Page 114 - Soccer360 Issue 107

LAST WORD
GREATNESS
ISN’T
SCINTILLATING NEW TALENTS EXPLODED ONTO THE SCENE LAST SEASON WHILE OTHERS RAPIDLY FADED AWAY, AS SUSY CAMPANALE WARNS THE PROMISE OF YOUTH IS NOT ALWAYS KEPT.
GUARANTEED
in May. He is one of the purest talents
in Italian football, yet finding anyone prepared to pay even £15m for him this summer proved surprisingly tricky. It cannot all be down to the injuries, can it? When he turns on that change of pace and takes opponents on, Chiesa is still remarkably strong, but his versatility is
ABOVE (MAIN):
Winning Euro 2024 the
day after his 17th birthday, Lamine Yamal is an explosive talent
ABOVE:
Federico Chiesa was frozen out by Juventus and struggled to find buyers this summer
Nothing can beat that excitement when seeing a pure talent break onto the scene, so young and with the promise that if he is already this good, what could he achieve in future when reaching a level
of tactical, physical and mental maturity?
Lamine Yamal celebrated his 17th birthday the day before winning Euro 2024 with Spain as a key part of the starting XI. Nico
Williams was another breakout talent in that tournament, turning 22 during the event in Germany and scoring two goals, including in the final against England. Jude Bellingham moved into a more advanced role for Real Madrid to win La Liga and the Champions League with 23 goals in 42 games, then helped drag England to the Euros Final at the age of 20. Their whole careers are ahead of them and now the spotlight is firmly on their jerseys.
However, it doesn’t always pan out that way. The history of the sport is littered with great talents who never fully lived up to that initial promise, for one reason or another. Some like Mario Balotelli and Antonio Cassano lacked the attitude and willpower to make themselves crucial team players. Others
like Ballon d’Or winner Michael Owen, Adriano of Inter and Andy van der Meyde at Ajax started strong only to be derailed by physical or psychological problems.
The latest players heading for a fork in
the career road this summer are Federico Chiesa and Jack Grealish. Both promised
so much and were guaranteed to light up the crowd with their exciting approach to the game, usually playing as wingers, but versatile enough to score or assist with equal vigour. That unpredictability is what made them so enticing for the fans and
so promising for the future. This summer
feels like a watershed moment for their paths. Chiesa showed the usual flashes of brilliance at Euro 2024, but also the same old injury problems that have plagued him since that anterior cruciate ligament tear in January 2022. All season his fans assured that it was Max Allegri’s negative Juventus tactics frustrating his impact on the game, yet under Luciano Spalletti it was a similar story and then new Bianconeri boss Thiago Motta cut him out of the squad completely. That is in part due to his contract running down and not wanting to lose him as a free agent, but not entirely. His role as star man has been taken over first by Dusan Vlahovic, then exciting Turkey international Kenan Yildiz, who only celebrated his 19th birthday
also a hindrance, never quite finding his ideal position. A Jack of all trades, master of none.
Speaking of Jacks, Grealish had an even worse fall from grace. A hero at Aston Villa, he was sold to Manchester City for
a record-shattering £100 million in the summer of 2021, at the time the most expensive English player ever. Even with the reputation for being a bit of a party animal, he was a key figure in the Treble of 2023 and said to be in the running for the Ballon d’Or, but a year on he was not even included in the England squad for Euro 2024. How the mighty have fallen. Again, only part of that can be attributed to Gareth Southgate’s negative and
strict tactical ideas, or to Grealish’s injury record. Like Chiesa, Jack the Lad can
be an exhilarating loose cannon that occasionally backfires, and then it’s like playing with 10 men. Juve and Italy didn’t have the same competition for places as Manchester City, so Chiesa didn’t end up on the bench as often as Grealish, but the general mood around them was the same. Patience had worn thin and fresh faces were ready to compete for their places. Grealish turns 29 in September, Chiesa will be 28 in October, and they can no longer be considered hopeful champions for the future. This is meant to be their peak and instead they are plummeting. Pure talent isn’t always enough, you need the luck
of the draw with injuries and the mental strength to be consistent, being able to harness that exciting unpredictability within the framework of the team around you. The stage is set for Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams and Jude Bellingham
to dominate the Ballon d’Or rankings for the next decade, but they can also see the warning signs from those who came before them and squandered that promise.
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