step up some don't -

Veron

Originally Posted by M33mike

Schneidelin shrivelled like a salted slug

Exactly. a very good player but Utd was too big for him.

Originally Posted by redhegemony

It's not attitude it's character

Stunned people have not got the brief.

It just didn’t work out as we hoped for Barthez, I don’t think it was anything to do with shrivelling tbh. He’d won the Champions League, World Cup and European Championship. Kept clean sheets in the biggest finals of all etc.

Originally Posted by Pop

Veron

Still the most disappointing signing in terms of expectation, the start he made…and how it turned out.

I still think that’s the one time we’ve signed a genuinely world class
Player in their peak, while we’ve been too dogs. He was a wonderful player. I remember watching him at Blackburn (might have been his debut?) and he just didn’t give the ball away. Then scored and ran the show against Everton at home and thought we had a real star on our hands….. but he never followed it up. Was never anywhere near as bad as people made out and
Played his part in a title winning team the next year, but such a disappointment from what he should have been.

Originally Posted by Ethers

It just didn’t work out as we hoped for Barthez, I don’t think it was anything to do with shrivelling tbh. He’d won the Champions League, World Cup and European Championship. Kept clean sheets in the biggest finals of all etc.

This. His form just took a horrendous nosedive. Don’t think it had anything to do with character, personality, the stage etc.

Originally Posted by Ethers

It just didn’t work out as we hoped for Barthez, I don’t think it was anything to do with shrivelling tbh. He’d won the Champions League, World Cup and European Championship. Kept clean sheets in the biggest finals of all etc.

It was weird - it seemed a perfect match - top quality arrogant player.

Originally Posted by redhegemony

I honestly thought OT was perfect for him - larger than life character - he just seemed to shrink- and got more short arsed

Actually Zaha one of the worst - mega-talented but hopeless at OT.

He was a bit young to be slapped with that imo. And he’s not really that good tbh.

Ince - perfect fit - arrogant and talented wanted to play on the big stage.

I don't think I've ever seen a player's confidence crumble like Barthez's.

Maybe Leighton.