Heartbreaking stuff, how quickly his talent got snuffed reminds me of Dele Alli. But his being more a result of motivation and Halilovic's story being more about confidence. Great video, thank you!
I remember when him and odegaard were both wonderkids at real and barca and people would argue about who was better under their futhead cards - sad how he hasn't taken off
@@ziopeppecartagialla.1360 Wouldn´t exactly say he was flopping. He always had more variety to his game compared to Halilovic who just ran and ran before shooting. He was also 3 years younger than Halilovic. Everything started going uphill for Martin once he left for the Netherlands. But yeah, it was particularly after his season at Vitesse that he skyrocketed.
You can make a top 10 flops, and half the list will consist of next messis. When will people learn that calling a teenager the next *insert legendary footballer here* will only set them up to fail
He had a pretty good career tbf though, better almost all professionals. Over 160 appearances at Barcelona winning 3 la Liga and 2 champions league. 1 appearance for Spain before switching to the Catalan national side.
People dubbed him as "The New Messi" and his father thought Alen was indeed "The New Messi" and should be treated like Messi. His father is his demise.
Halilovic is probably watching this video and reading this comments so i want to say Brother you are still young, if you stay fit you can have 10 more years of playing time. Wonders can happen in that amount of time. Forget your past, your ego, your background and start fresh. Also you don't have to invent the wheel, check other similar cases in world football that ended up as a success after many difficult years and just do the same, no need to overcomplicate things. Good luck
If u do, remember, there is such thing is late blloomer, in life and sports. Planty of players that started performing good their last 5-6 years. U still have 10. Good luck !!!
Most surprising part of this video is that Kovacic and Halilovic played together on Dinamo... Feels like Kovacic has been around top clubs forever and that Halilovic was a wonderkid four-five years ago, both left Dinamo a year apart.
I can't believe you touched this subject!!!please make a video about Zdravko Mamić!!!you will love this story!!!thank you for doing video about Croatian Messi!!!
this guy will always be fondly remembered by me, was part of treble winning everton side in fifa16, him as the creative 8 and the besic as the 6 and my midfield was solid. This video has brought back so many memories, thanks dude.
Yeah I used him a lot a tSpurs on Fifa 1 6an d17 and that alternating him around with Critian Eriksen and Dele Alli was kind of fun. Played him jus tin behind Harr yKane and al tha tand he was pretty dangerous in tha tposition he wasn't as prolific as Eriksen or Alli but he was pretty useful.
Croatia will never reach the likes of tournament finals again. The likes of Modrić, Rakitić, Brozović et all is hard, damn near impossible, to replicate.
I remember he was signed around the time kovacic joined madrid...thought the both of them would be running the barca and madrid midfields right now like modric and rakitic did in their prime
I still believe he could've done something at Barcelona but felt mismanaged somehow. Hearing that his dad hired a personal coach for him when he was at one of the best clubs in the world for developing youngsters is really depressing but also understandable. Really wish he was given a better support structure instead of overbearing parents.
Its complete nonsense. Even relatively small professional football clubs can order you to use golf carts at the course and what meals you eat. The idea that Barcelona couldn't stop a private coach turning up is absurd, it would also breach allsorts of contracts and insurance agreements
His father was awful for his career but it wasnt just him. Halilovic from his time at Dinamo was an arrogant little prick who believed his hype. Nobody was sad to see him leave Dinamo. It was good riddance.
Different sport, but it's why i hate the Wembanyama Lebron comparisons. They don't even play the same position, have 5 or 6 inches difference, completely different playstyle, yet NBA media would have you believe he's the next coming of Lebron.
Well overrating and overhyping young talent is a major issue in every single sport, Hockey is always looking for the next Crosby, Ovechkin, Lemiuex etc, basketball is always looking for the next MJ, LeBron, Shaq, Wilt, Curry etc. And in football the pursuit is often the next Pele, Maradona, Ronaldo(R9 Brazil), Messi and CR7. I think football has gotten away from it slightly as football is becoming more structure and coaching based, and it is now less about looking for the flashy and substance player that can carry a team to wins(Like what was more common when the likes of Robinho, Pato and Adriano played.)
Baseball has gotten far more realistic with their hyping comparisons but even there... you can see some players are particularly hyped up or perhaps actually do have the potential if all the scouts are accurate with a comparison. As in one player taken late in the first round is compared to Chase Utley, but depending on what point in Utley's career you'd either be getting an above average 2B or a player who is a MVP candidate. Edit: As in that ceiling range is quite wide depending on if it's prime Utley or the 35 year old who wasn't being resigned by the Phillies due to cost reasons.
The lesson is going to a huge team when you’re still so young doesn’t always work out. At a smaller club where he would have been played and valued would have developed him physically and mentally
Thanks Adrian, you always come out with the most forgotten or usual topics that I wish to see about football on utube....I remember halilovic at my dear club AC Milan, I really hoped he would resurrect his teenage hype ....but my God!..what a disaster.
0:30 it's actually much lower. Assuming each La Liga team has at least 22 players, during their prime, they would be the only two top 5 level players in at least 440 guys, so it's less than 0.5%. Now do this for every major league. Then every pro, semi pro and amateur leagues. Now consider all the decades of football played before them. It's actually extremely ridiculous to reach that top 10 all-time level, let alone top 5 (as a Brazilian, I'd put both in my top 3, alongside Pelé). The odds of a kid actually reaching their level is so ridiculously low we shouldn't even consider. They not only had insane primes, but also longevity and no serious injuries. Just look at Mbappé. As great as he already is, he's not on pace of reaching Messi and Cristiano. When Messi and Cristiano were 25, they were already considered top 2 players of their generation by far. Messi was 25 in 2012, when he had 3 Ballon d'Ors and 6 top Ballon d'Or nominations (07-12); and Cristiano was 25 in 2010, when he already had 1 Ballon d'Or and 3 nominations (07-09), and you can argue he would've been top 3 on 2010 if Spain had lost the WC. Mbappé? He's yet to truly become the present. It's hard to imagine Mbappé getting there in the next ~7-10 years. Haaland is a scoring machine, but he's far from being as complete as Messi or Cristiano. Haaland is more like a Van Nistelrooy than anything. He's great, but he's never going to be as complete as CR7, let alone Messi. He can't create as well as these two nor get his own chances. He's great and can retire as the greatest goal scorer in modern history, but he's far from these two. Lewa scored more than Ronaldo R9 and there's no doubt who's greater. Same with Haaland. Now imagine doing that to kids who didn't even achieve anything. It's cruel. These "next Cristiano/Messi" labels are fun to talk about, but it puts ridiculous pressure on the players. Messi and Cristiano are SPECIAL. Too special.
As a Barcelona fan, I loved the prospect of Alen Halilovic succeeding at Barcelona. He was a great player, even though we didn't see much of him. He was fantastic at Sporting Gijon, and I was shocked he wasn't called up for Croatia for Euro 2016. He was also pretty good for Las Palmas. In another universe, he'd be the star attacker for Croatia right now. Hope he can make a comeback, wishing him all the best!
Birmingham city fan here, Halilovic was signed on a short term deal and was unfortunate with injuries he looked good when he played and when we tried to sign him the following season once his contract had expired he chose to join Reading instead
He may never have been the 'Next Messi', but one player I feel like had the potential to be a really solid signing for a good deal of European clubs is Ianis Hagi. Unfortunately, his career was pretty much ruined by his father (yes, the famous Gica Hagi), which basically pushed him into teams and levels far above his level at the time. He tried to sell his son as if he's a superstar, when the kid just needed good developing at a decent team, and he likely would have really ended up as a superstar if he was given time. He is still 24, but to be fair, I think all that potential has been wasted, by this point.
His father never played career mode. If you are at a big club at 16 you don't ask for playing time you ask for a 2 year loan to a championship/mid table team.
I remember this name. Barcelona has this habit of hyping up youngsters like they are the next-(current best player in his position). Not only him, Sergi Samper was supposed to be the next Busquets, Riqui Puig the next Iniesta and so on. They did the same thing to Ansu Fati, Pedri and now Lamine Yamal. Somehow Pedri withstood that pressure but Ansu is still struggling.
Always felt had he joined Tottenham he would've been a world beater. That team was calling out for a creative midfielder and he would've gotten the game time, his father truly ruined everything. I even remember Tottenham were supposed to bring in Tin Jedvaj as well to complement him in the squad.
It did look like he was doing well in Sporting Gijon. Remember the huge competition there was between him and Odegaard about who was the biggest wonder kid. Being an Odegaard fan I was so butthurt over Halilovics success in Sporting Gijon.
Lol i gotta apologize for you then ,i believed that odegaard will also be wasted but look at him now leading Arsenal to the champions league and challenging for the premier league
I hate when someone is called "the next...". True Champions are unique and have their own skills and play style. M'Bappé isn't the new Zidane. Haaland isn't the new Ronaldo.
The odds of becoming like messi and cr7 are not 1% that would mean out of every 100 players you would get 1 messi or cr7. We will not see another messi or CR7 not even Mbappe is on their level
Fans and pundits hate football agents but this is the reason footballers have an agent... to guide negotiations and get the best career choices for their player. I think if he had an agent like Raiola or Mendes he may have had a different career
Ødegaard dad was also involved in his early days for his son (also ex football player). But you're right, leave negotiation to agents that knows their craft
maybe an MLS move might rejuvenate his spirits if he really is in to basketball more than football. Especially with the way young prospects are treated from a very young age in American sports, maybe something in that experience resonates with him. he will be a nobody in the US for the most part, it'd be up to him to make a name for himself. With that being said it is also a very demanding league already not factoring the extreme travel and weather.
I would have liked to hear a bit more about the weird demands of his father. Asking for first team minutes doesnt sound that weird to me when he was a starter at Zagreb.
@@CourageOfMyConvictions of course. But if he would get no minutes at Barca why not stay a year at Zagreb, develop and then make a move the next year. He says his father made these weird demands but some guarantees on play time doesnt seem that weird.
@@jelmervanriet790 the weird things are that his father wanted alen to be a starter at barca when they have MSN, xavi, iniesta, etc. he should've sent alen to dinamo zagreb on loan for 1-2 years after barca recruited him, to give him a chance to develop
A lot of players have fallen into this trap. I remember Neilton too at Santos being called the next Neymar when he was 19. Just saw today a 29 yr old Neilton out of contract, its sad what these comparisons do to these players. Sooo many players i can think of
Brazilian players peak at 24, get fat and start diving all over. The brazilian national teams approach of just playing a blob of 4 strikers with no tactical instructions makes it even worse for them.
He made the same mistake a lot of young players make (for sure influenced by his father and people around him) which is that he went to a big club too young and too soon, without having the opportunity to develop properly.Instead of staying in Dinamo and playing in Croatian league for at least few seasons, trying to establish himself as one of the best players there and going step by step being smart thinking longterm, he jumped on the first chance to cash in on his potential and went to Barcelona chasing money and fame. It was obvious he was nowhere near ready to play at that level and changing teams and countries constantly certainly did not help his development.This is why its important to be humble and surround yourself with people who see and understand the big picture. His father was delusional, thinking that Alen was a superstar as a teenager and can play for a top team in a top league immediately without any real development in some smaller club in a smaller league. Obviously, that was not the case and now as a 27 year old when he should be in his prime he is not even good enough to play in Croatian league. His career is a perfect example of how overparenting and bad decision making can easily ruin big talent and massive potential
Had a big expectations for him when he joined Rijeka because they're known for saving careers of underperforming players. Still didn't even get into his best football years so he has some time to shine
Its a real shame, I remember when he came on the scene, this kid was gifted and obvious he was going to be an amazing player, hope he makes a late comeback, at least a few years
We, in Croatia, have one similar story about Ante Coric. He was great in Dinamo Zagreb, next wunderkind, and sign with AC Roma. And then thigs went downhill
Usually, when a player can't stay at a club for too long, there are some very good reasons the general public isn't privy to. Work ethic, coachability, off-the-field behaviour, mentality, attitude - those things matter, particularly when talking about a young player whose value stems from perceived potential. Tearing up a bad league when you're on the best team in that league isn't too significant.
The problem isn’t being compared to greats like Messi but believing the hype yourself until you’ve earned it at the highest level on a consistent basis. Signing for a big club for big money doesn’t mean you’ve made it, it just means you have the potential but the rest is up to you to fulfil that potential. A lot of it is not about how gifted you are but what you have between your ears, thats what sets players like Messi apart. He probably works harder than anyone and never rests on his laurels.
Damn, I will always remember him being my standout player in my Barca B career modes. I always felt like he was more Modrich then Messi, I hope he can turn it around and still have a decent career.
did a quick google search and found out he currently on Fortuna Sittard's book in eredivisie. hopefully he can pick up what he left off from Heerenveen and wish him a good fortune (pun fully intended)
He plays for Fortuna Sittard now, in the Eredivisie. Apparently he asked people if they could find him a club there, probably because he had good experiences at Heerenveen. And he does pretty well so far, to be fair. He had a great match against Ajax, a club that was about to implode. It's obvious he is very talented, but he seems reasonably fit as well now. It's way too early to call it a comeback or anything, but it looks alright for the time being.
young player better play in Holland, France or Germany. this is the best league for nurturing foreign young talents. going to the big clubs at young age only to get loan out over and over again, will only destroy confidence. it's ok if going to the academy at the big clubs for underage team, but after graduated they need to make a wise decision.
true, eredivisie and bundesliga are good for young promising player to train..they need to level up first there before ready for like serie A, liga, or EPL
Real Madrid and Barcelona should bear some responsibility for some of these young men’s career petering out. Halilovic is not the first teenager to get in that meat grinder and chewed up. They don’t seem to have a career path mapped out for these young men. Other issues may be parents’ greed.
I can't believe for once things actually seem to be going good for him, he is playing for Sittard in the Eredivisie and started the first two games of the season, got some really good minutes too.
Halilovic was good for Birmingham, but idk if it was money or a better chance of premier league football at the time but he decided to fuck us off and left for reading
When I see this Video and remember the Odegaard journey and his loan moves as well im really glad I was wrong about him, in some way. I thought/said both of these players would be failures/crumble under the pressure, given how a move from a league like croatia or norway to the biggest clubs not only in spanish but european/champions league football as a literal teenager is just wishful thinking. Seen how Odegaard bounced back after a few bad, then good loans and finally the move to Arsenal and the different way Halilovic has taken really makes you think how many of these stories must happen regularily but with no or barely any media coverage.
Bojan Krkic scored most goals in Barcas La masia and as soon as he got the next Messi, even though they were almost same generation, he played in the 5:0 thrashing of Jose Mourinho the Special One Real!
We have now at least few super talented youngsters like Martin Baturina or Brajković from Hajduk, i hope they will not end like Halilovic, even if with 27 he still can save his footbaly story at age 27
It sucks. Man I really feel like he would have been better suited to growing up with Dynamo. Barcelona could have waited. Or at least he could have continued to play for Dynamo on loan.
There is a podcast with Dinamo's lead scout, the podcast is in Croatian but maybe someone can get a way to translate it, google Romeo Jozak Alen Halilović. He tells you why he didn't succeed, he didn't have the mental strenght, courage and couldn't handle pressure at all.
I think his father was actually right not letting him go to spurs, he would have sat in the youth or reserve team when he could be playing first team football at zagreb. His father would also have made lots of money in that transfer but held off. Being in the barca youth team is a totally different thing, they play at a much higher competitive level with coaches who suited halilovic's style. Tthe sort of great players coming through at Barca at that time were exactly like him. The personal coach thing is nonsense. If barca wernt ok with it, it wouldn't have happened.
It's a curse to be called the next Messi. I remember we had 2 players in the Man City academy in the mid 2010s that we called the next Messi. Jose Angel Pozo and Brahim Diaz. Brahim is doing alright considering he's been playing for Milan and now Madrid, but I have no idea what happened to Pozo.
That story about him in Rijeka is hard to hear... Thanks again to Lovre for joining me!
Loved doing it! Thank you for the invite! ♥
@RabonaTV The Eternal Derby is between Red Star Belgrade and Partizan Belgrade
Heartbreaking stuff, how quickly his talent got snuffed reminds me of Dele Alli. But his being more a result of motivation and Halilovic's story being more about confidence. Great video, thank you!
@@davidjr4903I hrvatski derbi je vječni derbi 😂
I remember when him and odegaard were both wonderkids at real and barca and people would argue about who was better under their futhead cards - sad how he hasn't taken off
Tbh odegard was also flopping, but since joining vitesse on loan he has become world class
@@ziopeppecartagialla.1360Nah.
@@ziopeppecartagialla.1360 Wouldn´t exactly say he was flopping. He always had more variety to his game compared to Halilovic who just ran and ran before shooting. He was also 3 years younger than Halilovic. Everything started going uphill for Martin once he left for the Netherlands. But yeah, it was particularly after his season at Vitesse that he skyrocketed.
@@ammarharith5512 yea
Instead it was another norwigan and a frenchman that broke through
Bojan too, was called the Next Messi, Before Messi even reached his peak. 😬
He was called the new messi when messi was 20
You can make a top 10 flops, and half the list will consist of next messis. When will people learn that calling a teenager the next *insert legendary footballer here* will only set them up to fail
@@Dr.Yakub22 there are also the "new maradonas" "new ronaldos" or "new peles"
He had a pretty good career tbf though, better almost all professionals. Over 160 appearances at Barcelona winning 3 la Liga and 2 champions league.
1 appearance for Spain before switching to the Catalan national side.
@@Dr.Yakub22then they shouldnt be pros if they have a weak mentallity
A real sad football story. His father definitely contributed massively to how his career has turned. Overparenting at its peak.
i just cant feel sorry for the arrogant prick
People dubbed him as "The New Messi" and his father thought Alen was indeed "The New Messi" and should be treated like Messi. His father is his demise.
You can almost see the light in Alen's eyes die away with each transfer. Such a shame
His father did to his career what Adrien Rabiot's mother has been trying and failing to do.
Halilovic is probably watching this video and reading this comments so i want to say
Brother you are still young, if you stay fit you can have 10 more years of playing time. Wonders can happen in that amount of time. Forget your past, your ego, your background and start fresh. Also you don't have to invent the wheel, check other similar cases in world football that ended up as a success after many difficult years and just do the same, no need to overcomplicate things. Good luck
You think he will watch this?
He’s watching this ❤
If u do, remember, there is such thing is late blloomer, in life and sports. Planty of players that started performing good their last 5-6 years. U still have 10. Good luck !!!
I remember always going after him in Career Mode and getting in into the 90s
Man was a beast
Most surprising part of this video is that Kovacic and Halilovic played together on Dinamo... Feels like Kovacic has been around top clubs forever and that Halilovic was a wonderkid four-five years ago, both left Dinamo a year apart.
his career was mismanaged by his dad
I can't believe you touched this subject!!!please make a video about Zdravko Mamić!!!you will love this story!!!thank you for doing video about Croatian Messi!!!
HITC did a class one on that basket case.
Signed a contract with Fortuna Sittard in the Netherlands today. I really hope he succeeds in his second attempt in the Eredivisie
2 goals and 1 assist in a 3-3 draw the other day. he looked good.
I would love a video like this on Hachim Mastour, Fábio Pain or even Ricardo Quaresma. Keep it going!
Mastour, damn that’s a name that I haven’t heard in a long time
@@TachoSJremembered him on FIFA 16. I was a simp for Mastour on FIFA career mode back then.
@@TachoSJit’s been done do a video on Bebe
I’ve been watching Barcelona for 25 years and Quaresma was the most excited I have been for a transfer. Such a shame.
Or Emre Mor
this guy will always be fondly remembered by me, was part of treble winning everton side in fifa16, him as the creative 8 and the besic as the 6 and my midfield was solid. This video has brought back so many memories, thanks dude.
Haha interesting. You’re from the balkans I’m assuming?
Yeah I used him a lot a tSpurs on Fifa 1 6an d17 and that alternating him around with Critian Eriksen and Dele Alli was kind of fun. Played him jus tin behind Harr yKane and al tha tand he was pretty dangerous in tha tposition he wasn't as prolific as Eriksen or Alli but he was pretty useful.
He was a great football manager signing
No doubt Croatia would’ve definitely won something had this guy flourished in their golden generation
Croatia has better players and talent at this time. One of these days they will win a championship.
Nah the refs would fuck us over again.
Croatia will never reach the likes of tournament finals again. The likes of Modrić, Rakitić, Brozović et all is hard, damn near impossible, to replicate.
@@MyFootYourFace We're doing just fine. Gvardiol, Sucic and Majer are come along nicely. We'll be in a WC Final again, no doubt whatsoever.
They should have got yugoslavia back together just for the football team around 2016 time.
I remember he was signed around the time kovacic joined madrid...thought the both of them would be running the barca and madrid midfields right now like modric and rakitic did in their prime
Modric is still relatively young I see a bright future for the lad
I still believe he could've done something at Barcelona but felt mismanaged somehow. Hearing that his dad hired a personal coach for him when he was at one of the best clubs in the world for developing youngsters is really depressing but also understandable. Really wish he was given a better support structure instead of overbearing parents.
Its complete nonsense. Even relatively small professional football clubs can order you to use golf carts at the course and what meals you eat. The idea that Barcelona couldn't stop a private coach turning up is absurd, it would also breach allsorts of contracts and insurance agreements
@@Ukraineaissance2014 Barcelona definitely have some fault here, but it's clear they aren't entirely to blame. It is completely crazy though.
Marko Marin got the “German Messi” title too
He is the GOAT. No doubt about it.
Chelsea loan system ruined him
I mean he played in more countries than many players visit on abroad games at their whole career
His father was awful for his career but it wasnt just him. Halilovic from his time at Dinamo was an arrogant little prick who believed his hype. Nobody was sad to see him leave Dinamo. It was good riddance.
As a Milan fan, he didn't played bad, he just didn't played, never even touch the ball, it was like playing with one less player
Love these kind of vids. Giving to insights to the aspect of the game most ppl dont know/care about. Keep em coming
Different sport, but it's why i hate the Wembanyama Lebron comparisons. They don't even play the same position, have 5 or 6 inches difference, completely different playstyle, yet NBA media would have you believe he's the next coming of Lebron.
Journalists really need to stop comparing these young players to star football players.
All it does is add stress to these young players.
It gets them clicks so they definitely won’t, sadly.
This man now plays for my club, and he will smash it! FORZA Sittard!
Well overrating and overhyping young talent is a major issue in every single sport, Hockey is always looking for the next Crosby, Ovechkin, Lemiuex etc, basketball is always looking for the next MJ, LeBron, Shaq, Wilt, Curry etc. And in football the pursuit is often the next Pele, Maradona, Ronaldo(R9 Brazil), Messi and CR7. I think football has gotten away from it slightly as football is becoming more structure and coaching based, and it is now less about looking for the flashy and substance player that can carry a team to wins(Like what was more common when the likes of Robinho, Pato and Adriano played.)
Baseball has gotten far more realistic with their hyping comparisons but even there... you can see some players are particularly hyped up or perhaps actually do have the potential if all the scouts are accurate with a comparison. As in one player taken late in the first round is compared to Chase Utley, but depending on what point in Utley's career you'd either be getting an above average 2B or a player who is a MVP candidate.
Edit: As in that ceiling range is quite wide depending on if it's prime Utley or the 35 year old who wasn't being resigned by the Phillies due to cost reasons.
The lesson is going to a huge team when you’re still so young doesn’t always work out. At a smaller club where he would have been played and valued would have developed him physically and mentally
A sad story about a father living through his son's life
Thanks Adrian, you always come out with the most forgotten or usual topics that I wish to see about football on utube....I remember halilovic at my dear club AC Milan, I really hoped he would resurrect his teenage hype ....but my God!..what a disaster.
0:30 it's actually much lower. Assuming each La Liga team has at least 22 players, during their prime, they would be the only two top 5 level players in at least 440 guys, so it's less than 0.5%. Now do this for every major league. Then every pro, semi pro and amateur leagues. Now consider all the decades of football played before them.
It's actually extremely ridiculous to reach that top 10 all-time level, let alone top 5 (as a Brazilian, I'd put both in my top 3, alongside Pelé).
The odds of a kid actually reaching their level is so ridiculously low we shouldn't even consider. They not only had insane primes, but also longevity and no serious injuries.
Just look at Mbappé. As great as he already is, he's not on pace of reaching Messi and Cristiano. When Messi and Cristiano were 25, they were already considered top 2 players of their generation by far. Messi was 25 in 2012, when he had 3 Ballon d'Ors and 6 top Ballon d'Or nominations (07-12); and Cristiano was 25 in 2010, when he already had 1 Ballon d'Or and 3 nominations (07-09), and you can argue he would've been top 3 on 2010 if Spain had lost the WC.
Mbappé? He's yet to truly become the present. It's hard to imagine Mbappé getting there in the next ~7-10 years.
Haaland is a scoring machine, but he's far from being as complete as Messi or Cristiano. Haaland is more like a Van Nistelrooy than anything. He's great, but he's never going to be as complete as CR7, let alone Messi. He can't create as well as these two nor get his own chances. He's great and can retire as the greatest goal scorer in modern history, but he's far from these two. Lewa scored more than Ronaldo R9 and there's no doubt who's greater. Same with Haaland.
Now imagine doing that to kids who didn't even achieve anything. It's cruel. These "next Cristiano/Messi" labels are fun to talk about, but it puts ridiculous pressure on the players. Messi and Cristiano are SPECIAL. Too special.
injuries,
an overbearing father/agent,
suffocated confidence
This will just lead to a death in your game.
As a Barcelona fan, I loved the prospect of Alen Halilovic succeeding at Barcelona. He was a great player, even though we didn't see much of him. He was fantastic at Sporting Gijon, and I was shocked he wasn't called up for Croatia for Euro 2016. He was also pretty good for Las Palmas. In another universe, he'd be the star attacker for Croatia right now. Hope he can make a comeback, wishing him all the best!
Don’t watch to much superhero movie
I think it's time for a Dele Alli video as well, no? Shame how far he's fallen that not even Championship clubs would give him a run in. :/
That guy was truly generational
Poch had made a statement that he wanted to meet Dele to sit down & have some serious talking.
His attitude and ego sounded like the problem there
It's no mystery is it?
bloody hell, hello! look on my face day drinking when im here 3 minutes after posting. lovely. excellent video as always!
I’ve waited for this topic for a long time. I hoped so much for his success.
Birmingham city fan here, Halilovic was signed on a short term deal and was unfortunate with injuries he looked good when he played and when we tried to sign him the following season once his contract had expired he chose to join Reading instead
With a dad like that, it's no wonder he fell out of love with football
He may never have been the 'Next Messi', but one player I feel like had the potential to be a really solid signing for a good deal of European clubs is Ianis Hagi.
Unfortunately, his career was pretty much ruined by his father (yes, the famous Gica Hagi), which basically pushed him into teams and levels far above his level at the time. He tried to sell his son as if he's a superstar, when the kid just needed good developing at a decent team, and he likely would have really ended up as a superstar if he was given time.
He is still 24, but to be fair, I think all that potential has been wasted, by this point.
But I still feel he as lot of potential. Felt he wasn't used much by Gerrard
His father never played career mode.
If you are at a big club at 16 you don't ask for playing time you ask for a 2 year loan to a championship/mid table team.
I like him a lot but the scottish league will make the best technical number 10 types in the world look like flops.
Odegaard is probably one of those rare cases of a hyped up wonderkid whose actually gone on to have a successful career at the elite level
It was obv he was levels ahead
I mean yeah but it took him some time it wasn't really until last season we saw him really live up to his potential
I mean
He is still very young
He might even rise to the top
@@emilfrederiksen.1622He was brilliant at Vitesse and was the best player in La Liga before xmas for RS....
He was hyped up when he was 15 or 16. It's a media cruelty for a teenager.
But I'm glad Odegaard found out his way and make it at elite level.
I remember this name. Barcelona has this habit of hyping up youngsters like they are the next-(current best player in his position). Not only him, Sergi Samper was supposed to be the next Busquets, Riqui Puig the next Iniesta and so on. They did the same thing to Ansu Fati, Pedri and now Lamine Yamal. Somehow Pedri withstood that pressure but Ansu is still struggling.
Ansu Fati is just a waste of space his legs are as soft as my mattress
Always felt had he joined Tottenham he would've been a world beater. That team was calling out for a creative midfielder and he would've gotten the game time, his father truly ruined everything. I even remember Tottenham were supposed to bring in Tin Jedvaj as well to complement him in the squad.
Sheesh what a throwback to my highschool era FM addiction
It did look like he was doing well in Sporting Gijon. Remember the huge competition there was between him and Odegaard about who was the biggest wonder kid. Being an Odegaard fan I was so butthurt over Halilovics success in Sporting Gijon.
Lol i gotta apologize for you then ,i believed that odegaard will also be wasted but look at him now leading Arsenal to the champions league and challenging for the premier league
he now plays for my hometown club
Let's hope Endrick doesn't end up like halilovic.
He wont if he doesnt have a shit mental health
I hate when someone is called "the next...". True Champions are unique and have their own skills and play style. M'Bappé isn't the new Zidane. Haaland isn't the new Ronaldo.
Would have him back at Reading, would tear up league 1 !
This story reminds me of Freddy Edu footballing career. Very sad 😔
The odds of becoming like messi and cr7 are not 1% that would mean out of every 100 players you would get 1 messi or cr7. We will not see another messi or CR7 not even Mbappe is on their level
Croatia is such a talented nation💪🏻✌🏻
Fans and pundits hate football agents but this is the reason footballers have an agent... to guide negotiations and get the best career choices for their player. I think if he had an agent like Raiola or Mendes he may have had a different career
Ødegaard dad was also involved in his early days for his son (also ex football player). But you're right, leave negotiation to agents that knows their craft
Poor guy. He is now part of the mountain of wonderkid corpses in Football.
I remember him being the best young midfielder you could sign in career mode of Fifa 16
maybe an MLS move might rejuvenate his spirits if he really is in to basketball more than football. Especially with the way young prospects are treated from a very young age in American sports, maybe something in that experience resonates with him. he will be a nobody in the US for the most part, it'd be up to him to make a name for himself. With that being said it is also a very demanding league already not factoring the extreme travel and weather.
Didn't know this story of his father hiring personal coach. Always wonder why he failed miserably. Thanks for the video.
Great coverage as always 👊🏿
I would have liked to hear a bit more about the weird demands of his father. Asking for first team minutes doesnt sound that weird to me when he was a starter at Zagreb.
Big difference between first team mins at Zagreb and Barca
@@CourageOfMyConvictions of course. But if he would get no minutes at Barca why not stay a year at Zagreb, develop and then make a move the next year.
He says his father made these weird demands but some guarantees on play time doesnt seem that weird.
@@jelmervanriet790 the weird things are that his father wanted alen to be a starter at barca when they have MSN, xavi, iniesta, etc. he should've sent alen to dinamo zagreb on loan for 1-2 years after barca recruited him, to give him a chance to develop
A lot of players have fallen into this trap. I remember Neilton too at Santos being called the next Neymar when he was 19.
Just saw today a 29 yr old Neilton out of contract, its sad what these comparisons do to these players.
Sooo many players i can think of
Brazilian players peak at 24, get fat and start diving all over. The brazilian national teams approach of just playing a blob of 4 strikers with no tactical instructions makes it even worse for them.
great work on this story, sir. Ante Ćorić another Dynamo Zagreb product with a lot of hype, but he is not the same since he got sold to AS Roma.
He made the same mistake a lot of young players make (for sure influenced by his father and people around him) which is that he went to a big club too young and too soon, without having the opportunity to develop properly.Instead of staying in Dinamo and playing in Croatian league for at least few seasons, trying to establish himself as one of the best players there and going step by step being smart thinking longterm, he jumped on the first chance to cash in on his potential and went to Barcelona chasing money and fame. It was obvious he was nowhere near ready to play at that level and changing teams and countries constantly certainly did not help his development.This is why its important to be humble and surround yourself with people who see and understand the big picture. His father was delusional, thinking that Alen was a superstar as a teenager and can play for a top team in a top league immediately without any real development in some smaller club in a smaller league. Obviously, that was not the case and now as a 27 year old when he should be in his prime he is not even good enough to play in Croatian league. His career is a perfect example of how overparenting and bad decision making can easily ruin big talent and massive potential
Had a big expectations for him when he joined Rijeka because they're known for saving careers of underperforming players. Still didn't even get into his best football years so he has some time to shine
Its a real shame, I remember when he came on the scene, this kid was gifted and obvious he was going to be an amazing player, hope he makes a late comeback, at least a few years
I feel like a lot of fans just use FIFA career mode potentials to predict how a player will do in the future 😐
We, in Croatia, have one similar story about Ante Coric. He was great in Dinamo Zagreb, next wunderkind, and sign with AC Roma. And then thigs went downhill
He was partying with 30 yo escorts when he was 16, he had multiple coaches working just with him yet he never even tried in training
Usually, when a player can't stay at a club for too long, there are some very good reasons the general public isn't privy to. Work ethic, coachability, off-the-field behaviour, mentality, attitude - those things matter, particularly when talking about a young player whose value stems from perceived potential. Tearing up a bad league when you're on the best team in that league isn't too significant.
He has signed for Fortuna Sittard in the Eredivisie
The problem isn’t being compared to greats like Messi but believing the hype yourself until you’ve earned it at the highest level on a consistent basis. Signing for a big club for big money doesn’t mean you’ve made it, it just means you have the potential but the rest is up to you to fulfil that potential. A lot of it is not about how gifted you are but what you have between your ears, thats what sets players like Messi apart. He probably works harder than anyone and never rests on his laurels.
Damn, I will always remember him being my standout player in my Barca B career modes. I always felt like he was more Modrich then Messi, I hope he can turn it around and still have a decent career.
3:20 wtf is that pic man 😱
Damn I’ve not heard anything about him for a long time and now I see this. Really fell off. Sad to see.
did a quick google search and found out he currently on Fortuna Sittard's book in eredivisie. hopefully he can pick up what he left off from Heerenveen and wish him a good fortune (pun fully intended)
He plays for Fortuna Sittard now, in the Eredivisie. Apparently he asked people if they could find him a club there, probably because he had good experiences at Heerenveen. And he does pretty well so far, to be fair. He had a great match against Ajax, a club that was about to implode. It's obvious he is very talented, but he seems reasonably fit as well now. It's way too early to call it a comeback or anything, but it looks alright for the time being.
The move the hamburg made sense in theory. It was about getting him playing time in a good league. It made sense imo. Just didn't work out.
Please can you do something on Enzo zidane? I was more enthusiastic about him than M.Odegaard but something went really wrong.
young player better play in Holland, France or Germany. this is the best league for nurturing foreign young talents. going to the big clubs at young age only to get loan out over and over again, will only destroy confidence. it's ok if going to the academy at the big clubs for underage team, but after graduated they need to make a wise decision.
true, eredivisie and bundesliga are good for young promising player to train..they need to level up first there before ready for like serie A, liga, or EPL
He's at fortuna sittard now.
What's more sad is that clubs like Barca still can't learn from this because rn they're in the middle of hyping up Lamine Yamal as "the next Messi" 😐
You can see the sadness growing with every picture for a new team. Poor guy.
Real Madrid and Barcelona should bear some responsibility for some of these young men’s career petering out. Halilovic is not the first teenager to get in that meat grinder and chewed up. They don’t seem to have a career path mapped out for these young men. Other issues may be parents’ greed.
I can't believe for once things actually seem to be going good for him, he is playing for Sittard in the Eredivisie and started the first two games of the season, got some really good minutes too.
Hes still pretty young, he has time to become a solid player, especially if he drops deeper (which fits in with dutch tactics)
@@Ukraineaissance2014 he could be a solid box to box the no. 10 role is not that used in football anymore
Halilovic was good for Birmingham, but idk if it was money or a better chance of premier league football at the time but he decided to fuck us off and left for reading
must be the father again
When I see this Video and remember the Odegaard journey and his loan moves as well im really glad I was wrong about him, in some way. I thought/said both of these players would be failures/crumble under the pressure, given how a move from a league like croatia or norway to the biggest clubs not only in spanish but european/champions league football as a literal teenager is just wishful thinking. Seen how Odegaard bounced back after a few bad, then good loans and finally the move to Arsenal and the different way Halilovic has taken really makes you think how many of these stories must happen regularily but with no or barely any media coverage.
i wonder what would’ve happened if he came to spurs and developed under poch
thanks for this video. Really sad the father has derailed his career..Does he still have the ability?
Messi was and is still being compared to Maradona. That's more pressure but that guy simply became the GOAT without caring about comparisions.
They compare them because anything with messi and Ronaldo in the title will get views and clicks lol
Bojan Krkic scored most goals in Barcas
La masia and as soon as he got the next Messi, even though they were almost same generation, he played in the 5:0 thrashing of Jose Mourinho the Special One Real!
He plays at a decent level now
Great vid,
We have now at least few super talented youngsters like Martin Baturina or Brajković from Hajduk, i hope they will not end like Halilovic, even if with 27 he still can save his footbaly story at age 27
It sucks. Man I really feel like he would have been better suited to growing up with Dynamo. Barcelona could have waited. Or at least he could have continued to play for Dynamo on loan.
I remember this kid was the real deal. Its a shame things didn't quite turn out the way we expected.
I wonder if Halilović has met Carlos Vela.
Around the same time SL Benfica signed Freddy Adu the american prodegy that never was
Been a Milan fan since 08. I was completely shocked that he played for us. I don't remember him being at Milan at all lol. What a waste.
He was during the banter era no one want remember the banter era
There is a podcast with Dinamo's lead scout, the podcast is in Croatian but maybe someone can get a way to translate it, google Romeo Jozak Alen Halilović. He tells you why he didn't succeed, he didn't have the mental strenght, courage and couldn't handle pressure at all.
I think his father was actually right not letting him go to spurs, he would have sat in the youth or reserve team when he could be playing first team football at zagreb. His father would also have made lots of money in that transfer but held off. Being in the barca youth team is a totally different thing, they play at a much higher competitive level with coaches who suited halilovic's style. Tthe sort of great players coming through at Barca at that time were exactly like him.
The personal coach thing is nonsense. If barca wernt ok with it, it wouldn't have happened.
Serves him right for chosing Croatia over Bosnia. I remember the drama days and the disappointment.
It's a curse to be called the next Messi. I remember we had 2 players in the Man City academy in the mid 2010s that we called the next Messi. Jose Angel Pozo and Brahim Diaz. Brahim is doing alright considering he's been playing for Milan and now Madrid, but I have no idea what happened to Pozo.
This happens all the time, the kids buy into the hype and do not work hard to reach their potential.