Five Premier League Wonderkids Who Failed To Live Up To Expectations (Part 3)

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3 years ago

Tags: Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea, Everton, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Sheffield United, Southampton, Spurs, West Ham, Wolves

In week three of our series looking at Premier League wonderkids who didn’t reach their potential, we look at five more talented youngsters who, for whatever reason, were not cut out for life at the top level.

It is not always easy to develop your game in the spotlight, especially when there are so many pressures that are part and parcel of the modern game.

It isn’t surprising that many promising young players never quite match the hype surrounding them. It does make you appreciate players like Wayne Rooney who manage to deal with the expectations and still go on to have a successful career.

Press the next page as we look at a few more starlets who didn’t make the grade in the Premier League.

Francis Jeffers (Everton and Arsenal)

Everything started so promisingly for the striker at Everton when he was a teenager, with many hailing him as the next great number nine in English football.

However, after moving to Arsenal in 2001, things began to unravel, as injuries restricted to him to 39 appearances for the Gunners during a three year period. He went on to have spells in Australia and Malta before finally retiring after spending some time at Accrington Stanley.

Federico Macheda (Manchester United)

The Italian’s memorable winner against Aston Villa back in 2009 helped Manchester United win the league title that year, but it wasn’t the start of a long and successful career at Old Trafford.

Loan spells at Sampdoria, QPR, Stuttgart, Doncaster and Birmingham followed before he finally moved on a permanent basis to Cardiff on a free transfer in 2014. He had a decent first season for the Bluebirds before falling out favour. He has subsequently revived his career in Greek football with Panathinaikos.

Anthony Le Tallec (Liverpool)

Hailed as the “next Zidane” by some in the French press, Liverpool snapped him up, along with Florent Sinama-Pongolle, after they impressed for France at the Under 17 World Cup.

However, Le Tallec didn’t make the same impact at senior level. He was at Anfield for seven years, although five of those were spent away from the club on loan spells. He eventually left in 2008 and he became an established player in the lower leagues back in France. He is actually still playing for FC Annecy.

Jeremie Aliadiere (Arsenal)

Another French starlet who was tipped for great things, the forward came through both the famed academies of Clairefontaine and Hale End but he never really made an impact in Arsenal’s first team.

Aliadiere was generally utilised as a substitute or in cup competitions by manager Arsene Wenger, and he went out on loan to Celtic, West Ham and Wolves before leaving the Gunners for Middlesbrough in 2007. After three unspectacular years on Teesside, he returned to France where he had two spells with Lorient before hanging up his boots.

Jamie O’Hara (Tottenham)

A promising young midfielder at Spurs, a poor attitude and injury problems meant the former England Under 21 international never fulfilled his potential.

O’Hara had been playing for non-league side Billericay Town up until very recently. He has played at all levels of the game during his career, in between an appearance on Celebrity Big Brother in 2017.