Top 5 club footballers who were not effective on the international stage

Here are five top club footballers, who failed to make an impact at the international stage:

Robbie Fowler - ENGLAND (26 Caps 7 Goals)

Liverpool fans will fondly recall the days when Fowler along with his partner in crime, banged in all the goals and played some of Liverpool’s best football in the Premier League. One could argue that, in his prime, Fowler was the most natural finisher in England. If you look at his goal scoring record, they certainly speak for themselves.

In his first three seasons for Liverpool, he scored more than 30 goals in each of them for a total of almost 98 goals. So, it wasn’t too hard to wonder why big things were expected from him. His partnership with Alan Shearer, in theory at least, looked like the perfection combination. But, despite being fourth highest goal scorer in English Premier League history and scoring closing to 250 goals in his career, Fowler never quite got going on the international stage.

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Andy Cole – ENGLAND (15 Caps 1 Goal)

Based on his performances and form for Manchester United alone, Andy Cole should have been on the top ten list of England’s goal scorers. Instead, he just has a solitary goal to his name. Which is really surprising, considering the fact that he is the second highest goal scorer in the English Premier League and scored 270 goals in a career spanning almost two decades.

In fact, considering the fact that he won all there is to win, at club level, with one of England’s greatest clubs, it certainly begs the question, ‘why was he so poor for England?’ Perhaps the fact that he earned his first four caps under four different managers, answers part of the question. The fact that there was no real continuity, certainly affected Cole. That, along with his injuries, which occurred at just the wrong time forced his hand and ensured that one of the most successful club footballers, never quite made the transition to the international stage.

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Francesco Totti - ITALY (58 Caps 9 Goals)

Ask anyone in Italy of the top five players from the past two decades and this man is likely to figure on most lists. Francesco Totti is one of Italy’s most gifted strikers. For someone who is Roma’s most capped player and their record goal scorer, his return of just nine goals from 58 Caps for Italy, is meagre at best.

Whilst it is true that he has played more as a trequartista than a traditional center forward, that still doesn’t explain his lackluster goal tally. The fact that Danielle De Rossi, a defensive midfielder and his team mate has score more than him, is something that isn’t likely to sit too well with Totti.

For a player of his unrivalled ability, he still hasn’t proven himself on the international stage and is unlikely to do so now. Perhaps the “King of Roma”, was never quite destined to become the “King of Italy”, but one thing was for sure, when he did turn up for the Azzurri, he certainly gave a good account of himself, even if he never managed to reach the giddy heights of his club career.

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Eric Cantona – FRANCE (45 Caps 20 Goals)

Whilst his goal scoring record for his national side wasn’t too shabby, Eric Cantona could never quite recapture his club form, when he played for Les Bleus. He was, arguably the man who started Manchester United’s successful reign when he helped them lift their first crown in over 26 years. But, whenever he played for France, there was a sense that he could do better, at least, at the start of his career.

And when he did, he got into trouble with the authorities. One of the most famous instances, was when called Henri Michel a “bag of shit” after being dropped from the squad. Cantona was subsequently indefinitely banned from all international matches. From then onwards, his reputation preceded him and his relationship with the national team was fractious at best. It was almost as if, the French couldn’t quite come to terms with how to make use of one of the most talented footballers of his generation.

In the end, Cantona retired from international football, having had his place taken by a certain Zinedine Zidane and never quite setting the international stage on fire.

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John Barnes – ENGLAND (79 Caps 11 Goals)

Barnes was arguably the most talented technical player of his generation. He had a brilliant club career for both Liverpool and Watford and yet when he finally retired from international football, there was a sense of “what might have been”. Anybody who was at the Estádio do Maracanã on 10 June 1984, certainly had a first-hand experience of Barnes technical prowess. The goal he scored, when he outpaced and out-thought several Brazilian defenders was one that brought him worldwide adulation and also a sense of heavy expectation.

In his early England days, he was subjected to racial abuse and whilst that didn’t help, the fact was that, more often than not, he was played out of place and the system never quite suited him. It was thought that the appointment of Graham Taylor, his old mentor and manager at Watford, would be able to get the best out of him, but that turned out to be a false dawn.

Bobby Robson famously described him as the “Greatest enigma” of his career and that certainly describes his international career. And although he was England’s former most capped black player, there was a sense that his best days were for his club and he couldn’t go that extra mile, for his country. And whether it was as a result of “rigid” formations, focused on speed and aggression or him being isolated out wide, England certainly didn’t get the best out of him, just like how they didn’t get the best out of Glenn Hoddle or Chris Waddle.

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