

On the other hand, injuries can also be a consequence of not looking after oneself properly, so it can be a tricky one to decipher in this context. His namesake Cristiano, and Lionel Messi have been extremely lucky not to suffer the cruel ignominy of a serious, long-term injury, allowing them to flourish throughout their careers. They are inevitable in football, and one wonders how much greater Ronaldo would have been had his knee not have exploded just as he hit his prime. There are some caveats, the obvious one being injuries. In this writer’s effort to define it, the best I could come up with is this: A player who appears or appeared to have all the necessary tools to go far in the game or become a great player, but for one reason or another, did not reach those heights. It’s a wholly subjective task, one that will never have a truly definitive answer. What constitutes a wasted talent? Once you start debating and trying to define it, you quickly find yourself emerged in the weeds, in a futile attempt to discern who has thrown away their god-given talent and who was just never that good in the first place.

#Define wasted talent download
Listen to the latest episode of our podcast, in which we discuss Stephen Ireland and some of the most wasted talents football has seen over the years: Subscribe on iTunes or your podcasting app, or download directly here.
