10 footballers who are past their best in Europe

Time has a cruel way of taking from people what they desire the most. In a slow and torpid manner it takes away everything. It is disheartening and embarrassing when it happens, but it happens and happens to all. It happens in football too.Players who work their entire lives to become the best in the world, hours spent on the pitch honing skills that couldn’t be matched by their peers end up watching it all slip away from them. They key to reducing the pain is to quit at the right time. But too many players don’t know when to call it quits or are too hesitant to leave after spending a lifetime doing it.Here’s a list of players that have been trapped in crosshairs of time and are way past their best.

#1 Iker Casillas

The boos at the Bernabeu were indignant. Not only had their team been humbled by also-rans from Germany, but they had also just witnessed their talisman, Iker Casillas, regress to the mean. He struggled as Schalke threw caution to the winds. Fumbling, struggling, dropping and deflecting as the game wore on, he looked a shadow of his former glorious self.

This could be written off as a bad day at the office, but this was very reminiscent of Casillas from last year when he was displaced by Diego Lopez and contrived to get Spain knocked out from the first round of the world cup. Some would argue, even worse.

A few commendable performances at the start of the season had abated the fans’ consternation, but the last few weeks have reignited those worries. Casillas is well past it. The Spaniard at his peak was the best keeper in the world. This one isn’t even the best in his team.

#2 Xavi

It is an insult to the collective football mind to have to see Xavi in his present state. We all know he’s spent. He knew it too when he decided to move to Qatar before the start of this season. It would have been a perfect ending for him to leave then as opposed to now when he looks like a pitiable old man lost out on the streets.

He trudges along the pitch slowly as if weighed down by concrete boots. His passes are more labored and his positioning resembles nothing of the Xavi we knew. The players around him work hard to make up for his deficiencies and even then he seems off the pace.

The great Xavi we all knew formed the spine of the greatest footballing team in the history of club football. The glitter of that achievement hasn’t faded, but he must leave before the memory of it does.

#3 Falcao

Falcao has managed just 4 goals from 1006 minutes of league football this season. That’s just about 252 minutes per goal or 1 in every 3 matches. It would be a respectable tally if those goals were decisive or due to him being really good, but as it turns out he has been really lucky to get those goals.

His form at United has been nothing short of abysmal. His reputation, of being a cold-blooded killer in front of goal, has taken a beating. Instead, he has made a habit of missing, slipping, slicing and being average at almost everything expected of a striker. His stock has fallen so low that he cannot even get a game in the absence of the injured Robin van Persie.

Louis van Gaal has resorted to giving him game time with the U21’s. It could perhaps be a case of him trying too hard in a bid to reclaim his pre-injury form. Whatever it is, he needs to get his act in order or he risks seeing himself fade away.

#4 Robin van Persie

On paper, 10 goals from 24 games looks to be a good return for a striker, but a momentary glance of those matches reveals a different story. Van Persie, once one of the most dangerous finishers in the game, looks to have lost his composure as he has struggled with putting away chances in front of goal.

His misses have become a constant source of agony for United fans so much that there was much cheer on social media when he walked out of the Liberty Stadium on crutches. The famed left foot of his has failed to live up to its gold standard and seems to have forgotten where the goal is.

A union with Van Gaal was seen as something that would take him to a different level, as it did during the world cup, but their relationship has only served to make him complacent and lose his appetite for goals. Van Persie is a good striker, but he is no longer a striker that can win teams titles.

#5 Mikel Arteta

The Arsenal captain might not have had the flashiest career, but he has been a good player for the best part of his career and an inspirational influence to those around him. He accommodated his style of play, to account for Arsenal’s shortage in deep midfielders, with some success, but sadly for him this success appears to be short lived.

Age has caught up with the Spaniard. He can no longer keep pace with his counterparts. He can often be seen trailing behind his marker trying to catch up with him and stop the counter. It has become a regular occurrence. His all-round physical game has declined although his passing remains sharp as ever. He is no longer capable of starting for Arsenal, he has to accept being a bit-part player for the remainder of his career.

#6 Vincent Kompany

Another captain of a premier league powerhouse. It was only a few years ago that Vincent Komapny was being hailed as one of the best center backs in the world, he was destined to take over the world with his all-conquering City, but a couple of years has seen the world turn on his head for him. He is now being framed, not wrongly, for a lot of City’s ills.

Mistakes have crept into the Belgian’s game. Glaring mistakes, mistakes that have cost City some big games. Barcelona, Chelsea and Arsenal are just a few of the recent matches where he was responsible for the opposition goals. His blunders this season look to have cost City the title and Pellegrini his job.

Kompany has been exposed for all his weaknesses and this will continue to happen unless he learns and reshapes his game to account for his deficiencies. At present, he is a liability.

#7 Ashley Cole

It was suggested that his move to the Serie A would help him recapture his previous form as the pace of the league was more suitable to some one of his age, but less than half a season through, it has turned out to be a nightmare for the English left back.

Initially deployed as first choice left back, he soon lost his place to Holebas, with whom he failed to keep pace. Cole is now a back-up used only when the first choice needs a breather. His descent to the bench hasn’t been undeserved either.

While in the first team, he was constantly bullied by faster and stronger attackers as displayed by Robben in Bayern’s 7-1 demolition of Roma. It wasn’t just the defense alone. He has failed to contribute in attack as well, often staying static on the sidelines.

It’s a tough situation for a player who was hailed as the greatest left back of his generation, but as with everyone, time has caught up with him too.

#8 Andrea Pirlo

It is contemptible to have to criticize Pirlo, but time has come for him to be phased out of the game, for his own good and for the good of his legacy.

Andrea Pirlo has a legitimate claim to being one of the greatest to have ever played the game and he needs to make sure that he doesn’t let that reputation get tarnished before he leaves. His performances can no longer be held to the lofty standards of before. He needs other more combative midfielders to play alongside him to mask his deficiencies. He offers a rare glimpse of his former quality every now and then, but it is too rare for a team to be augmented to fit him for the entirety of a long season.

It is still a testament to Pirlo that he didn’t let his skills deteriorate over time. It is only in physical capabilities that he has declined which has led to his overall decline.

#9 Nemanja Vidic

Another titan of yesteryears being destroyed by the “pace of the Serie A”. Vidic, like other former Premier League stars, might have thought that he would get on well in his later years at a league like the Serie A, but it has proved to be apocryphal as his performances have shown.

Inter’s struggles in the Serie A have been well documented and though it has been a collective failure of the club, Vidic has drawn a lot of ire from fans and the media alike. His last outing with Inter saw him draw manager Mancini’s rage in the post-match press conference despite the goal being a goal keeping blunder.

Vidic’s agent has come out saying that he has not been treated well on and off the pitch, but the truth is that Vidic’s performances on the pitch haven’t treated him well on or off the pitch.

#10 Dider Drogba

Drogba is like a domesticated dog that has had its fangs removed and is anticipating the end of its days in blissful impotence.

Drogba has had a good return to Chelsea and with all going well it is most likely that he will be lifting the title with them again, but it is striking the level of his contribution(or lackof) to the team. Drogba, once a raging, rampaging striker looks nothing like his former self. His first touch is atrocious. He can no longer muscle his way through defenders and his pace is fraction of what it used to be. He is simply no longer the player he was before and shows no signs of being that guy.

The only reason Drogba is in that Chelsea squad is because of his previous with them. There is now way his current mediocrity makes it into the team otherwise.