10 footballers who have one last chance to prove themselves this season

The rise of a player is not always a smooth ride to the top. More often than not it is riddled with obstacles and pitfalls. Some players manage to manoeuvre through these with ease while others might require a little bit of help to get through.Players often get plenty of chances to rise and put their troubles behind them, but there's a limit to how much they can get coddled. There comes a time when the manager has to say ‘enough’ and let the player go.We take a look at a few players who might just be standing on the edge and have one last season to prove their mettle.

#1 Mario Balotelli

Much had been made about Liverpool being Balotelli's last chance to salvage something out of his quickly sinking career. But judging by his output thus far, it looks like that last chance must have passed in between his numerous mental episodes.

Balotelli has failed to score even a single goal in the league for Liverpool this season and this will be cause for much consternation for him. The manager looks increasingly doubtful of his abilities and has even resorted to starting Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert over him. With the imminent return of Daniel Sturridge this month, his chances of even making the bench looks to be in doubt.

Chances are not guaranteed for him in the near future and he will have to grab whatever chance he gets. He is no longer viewed as the young player who could one day take over the world if only he could get his act right. He is more of a liability and with every passing week that he doesn't perform, other clubs will not be willing to take a gamble on him for the upcoming seasons.

This may well and truly be Balotelli’s last chance of convincing all the doubters of his abilities.

#2 Fernando Torres

His is a story that has been documented so many times. Every football fan on the planet is expected to know the details of his rise and fall, and why not? Such has been the gist of his tale. Torres, after his many a torrid days at Chelsea and AC Milan is back at the club of his heart and the onus on him to perform is more than ever.

After the glorious hero’s welcome he received on his comeback to Atletico Madrid, Torres has done well to assuage some of the doubts about his capabilities. But it will take a string of such good performances to truly say that the Torres of old is back. Manager Diego Simeone has, time and again, iterated that Torres had not been brought om to play the role of a panacea and that he'd have to work his way into the team. But that doesn't do anything to alter the fact that this could be Torres' last chance at redemption.

He may not be considered an automatic starter, but performances like those he put in while at Chelsea and Milan will see him go down the pecking order. He did show promise against Real Madrid with a brace, but this year will probably be his last to salvage anything of the glorious legacy he built in his earlier days.

#3 Roberto Soldado

It has been a swift decline for a player, who only two years ago, was fighting to get into the Spain national team. He now serves as an understudy to a Premier League novice and Spurs pariah in Harry Kane and Emmanuel Adebayor.

Soldado was brought into fill the void left by Gareth Bale's departure. His performance for Valencia in his last season - 24 goals in 33 starts - indicated the deal being an impressive coup for Spurs in the transfer market, but it has been anything but.

The Spaniard has struggled in the hustle and bustle of the EPL and has found himself relegated to the bench in recent times. His paltry return of seven goals in the league, from his two years at the club has disappointed fans beyond measure. His confidence has taken a beating and he looks a figment of the player he was when he first joined. Kane's rise to prominence has only added to his woes.

He has an urgent need to get his act in order if he still harbours ambition of playing in the Premier League or at one of the bigger clubs playing in the Champions League, or he risks being stuck in a mid-table limbo where he will remain for the rest of his career.

#4 Eljero Elia

Elia is a strong reminder of the perils of professional sport. Once a glorified young talent, he is now considered to be another young prodigy who failed to fulfill his early promise.

He gained fame through his exploits for FC Twente which brought him into the global spotlight and, eventually, the Dutch World Cup team that reached the final in 2010. He was elected Dutch football talent of the year in 2009 and subsequently moved to the Bundesliga.

Everything looked rosy till his move to Hamburger in 2009. This is where his problems started to pile up and his career graph declined. Injuries and bad luck played its part but a poor attitude also contributed to his downfall. After three seasons, he was shipped off to Juventus, where he didn't last a year, and then to Wereder Bremen, and now on loan at Southampton.

He is no longer the player he once was and is no longer capable of reaching the heights his early days promised. But there is a good player in there somewhere. At least Ronald Koeman believes there is. He has the perfect platform to prove himself now with all of Southampton's injuries and Sadio Mane missing due to the African Cup of Nations. He is guaranteed to get game time.

If he impresses, he will have secured a permanent move to Southampton. If he fails, it will be back to warming the bench in Germany.

#5 Lukas Podolski

Podolski's CV makes for an interesting reading. He has won numerous trophies and individual accolades, but he is still looked at as an unfinished product despite his age. For all his goals and individual recognition, the 29-year-old is still considered to have underwhelmed in his stints at big clubs. Bayern Munich was an unmitigated disaster. Arsenal, though an improvement from his Bayern days, is still largely considered to have showed him in a negative light.

He is still a fan favourite though and it will always enable him to be employed at a decent level. But it will be largely unsatisfying for him to retire as a player that wasn't ever seen as an important player at the highest level. He has his chance now at Internazionale.

Roberto Mancini has entrusted him with doing for Inter what he couldn't do elsewhere. And should he succeed, it could result in a good few years for him before his retirement. Should he fail, he will know that it will be back to the bench at Arsenal or at a lower club, which wouldn't really appeal to his senses.

#6 Thomas Vermaelen

Vermaelen had a great start to his career at Ajax and then Arsenal. But the last couple of seasons in North London were more reflective of his weaknesses than his strengths as a defender.

He has been granted another chance though. It was, perhaps, this change of scenery that he required to ramp up his appetite for the game and bring him back to his best. Unfortunately for him, he hasn't been able to show this on the pitch as he has remained injured for the entirety of this season.

Vermaelen, on his return from injury, will have a two-fold job. He will be required to perform at optimum level, a level that a team like Barcelona commands, while also proving his fitness. The Catalan club will not want to put up with an ageing, injury prone defender and will be swift in replacing him when they can (which will be in January 2016).

The Belgian defender is expected to return in the coming month and he will be hoping that there are no more obstacles in his way to finally putting on the Blaugrana shirt and playing at the Camp Nou.

#7 Jozy Altidore

The transfer of Altidore is being treated as a big coup for FC Toronto, but the player will know that it is anything but. Altidore, USA's only current striking option, will be upset with his move down the football ladder – from the Premier League to the MLS. But he will be wary of the fact that this is his last chance to impress if he ever harbours ambitions of playing at a higher level again.

At just 25 years of age, Altidore has experienced football at a whole host of top clubs. He has been a part of a multitude of football cultures. Unfortunately for him, this has not translated to improvement on the pitch. Every time he has looked like finally having reached his potential, he moves on to a newer club, exposing his rise as a false dawn. His two stints in the Premier League have yielded only 2 goals.

The MLS might not be of the highest level, but it is competitive enough for him to prove his credentials. If not for himself, at least to maintain his spot in the national team which has seen a renaissance under German manager Jurgen Klinsmann.

#8 Jack Rodwell

Rodwell's story should be a lesson to any aspiring youngster who wants to move to a big club too early in his career. Once seen as the most promising youngster in England, he has quickly lost the attention of the media, the fans, and now his own club and manager too.

He is the youngest player to have played for the Everton first team. At the tender age of 16, he was thrust into the spotlight – a testament to his talent and the faith his then manager, David Moyes, had in him. In the course of the next few years, he went on to make 85 appearances for the first team. Little did he know then, it was only the beginning of the end for him as Manchester City came calling.

Rodwell suffered at City who were obsessed with winning the title. There wasn't much emphasis placed on the younger players. As a consequence, he failed to get minutes on the pitch. Injuries also took a toll. The call-ups to the national squad also stopped coming at this moment.

He finally managed to escape this poisonous chapter of his life, but he hasn't found any reprieve at his current club, Sunderland. He is still warming the bench and it looks all too bleak for a player who is just 23 years old and should have developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in England.

Manager Gus Poyet is growing weary of his players and has made known his intentions of wanting to be more flexible in the market. If Rodwell's form stays like it is, the manager will be quick to cut his losses. It will be back to the bottom for Rodwell who will have to build his way up again from a lower level like the Championship then.

#9 Hatem Ben Arfa

"Hatem Ben Arfa. Providing he stays fit, Ben Arfa belongs on a different planet to most mortals. Capable of eclipsing Rooney, Bale and even Suárez." - This was the response by Louis Taylor, a writer for the Guardian, when asked to predict the player of the season for 2013/14.

In the intervening period since then, he has been asked to cut short his loan spell with Hull City citing differences with the manager, and has seen his Newcastle contract terminated. Off-field issues have always come back to haunt Ben Arfa. He has often been referenced as lazy by most of his managers. His insubordinate behaviour has also cost him a lot of playing time and ultimately his shot at conquering English football.

Having recently had his contract terminated, he signed as a free agent with Nice in Ligue 1. This too has come with some controversy. FIFA has deemed that Ben Arfa cannot play for the Ligue 1 side because he has already played for two clubs this season (a maximum for any player). Ben Arfa's solitary appearance in an U-21 match for Newcastle is also being taken into consideration by FIFA and this is causing to be a stumbling block in his move.

Nice have indicated that they are willing to ignore FIFA's ruling if the French Football Federation were to rule in their favour. This is a big show of faith on the club's part and will increase the pressure on Ben Arfa to perform and do justice to his reputation.

Any recurrences of his past behavior might just spell the end for him.

#10 Yann M\'Vila

M'Vila's ruin has been brought entirely by his own doing. Injuries didn't play a part, neither did bad luck nor poor form. It was entirely due to his disciplinary issues.

After coming to prominence through his consistent performances for Rennes, he was immediately spoken of as a natural successor to Claude Makelele and Patrick Vieira. The heir. The prodigal son. He was called up to the French national team for the Euros and earned a lot of attention from the biggest teams in the world in the transfer window. Things soured when newspapers started picking up on his activities off the pitch.

The first instance of his temperamental issues came to the fore when he was banned from the French national team for two years after a night out while on international duty. This issue brought to the forefront his love for the nightlife and deterred clubs from pursuing him.

He ended up at Rubin Kazan in 2013. He endured a frosty relationship with the fans at Kazan and ultimately secured a loan move to Internazionale in the summer of 2014. He has thus far managed only three starts. This does not bode well for him as Inter will not exercise their right to purchase him at the end of the season if he does not impress.

He needs to show new manager Roberto Mancini that he's as good as had been documented during his rise. A failure to do so might just condemn him to a level of football he might not be too happy to play.