Top 10 wasted talents of the past decade.

[Arash_Naeni]

We know that in Iran talents go to waste left and right, players that could have ended up becoming very decent players if they had made smarter decisions in their career. Also sometimes due to injury they don't fulfil their potential. But most of the time it comes down to poor decision making and advice given by their agents etc, and sometimes even politics & corruption within our football ruin these players.

I mean you simply need to look at the likes of Azmoun and Jahanbakhs and how much they improved by simply going to Europe at a young age.

Lets say we go back to roughly 2002, since then who would be your top 10 Iranian players (doesn't have to be in a particular order) that wasted their talent.

This is my top 10, these are 10 players that i feel could have become so much more.

10) Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht (i wonder where he would have been now if that Fenerbahce move never broke down)
9) MojahedKhaziravi
8) Iman Mobali
7) Ali Karimi (this guy could have reached the stars if he really wanted to, unbelievable waste of talent if you ask me)
6) Moharram Navidkia
5) Hamed Kavianpour
4) Mehdi Rahmati (yes, in terms of potential i believe he was up there, key word was. With better decision making (joining Rosenborg instead of Sepahan) and European training at a young age he could have become a good keeper even by international standards in my opinion).
3) Hossein Kaebi
2) Mehrdad Oladi (I personally always thought this guy had huge potential, and the physique/technique to succeed. Its a pity our incompetent federation blocked his move to Xerez & La Liga to become the washed up and forgotten player he now is in Iran)
1) Jalal Hosseini (I know its probably unfair for me to put his name down here, he is a fantastic CB, consistent player and he has had an extremely successful club career in Iran being the key player in 4 IPL title championships. But i can't help but to think how much better he could have been if he gone to Europe at a young age)

Again, this is my list. I just think that these 10 players could have offered so much more to our football because i believe they had the talent/potential to do so. Again, IF they made better career decisions and injuries/politics did not play a part in their career paths i think that besides Jalal Hosseini maybe another 4-5 of them at least could have still not only been in Team Melli today, but maybe even been key figures in this current squad.

 

[tajrish]

I think you are spot on. I never liked Kaebi, specially as a defender he was completely out of place, but beside him, you nailed every single one of them.

 

[lordofmordor]

Azizzi is the biggest missing from the list.

But seriously, who in Iran has not been wasted in one form or another. These are the darkest ages for Iran.

 

[DireStraits]

How could you miss Azizi in that list?
1- Azizi
2- Zandi
3- .....

 

[Bache Tehroon]

Again irrelevant replies to a perfectly posed discussion.

He said "past decade". Azizi was well finished by 2002 and he wasn't wasted. He played in Europe and USA and showed a huge lack of commitment and respect for the game. End of story.

Zandi was not wasted. He wasn't a great talent. He made some headlines in Germany when he still possessed the determination to do hard work. When he joined Team Melli he realized he could make easy money by just showing up to games in Iran instead of having to train hard in Germany and be a nobody. I actually don't think he would've become anything special in Europe.

 

[DireStraits]

Again irrelevant replies to a perfectly posed discussion.

He said "past decade". Azizi was well finished by 2002 and he wasn't wasted. He played in Europe and USA and showed a huge lack of commitment and respect for the game. End of story.

Zandi was not wasted. He wasn't a great talent. He made some headlines in Germany when he still possessed the determination to do hard work. When he joined Team Melli he realized he could make easy money by just showing up to games in Iran instead of having to train hard in Germany and be a nobody. I actually don't think he would've become anything special in Europe.

You Again. Azizi was available even for WC 2006. And when you say past decade it is the period 2000-2010. Zandi was usefull for Iran.
But not Germany. He could help us win UAE, Korea...
Football in asia is at most at level of Bundes league II. Then Zandi is usefull

 

[Arash_Naeni]

You Again. Azizi was available even for WC 2006. And when you say past decade it is the period 2000-2010. Zandi was usefull for Iran.
But not Germany. He could help us win UAE, Korea...
Football in asia is at most at level of Bundes league II. Then Zandi is usefull

Zandi being useful or not for TM is not an indication of him wasting his talent, if anything Zandi with the very limited talent he had made the most of his career. His ceiling potential was not very high to begin with anyways. His potential in general was never going to be any higher then just "being useful". And only reason he was useful, was because he was trained in a German environment and was tactically and physically superior compared to the rubbish we had available in IPL at the time.

If he had the talent/potential of someone like Dejagah and joined Team Melli and ended up in the Cypriot league then i would agree with you. But Zandi was nowhere near such quality, he was merely "useful". That's all.

 

[TeamMeli]

Good list I remember Esteghlal a decade ago had a good player I think it was Ali Mousavi(I think it's Mousavi) anyways ye played so well against China in the Asian Cup they nicknamed him the snake because he could just slither past the defenders. I know he had some injuries and he never reached his full potential. There are tons of soccer players from every country who never reach their full potential. Either they move to a big club and you get wasted or you get the dreaded ACL tear. I can give you a laundry list of American players who never reached their full potential.
Clint Mathis
Charlie Davis-His story is sad. Charlie Davies burst onto the American soccer scene in 2009, becoming an integral part of the U.S.’ impressive run at the 2009 Confederations Cup in June and scoring the opening goal in the U.S.’ win against Egypt in that tournament.

Two months later, in August 2009, Davies scored the opening goal in the U.S.’ World Cup qualifier against Mexico at Estadio Azteca. At that time, Davies looked to be exactly the goal-scoring threat the U.S. would need to take its game to the next level at the 2010 World Cup.

However, in October 2009, the night before the U.S.’ final World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica, Davies, breaking curfew, was at a party. Leaving the party, he got into a vehicle being driven by an intoxicated woman wAho crashed the car, killing a third passenger and severely injuring Davies.

3- Taylor Twellman-At one point he was the most elite striker becoming the youngest player to reach the 100 goal mark in the MLS but Twellman’s career, however, was cut short. Beset by injures—most notably a severe concussion—Twellman’s career was effectively over by the time he was 28 years old.

4-John O’Brien-Midfielder-He came from the legendary AJAX youth program and was a regular fixture for AJAX but injuries killed his career he had a season in 06 with Chivas USA he made the 2006 US team but he only played one half of one game.

5-Freddie Adu- Adu is already on his ninth professional club in 10 years, most recently moving to Brazil to play with Bahia. He is still young and he may prove people wrong but he never reached his full potential and he had a lot of hype.

What I am trying to say is you can go to every decent country and find players who never reached their full potential.

 

[Chinaski]

هیچکدوم اینا. اینا همشون تازه با استعداد متوسط و حتی پایین چه در ایران چه در خارج خیلی بیشتر از اونی که مستحقش بودن پول در آوردن. استعداد های از دست رفته کسانی شبیه حمید درخشان، محسن عاشوری، نامجومطلق، مهدی ابطحی، بهتاش فریبا، ، فرشاد پيوس، شاهرخ بیانی، سیروس قایقران، حمید علیدوستی، محمد احمدزاده...بودن که در دورانی توپ، میزدن که نه پولی در کار بود، نه آسایش روحی روانی، نه امنیت

 

[DireStraits]

2004
See how Azizi saves Iran's ass against Qatar.
[video=youtube;UHrxhCgcv8o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHrxhCgcv8o[/video]
Once Azizi helps Iran again his name is crossed off TM!!!!

 

[DireStraits]

If he had the talent/potential of someone like Dejagah and joined Team Melli and ended up in the Cypriot league then i would agree with you. But Zandi was nowhere near such quality, he was merely "useful". That's all.

Dejagar is now in II league too. How many Iranian players do you know who can finish like this?
[video=youtube;EMkZtHHSoCE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMkZtHHSoCE[/video]

 

[Sly]

Top 10 wasted talents of the past decade.

We know that in Iran talents go to waste left and right, players that could have ended up becoming very decent players if they had made smarter decisions in their career. Also sometimes due to injury they don't fulfil their potential. But most of the time it comes down to poor decision making and advice given by their agents etc, and sometimes even politics & corruption within our football ruin these players.

I mean you simply need to look at the likes of Azmoun and Jahanbakhs and how much they improved by simply going to Europe at a young age.

Lets say we go back to roughly 2002, since then who would be your top 10 Iranian players (doesn't have to be in a particular order) that wasted their talent.

This is my top 10, these are 10 players that i feel could have become so much more.

10) Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht (i wonder where he would have been now if that Fenerbahce move never broke down)
9) MojahedKhaziravi
8) Iman Mobali
7) Ali Karimi (this guy could have reached the stars if he really wanted to, unbelievable waste of talent if you ask me)
6) Moharram Navidkia
5) Hamed Kavianpour
4) Mehdi Rahmati (yes, in terms of potential i believe he was up there, key word was. With better decision making (joining Rosenborg instead of Sepahan) and European training at a young age he could have become a good keeper even by international standards in my opinion).
3) Hossein Kaebi
2) Mehrdad Oladi (I personally always thought this guy had huge potential, and the physique/technique to succeed. Its a pity our incompetent federation blocked his move to Xerez & La Liga to become the washed up and forgotten player he now is in Iran)
1) Jalal Hosseini (I know its probably unfair for me to put his name down here, he is a fantastic CB, consistent player and he has had an extremely successful club career in Iran being the key player in 4 IPL title championships. But i can't help but to think how much better he could have been if he gone to Europe at a young age)

Again, this is my list. I just think that these 10 players could have offered so much more to our football because i believe they had the talent/potential to do so. Again, IF they made better career decisions and injuries/politics did not play a part in their career paths i think that besides Jalal Hosseini maybe another 4-5 of them at least could have still not only been in Team Melli today, but maybe even been key figures in this current squad.

IMO Arash Borhani should have made your list. Also I would change the order. Ali Karimi should without a doubt be the top one in your list! Here is how I would put it up:

10. Borhani
.
.
.
6. Kavianpour
5. Nikbakht
4. Mobali
3. Kaebi
2. Navidkia and Khaziravi (Shared place)
1. Karimi

 

[Zob Ahan]

Two players missing on this list & they need to be close to the top:
Mahmoud Karimi
Edmond Bezik
Both of them had more talent than Nikbakht & Oladi combined.

 

[biAzar]

Very good list.

But this list pales in comparison with the talent that got wasted due to the disaster striking Iran (AKA Islamic revolution).
Arash's list is composed of players that their talent got wasted due to lack of work ethics or injuries.

Because of revolution, talents got wasted beyond the control of players.


Biggest of all : Depriving marhoom Hejazi from playing TM at age 27 and/or European offers.

But I always wondered a big what if , for this young talent of that time that could have arguably ascend to be one of the best mid field players all time: Barzegari...

There were many others too. Roshan never reached his true potential and then the generation of younger players that blossomed few years after disaster hit....Players that products of youth programs of 70s.

And then, before revolution, the biggest miss of talent was Masih Masihnia (due to injury)

 

[biAzar]

Very good list.

But this list pales in comparison with the talent that got wasted due to the disaster striking Iran (AKA Islamic revolution).
Arash's list is composed of players that their talent got wasted due to lack of work ethics or injuries.

Because of revolution, talents got wasted beyond the control of players.


Biggest of all : Depriving marhoom Hejazi from playing TM at age 27 and/or European offers.

But I always wondered a big what if , for this young talent of that time that could have arguably ascend to be one of the best mid field players all time: Barzegari...

There were many others too. Roshan never reached his true potential and then the generation of younger players that blossomed few years after disaster hit....Players that products of youth programs of 70s.

And then, before revolution, the biggest miss of talent was Masih Masihnia (due to injury)

Just adding to the list of wasted before revolution due to injury and lack of proper care, Jalal Talebi

At the time , beside Ghelich , probably the only other player we had that was capable of paying in Europe

 

[Fatso]

Throw in Javad Manafi in that list.

 

[Real Madrid]

Not a disrespect to the thread or the poster but this has been one of the most useless discussion around the century...

When it comes to football you need to go post by post , position to position ...

 

[ChaharMahal]

I would have sort of included Karim Bagheri. but most of his career was related to the more than 15 years ago.

Well I guess by What Waste, we are decrying lack of contribution to TM on the level that could have really been.
1. Jabari
2. NavidKia
3. Kabi
4. Mobali
5. Shojaiee
6. Mahmood Karimi
7. Nikbakht
8. Pezhman Nouri
9. Rajab Zadeh
10. Arash Borhani

 

[The Matrix]

I agree with Arash san..

 

[maziar95]

I would have sort of included Karim Bagheri. but most of his career was related to the more than 15 years ago.

Well I guess by What Waste, we are decrying lack of contribution to TM on the level that could have really been.
1. Jabari
2. NavidKia
3. Kabi
4. Mobali
5. Shojaiee
6. Mahmood Karimi
7. Nikbakht
8. Pezhman Nouri
9. Rajab Zadeh
10. Arash Borhani

How is Shojaie even on your list , number 5? The guy managed to have a decent career with Osasuna playing against some of the biggest teams and best players in the world and even though he isn’t in la liga anymore he still having a great season for his team. Besides Nekounam no other Iranian player has managed to play in Spain for this long . I would switch him with Ansarifard or Arash Afshin on your list.