Anyone watched Anelka and Henry when they were 18, 20 could testify Anelka definitely had a much bigger potential than Henry. I guess attitude does make a big different in life.
Yeah, but Henry was extremely gifted and he was really fast and bigger than Anelka. But the main difference was their intelligence. However, even Eto'o said Anelka was better. I would say that as a striker when it comes find holes on a defense or the game is static in the attacking third Anelka was better. Even though Anelka was smaller but was more agressive, had better headers than Henry and hold up play. Plus he was a natural finisher what we can't say from Henry. But Henry was a complete player. Played with the speed like Mbappe or R9 while he was a great playmaker and great dribbler at the same time with great stamina. But yeah Anelka as a pure striker was probably better. We will never know how Anelka would have turned out if he stayed at Arsenal with less injuries. For me it's like a comparison between Harry Kane and Balotelli. No one questions as a youngster who had bigger potential and who was the better striker but Kane become ambidextrous with time, his passing become phenomenal, he pressed constantly, got stronger and bigger. While Balotelli never really could show consistently his talent and didn't really developed his game. Even if he was faster, bigger and stronger than Kane and had a great header and shot from a young age. I believe Balotelli was a better striker than Kane for a long time but Harry brought creativity, leadership, consistency while he had a lot of quality that made him more than just a decent striker like Icardi or Balotelli.
Yeah Henry was gifted but pale in comparison to Anelka, which speaks volume of his talent. Anelka is absurdly calm in front of goal and 1v1, as Liverpool fans it’s always one of the “what if” for fans of my generation
I'm not sure I agree. Their ability at the time differed so much that Anelka appeared (and was) way ahead, but potential ability is mainly about their mentality. Henry had it, Anelka did not. If Anelka had Henry's professionalism and dedication to the sport he'd probably regarded amongst the greatest, amonst Messi, Ronaldo, Pele, Maradona. He still had an incredible career but it does seem his "sulky" attitude really held him back.
@@neil1982people need to stop thinking every wasted talent could have been Messi ronaldo pele or maradona no chance anelka would be on the same level as Messi or maradona even if he had discipline he was a natural scorer sure but as footballer overall in terms of dribbling and playmaking he wouldn’t sniff the greats
@@ThePablo951 and also getting robbed the ucl title by barca a few years later, you can look it up the clear hand of pique and ref got paid to help barca
Leaving Arsenal was his biggest mistake. Imagine Henry & Anelka with Bergkamp behind them together. He had a mini redemption arc with Chelsea, but he could’ve been a real household name.
@@randyschwaggins that’s actually false. Arsene came out and said he wanted to buy Henry to partner up with Anelka. Henry wasn’t the replacement, it was actually Suker.
@ayr.3702 I'd love to see that quote...along with a theory about the money was meant to come from to finance the Henry deal without the income from Anelka.
He will always be loved by us at Bolton, he was absolutely superb for us and we never saw that other 'le sulk' side of him. Just lots of goals, one of the most natural finishers I have ever seen.
Anelka at Arsenal was something I’d never seen before as a kid. We never had a true modern number nine in the league like that. A crazy young kid, tall, lightning quick, could dribble and so calm in the box. Then he went to Madrid and because it was the 90’s I barely heard anything in his time there. You basically vanished forever once you left the PL unless you played a PL team in Europe or there was an international tournament. Then my brother said he signed for PSG and I couldn’t believe it 🤯 that would have been like Ronaldo leaving Barcelona to go back to PSV. He was supposed to become the best player in the world. Then Liverpool grabbed him and I was chuffed because that’s my team. Then we made the biggest mistake ever and didn’t sign Anelka in favour of Diouf who not only didn’t have a fraction of Anelka’s ability but was unbelievably even more of an off the field pain than Anelka would have been 😂
Oh yes I remember Liverpool refusing to sign Anelka on a permanent deal and opting for the disaster that was Diouf. I was dumbfounded. A forward line of Anelka and Owen would have been terrifying. Houllier made a massive error.
@@MaximilianXXX I remember Senegal being the darlings of the 02 World Cup and we got very very carried away with it. We signed Diouf and Diao who I'm pretty sure no one in the Liverpool camp had probably even heard of before they beat France in that opening game 😂 I loved Houlier. But he had a knack for calling people "the next ___" and as a kid I totally bought it at first 😂When Diao signed I told all my buddies we have the next Vieira on Houlier's word. Then he said Baros was the next Maradona 🤦♂ and Cisse was the next Henry 🤦♂ or Cheyrou the next Zidane 🤦♂ It started getting embarrassing when they all flopped. 🤣But he did have the actual Anelka and threw him away for Diouf 🙃
Prime Anelka at Chelsea was amazing, at the time we were spoilt for players but you could tell he was top class! And this was a dressing room with players like Ballack, Lampard etc.
Enjoyed his selflessness @ Chelsea, any striker's dream partner. Just went about creating & scoring without any fuss, he had matured by then, but was too late to turn back the hands of time. Only if he had worked on his Ego, he'd have been one of the best ever Modern Strikers to play the game. I dare say he was as good as R9
I'm a Spurs fan so can say it with no bias...his period at Arsenal he was electric, you sensed you was watching a legend in the making, some of the stuff he was doing on the pitch. Leaving Arsenal stopped all that.
That PSG team was special though. Anelka, Ronaldinho, Okocha, Dalmat, Arteta, Leal, Robert. Just pure technical ability on display. Lorent Robert and Jay Jay Okocha were two of my favourite players to watch in the PL in the 2000’s and Ronaldinho is just my favourite player to watch all time. Honestly I prefer that team to the one they have right now 😂
There are so many similarities to Italy's Mario Balotelli. He was such an incredibly talented player. As an Italian who lives in Germany I'll never forget the two fantastic goals he scored in the semifinals of 2012. He had just won the Premier League with Manchester City. He was only 21 years old and on his way to becoming one of the greatest strikers Italy has ever had. But it went differently. On the one hand, the media always cracked down on him, he faced a lot of racism, but mostly because of his impulsive and immature character and extravagant lifestyle, he never managed to fulfill his extraordinary potential.
I don't agree that Anelka was better than Henry. However, an Henry+Anelka strike force would have been scary but so would an Henry+Trezeguet. Henry became a legend and proved once and for all that he is better than Anelka. The sheer numbers, trophies, performances and finals says it all. Not to mention a statue. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter who WAS talented. It is what u do with it that matters the most. Henry made the best of it and he achieved immensely great things. Anelka, although being touted as a future great, never lived up to it. As such, I will only say that Henry was the greatest between him and Anelka. Achievements tell whether the player was great. Not could have, would have or should have. JMO.
Better and greater are two different things though. Better is the one with the better abilities, greater is the one with the bigger impact and more achievements.
So by using your logic Isco > Gerrard since Isco has a better trophy cabinet? Being better can't be determined by the amount of gold you've amassed throughout your career as Football is a team sport, the better team wins. A player maybe better than the other technically speaking but if the first player isn't in a team that compliments the player's skillset and strengths, it'll be a failed project, as simple as that. Anelka might've been the better one initially but a string of poor choices and lack of team spirit made him spiral down the pit of failure
Ur statment is full of flaws since there is bunch of shit players with alot of achievements than alot of great players which dont have them just cuz they were part of some team. Starting from some shity attacker who has champions league compared to Ibrahimovic for example.
In a different universe, Anelka makes the WC98 french team, becomes a beloved player in France, learns that fans can be a good thing,stays at Arsenal, teams up with Henry both for Arsenal and National Team. Wins every tournament between 1998 and 2006 with Zidane. Becomes the face of football, takes Ben Arfa, Nasri and Benzema under his wings and retires as the 3 start a new golden age for french football
Just a clarification, at 16:16 , the french "quenelle" wasn't an antisemitic gesture originally, despite what some might say... And here Anelka didn't do it in an antisemitic context either...
He never ruined his career. He did better than almost anyone to play the game, financially. Moving clubs is very lucrative for a player, and he did it a lot! If you aren't gonna be the GOAT, and he wasn't, you may as well get rich.
He was a great player but unfortunately his brothers who were his advisors did not do enough for him in regards to seeking out his best interest. As an Arsenal fan I am annoyed that he got pushed out the team for fan favourite Ian Wright. I wish Wenger could have incorporated Anelka alongside Side Wright and Bergkamp!!.
Not sure about getting rich... I think I've heard "struggled financially" somewhere in the video 😅 And after all those "lucrative" moves, his net worth as of now is 22.5 million pounds. Which is kind of low for a "legendary" footballer... But then again, he is worth 22.4 million more than me 🤣
@@omulamfibie yeah wages were high back then but not compared to how it was now Kai havertz now is earning more than what messi and kaka were earning combined in 2010
Oh!!!Footballing legend Nicolas Anelka sir was an extremely so fantastic player in his footballing career but he must have have stopped talking too much,mainly about some of his former teams' management and politics which ultimately ruined the rest of his career,good friends!!!LONG LIVE,NICOLAS ANELKA SIR!!!🏋♂️
This channel is the one of the only channels I get notified consistently every time you upload. So I am always early. The one video a week format seems to be working well. I always thought Anelka was a good player but I didn’t know why he didn’t fulfill his potential. From asking Chelsea fans he was a big complainer. My friend calls him “The Incredible Sulk” 😂
Thank you so much for this video! I missed most of Anelka's career after he left Arsenal, which I thought he shouldn't have done...but these videos show that all the issues notwithstanding, he still didn't do too badly in his post-Arsenal career. A very great talent indeed!
I loved him on the PS2's Pess games (i dont like fifa) , it was amazing having anelka and henry(arsenal) and drogba(chelsea) at atack, such amazing atack duos.
I'm a Fenerbahce fan. Let me explain that "He suddenly looked different" Fenerbahce part. We were so excited, and everyone acted like we bought Messi, he liked it, and impossible happened. He took Fenerbahce to QF's in CL (which is still the best run in club history) and played amazing against Chelsea in QF's (which made Chelsea buy him later probably). Okocha was also a Fenerbahce legend, so probably some connections worked there, nothing bad happened. So probably out of all these clubs, FB was the best place for him.
Uhm, Anelka wasn't part of the UCL QF run. You are waaay off. It was a year after the centenary season, 2007-2008 with Zico in charge. It was actually Deivid de Souza who destroyed Chelsea and Inter alike. Anelka left the club 2 years before that. While I truly count myself lucky that I was able to watch Anelka during his time in Fenerbahçe (I was a teenager with a lot of time and free season ticket lol), and he was truly special, you are talking about entirely different seasons and players.
Wow I just like this guy up to this day he was one of the greatest finishers ,one of the greatest dribblers, n also one of the best assisters, as a chelsea fan I will always value him of I guess more people should as well coz he's one of the very few to ever play for all of the greatest top 5 epl teams, not a lot of people have played for arsenal, then Liverpool, then Man City, then Chelsea 🎉🎉he's a legend we should see in the history books 📚
One of my favourite footballers ever because he spoke out for what is right. Met him twice when he was doing charity work door to door in the middle East.
I remember seeing him for the 1st time at Arsenal, boy was he good, 17 year old with speed, him and Bergkamp where marvel to watch, pity he left too early to Madrid and was never the same again
Ask any of his teammates and they will tell u he wasnt problematic or a diva, even if he had one car for every day of the week, when your as good as Anelka, it doesn't matter, as long as he produces the goods, no one really paid attention to his "antics" (other players were doing far worse and nobody said much) just because he wasn't better than Hénry and going head to head with R9 doesn’t mean his career was a total waste, after all, he has an unbelievable Premier League legacy for someone who is considered a "wasted talent"
12:45 --> "He was Fenerbahce's main playmaker" He was a bright impact player with poor consistency at Fener. He was not the main playmaker. Main playmaker was Alex de Souza who missed out on playing for Brazil national team regularly then because Brazil had Ronaldinho, Kaka, and Juninho at their peaks. He was even benched for a while in favor of the Brazilian fox in the box/pivot striker Marcio Nobre (budget Inzaghi) who was Alex's buddy from Cruzeiro that served as a good wall for Alex to play off when Fener played 4-3-2-1 with no out and out wingers that season. He was good when he decided to put in the work, especially in some big games but he often struggled with the highly physical "park the bus" defence smaller teams applied against Fener when games were 0-0... He had nowhere near the influence or impact of Alex De Souza, Tuncay Sanli, and Stephen Appiah in that team...
His talent has never been in doubt but all top coaches understand how important locker room chemistry is and Anelka earned his nickname "le sulk". If he had stayed at Arsenal kept his head down and just listened to Wenger he'd prob have one of the greatest careers in football.
I realy liked this item. Allways been a fan of Anelka... I loved the item you did about Crouch too! Would like to see you do an item about Faustino Aspirilla! Like your work!
I wouldn’t say that Anelka was better than Henry because although Anelka was a striker from the start, Henry was a winger and didn’t convert til he went to Arsenal.
@@mo2k638 Anelka seems to be more effective as a striker, but this is just my thought about him as I saw his playing style was different compared to Henry, who is more of a poacher than a target man.
@@SK-kh2rs Henry was a better dribbler more skilled technically better first touch more finesse and flair to his game ability wise it wasn’t close, yeah anelka was an amazing wonder kid but let’s not get carried away and what’s stats sugggest anelka was better scorer/finisher than Henry, what heights scoring wise did anelka reach than Henry didn’t reach and surpass ?
So long as Anelka was true to himself, other people's opinions don't matter. Ronaldinho could have won more, but he chose to party and live life on his own terms. Not everyone wants to spend their 20s living by other's rules. Anelka was a magnificent talent, who did it his way. Props to him and other mavericks.
And to think Wenger went for Henry to team him up with anelka ,only for him to leave to Madrid. Imagine how it would of been like with the two played in arsenal up front for a couple yrs
I was a kid when he was at Arsenal and he was definitely a household name at the time. I remember he went to Madrid but I didn't follow his story from there until he came back to England and even then not very closely until Chelsea. When he was at Chelsea my brain finally connected the dots and I realised "Ohhh. This is the same Anelka from Arsenal... WTF.... where has he been for the last decade?"
Anelka was underrated for sure but I think Henry is underrated on the GOAT debate. I mean look what they do to Mbappe, Henry was a more perfect player than him and isnt recognized as much as him. Anelka did help Chelsea a lot though...
Its not even close. The one who ruined his insane potential is adriano. he couldve been r9 2.0 for real. He even had one season scoring 40 goals in Italy. back then seria a was what prem is now.
@@DD-rk6kn Adriano is the one who will remain the biggest what if in football and youre damn right... Seria A was astonishing but from then we have just seen the downfall of it. Berlusconi predicted it years ago
because italy was stupid. The prem did a lot of friendlies and promos in asia china, japan and india to promote the premier league in the 90s and 2000s. Thats why they get those super tv deals now. China and asia watch the premier League the most.@@GoalRevolution
Nicolas Anelka was one of the first names I knew when I started to support Fenerbahçe. He put a decent performance, especially great performances in derbies such as scoring a late winner against Beşiktaş (after they scoring a late equalizer) and also scoring against Galatasaray. He won one league title, wished he won one more. Also, I wouldn't blame him for what happened in 2010 World Cup. France was no longer the same team that won 98 World Cup and Euro 2000. Instead, it became a team that played WC final only because Zidane returned, then got eliminated last in Euro 2008 and robbed Ireland in 2010 WC Play-Offs. What happened in the team was the result of Domenech rule, not the reason. By the way, he is still in Turkey, becoming CEO of Ümraniyespor (from second-tier league).
Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho are by far my favorite living football legends, they are the reason I fell in love with football in the first place, they are part of my childhood... Henry should have won at least one or two ballon d'or in the 2003 and 2004 seasons, he was so unique and underrated back then, he was almost unstoppable and genuinely a very good all-rounder authentic player. ☯️✌️
At Bolton and Chelsea, he was absolutely a beast... Bolton in those were some team to be honest, more like today's Spurs, they could challenge just about any team in the league, they beat the best and sometimes lose against the worse😂.. Okocha was more deadlier with his long throws than his foot, Anelka was scoring for fun
The video was dub thanks for you content But can you/have you make a video about Jay-Jay Okocha? i want to know what happened to that incredible Nigerian dribbler who played in India and for Stoke... I think his story would be really interresting
I remember his loan to Liverpool. LFC scoring 4, 5 goals for fun with Anelka, Hesky & Owen. LFC then turned down permanent deal and moved for the disaster Diouf.
Houllier didn't want Anelka cos Anelka would occasionally ask him questions about why he was wasting talented attackers by playing anti-football (less bluntly than that obvs). The behaviour of his brothers / reps was just an excuse.
A player with huge potential. After Ronaldo's injury, fans were desperately looking for a heir to the ''Fenomeno'' and that's when Anelka entered the game, fighting with Michael owen for the title of the most promising player
He will always be known as Le Sulk to me (2 brothers with no talent acting as agents always looking for a payday with another transfer was the problem)
I started supporting Arsenal because of this guy. To every team he went afterwards I watched their games only because of him. In his prime he was better than Henry, but no one is going to believe me. He was faster, had better ball control, better shot from distance and was extremely dangerous 1 on 1 with a keeper.
PFA Young Player Award at age 20, playing for Fenerbahçe at age 26, Premier League Golden Boot at age 30 is one of the most interesting trajectory I've seen
Anelka, Adebayor, Bendtner all had one thing in common, attitude problems which stopped them from ultimately realizing their true potentials, especially Nicolas Anelka...all that is left is what should have been ...?
16:18 This is not an antisemitic gesture. People keep repeating this but it's wrong. In France everybody knows what it means even though media keeps trying to convince its antisemitic.
I'm born in the same area and around the same year than Anelka, and sadly everything bad he did, it was in the "french surburbs" way, in every manner. What makes me angry is that he always did things with his own rules, without respecting the others and the collectivity, yet he invariably posed himself has an eternal victim. He always had problems to play for France only because it was France but never to this day fathomed why he missed the 98 WC from a nail.
I am French and Anelka is one of the greatest waste of footballing talent i have ever seen. With the proper mindset he could have been one of the greatest of his generation. His brothers were a constantly negative influence who kept pushing for a transfer and more money.
I told my son this; Anelka is the best talent I’ve ever seen at Arsenal under 20 only R9 was better at 18. He was by far superior to Henry at the same age. If he had stayed at Arsenal, who knows how good he could have become… But we do know that in the end, Henry did surpass him.
@@eddiss2199 yep. He was faster than Henry, had better ball control, better shot from distance, better 1 on 1. Watch his old clips from Arsenal. Even Henry admits that he was better than him.
@@Legenda20SLO maybe in your dreams that analka was better than henry, i never saw anelka leave the midfield, dribble past the team opposite and score, anelka didn't even take free kicks, anelka never carried a team on his back, you talk about technique but henry was more efficient than anelka by far
@@eddiss2199 Anelka was the fastest player in premiership, or maybe had the same speed as Owen. He outsprinted every defender like he wasn't even there.
Utd fan here. Forget how many clubs he played for. I remember when he burst on the scene at Arsenal. In hindsight, feels a 'sliding doors' moment at that point. Under Wenger, and potentially partnering Henry up front, that would have been very tasty to behold- even as rival supporter. Sometimes luck or bad decisions are all that separates 'good' from 'great' players. Shame really. Was clearly a quality striker on his day...
Anyone watched Anelka and Henry when they were 18, 20 could testify Anelka definitely had a much bigger potential than Henry. I guess attitude does make a big different in life.
Yeah, but Henry was extremely gifted and he was really fast and bigger than Anelka. But the main difference was their intelligence. However, even Eto'o said Anelka was better. I would say that as a striker when it comes find holes on a defense or the game is static in the attacking third Anelka was better. Even though Anelka was smaller but was more agressive, had better headers than Henry and hold up play. Plus he was a natural finisher what we can't say from Henry. But Henry was a complete player. Played with the speed like Mbappe or R9 while he was a great playmaker and great dribbler at the same time with great stamina. But yeah Anelka as a pure striker was probably better. We will never know how Anelka would have turned out if he stayed at Arsenal with less injuries. For me it's like a comparison between Harry Kane and Balotelli. No one questions as a youngster who had bigger potential and who was the better striker but Kane become ambidextrous with time, his passing become phenomenal, he pressed constantly, got stronger and bigger. While Balotelli never really could show consistently his talent and didn't really developed his game. Even if he was faster, bigger and stronger than Kane and had a great header and shot from a young age.
I believe Balotelli was a better striker than Kane for a long time but Harry brought creativity, leadership, consistency while he had a lot of quality that made him more than just a decent striker like Icardi or Balotelli.
Yeah Henry was gifted but pale in comparison to Anelka, which speaks volume of his talent. Anelka is absurdly calm in front of goal and 1v1, as Liverpool fans it’s always one of the “what if” for fans of my generation
I'm not sure I agree. Their ability at the time differed so much that Anelka appeared (and was) way ahead, but potential ability is mainly about their mentality. Henry had it, Anelka did not. If Anelka had Henry's professionalism and dedication to the sport he'd probably regarded amongst the greatest, amonst Messi, Ronaldo, Pele, Maradona. He still had an incredible career but it does seem his "sulky" attitude really held him back.
@@neil1982people need to stop thinking every wasted talent could have been Messi ronaldo pele or maradona no chance anelka would be on the same level as Messi or maradona even if he had discipline he was a natural scorer sure but as footballer overall in terms of dribbling and playmaking he wouldn’t sniff the greats
Like Rooney and Ronaldo then
He was great at Chelsea, very professional
Came and delivered, won the prem, golden boot
Agree, model professional, he was incredible for us…
Besides missing that penalty in the ucl final against manu :(
We should have won that game in regular time, didn't Drogba got the red? we redeemed it in 2012 anyway. He didn't went Aol after
@@HouseRMD Aol lol
@@ThePablo951 and also getting robbed the ucl title by barca a few years later, you can look it up the clear hand of pique and ref got paid to help barca
He was the Marquee Signing of Mumbai City FC in the inaugural season of the Indian Super League back in 2014,
the guy has been everywhere....
and even then his touches were superb, remember him playing and giving an assist like it was nothing.
He scored in 5-0 win vs Pune
Mickey Mouse could've scored in the Indian Super League.
@@shanethemuzz5060thats pretty funny ngl
@@viktorjaklbsen1577Thanks.✌️
Leaving Arsenal was his biggest mistake. Imagine Henry & Anelka with Bergkamp behind them together. He had a mini redemption arc with Chelsea, but he could’ve been a real household name.
If Anelka hadn't left Arsenal, Wenger wouldn't have signed Henry
@@randyschwaggins that’s actually false. Arsene came out and said he wanted to buy Henry to partner up with Anelka. Henry wasn’t the replacement, it was actually Suker.
@ayr.3702 I'd love to see that quote...along with a theory about the money was meant to come from to finance the Henry deal without the income from Anelka.
thats why the NYPD arrests so many black dudes. they turn out like him...
@@randyschwagginsWenger did actually say that. It was his dream to partner Henry with Anelka
The fact that his nickname was ‘The Incredible Sulk’ says everything
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
he said everything
💀 💀
Le Sulk is how I remember him
😂😂😂
He will always be loved by us at Bolton, he was absolutely superb for us and we never saw that other 'le sulk' side of him. Just lots of goals, one of the most natural finishers I have ever seen.
Anelka at Arsenal was something I’d never seen before as a kid. We never had a true modern number nine in the league like that. A crazy young kid, tall, lightning quick, could dribble and so calm in the box. Then he went to Madrid and because it was the 90’s I barely heard anything in his time there. You basically vanished forever once you left the PL unless you played a PL team in Europe or there was an international tournament. Then my brother said he signed for PSG and I couldn’t believe it 🤯 that would have been like Ronaldo leaving Barcelona to go back to PSV. He was supposed to become the best player in the world. Then Liverpool grabbed him and I was chuffed because that’s my team. Then we made the biggest mistake ever and didn’t sign Anelka in favour of Diouf who not only didn’t have a fraction of Anelka’s ability but was unbelievably even more of an off the field pain than Anelka would have been 😂
Yeah Diouf was worse than Anelka! Once he got fat, his career was over
Oh yes I remember Liverpool refusing to sign Anelka on a permanent deal and opting for the disaster that was Diouf. I was dumbfounded. A forward line of Anelka and Owen would have been terrifying. Houllier made a massive error.
@@MaximilianXXX I remember Senegal being the darlings of the 02 World Cup and we got very very carried away with it. We signed Diouf and Diao who I'm pretty sure no one in the Liverpool camp had probably even heard of before they beat France in that opening game 😂 I loved Houlier. But he had a knack for calling people "the next ___" and as a kid I totally bought it at first 😂When Diao signed I told all my buddies we have the next Vieira on Houlier's word. Then he said Baros was the next Maradona 🤦♂ and Cisse was the next Henry 🤦♂ or Cheyrou the next Zidane 🤦♂ It started getting embarrassing when they all flopped. 🤣But he did have the actual Anelka and threw him away for Diouf 🙃
Yes all i remember agent want 12mil pound to sign anelka into contract including 4years wage...stupid lfc not take him instead keep diouf
Im 49 end of August and not signing Anelka is my only transfer gripe in my support of LFC
Jakub Błaszczykowski would be a top choice for a video. He just retired recently. His story is so sad yet the definition of bouncing back.
Yup, and his beef with Lewandowski in National team because of political difference makes his story is kinda unique and weird at same time.
i second that!
as a Dortmund fan, I need this video to be done right now.
Who
Lmao. I used to play fifa with this guy, he always chose Dortmund and had Blaze as secret attacker from behind, he torched me on multiple occasions.
Prime Anelka at Chelsea was amazing, at the time we were spoilt for players but you could tell he was top class! And this was a dressing room with players like Ballack, Lampard etc.
John Terry wasn’t having it 😂
Enjoyed his selflessness @ Chelsea, any striker's dream partner. Just went about creating & scoring without any fuss, he had matured by then, but was too late to turn back the hands of time.
Only if he had worked on his Ego, he'd have been one of the best ever Modern Strikers to play the game. I dare say he was as good as R9
not his prime
I'm a Spurs fan so can say it with no bias...his period at Arsenal he was electric, you sensed you was watching a legend in the making, some of the stuff he was doing on the pitch.
Leaving Arsenal stopped all that.
Don't mind the Arsenal fans they want to portray his illustrious career is being started and ended with them only.
As a Chelsea fan during my boyhood days. Nicolas Anelka is an absolute legend. Period.
He was already on his way out then
@@carljcmjk8609
How do you know when I was at school?
@@carljcmjk8609he was a legend
@@jideofor.brightbright4488 aha playing in psg?
That PSG team was special though. Anelka, Ronaldinho, Okocha, Dalmat, Arteta, Leal, Robert. Just pure technical ability on display. Lorent Robert and Jay Jay Okocha were two of my favourite players to watch in the PL in the 2000’s and Ronaldinho is just my favourite player to watch all time. Honestly I prefer that team to the one they have right now 😂
yeah that's a hell of a team. Laurent Robert's left foot was something special
Yesterday was neymar ,messi and mbakpe.respect to PSG.
@@evilotis01pop
I remember seeing Anelka in 97. He was truly a breakout star. Very apparent even on that team
There are so many similarities to Italy's Mario Balotelli. He was such an incredibly talented player. As an Italian who lives in Germany I'll never forget the two fantastic goals he scored in the semifinals of 2012. He had just won the Premier League with Manchester City.
He was only 21 years old and on his way to becoming one of the greatest strikers Italy has ever had.
But it went differently.
On the one hand, the media always cracked down on him, he faced a lot of racism, but mostly because of his impulsive and immature character and extravagant lifestyle, he never managed to fulfill his extraordinary potential.
When he score he is italian,when he miss he is black African go back to Africa...
I hope you understood .
As with Ben Arfa, Anelka's problem was not with the legs, but with the brain, which is a footballer's most important "muscle".
How come he was that good as a striker.
he still went on to win the prem, cl and a goldern boot.
Just like Balotelli
What about racims??
"It's everyone's fault but mine". Talent without maturity and self awareness = Anelka, Ballotelli, Ravel Morrison and a bunch of others.
I don't agree that Anelka was better than Henry. However, an Henry+Anelka strike force would have been scary but so would an Henry+Trezeguet. Henry became a legend and proved once and for all that he is better than Anelka. The sheer numbers, trophies, performances and finals says it all. Not to mention a statue. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter who WAS talented. It is what u do with it that matters the most. Henry made the best of it and he achieved immensely great things. Anelka, although being touted as a future great, never lived up to it. As such, I will only say that Henry was the greatest between him and Anelka. Achievements tell whether the player was great. Not could have, would have or should have. JMO.
Better and greater are two different things though. Better is the one with the better abilities, greater is the one with the bigger impact and more achievements.
So by using your logic Isco > Gerrard since Isco has a better trophy cabinet? Being better can't be determined by the amount of gold you've amassed throughout your career as Football is a team sport, the better team wins. A player maybe better than the other technically speaking but if the first player isn't in a team that compliments the player's skillset and strengths, it'll be a failed project, as simple as that. Anelka might've been the better one initially but a string of poor choices and lack of team spirit made him spiral down the pit of failure
Ur statment is full of flaws since there is bunch of shit players with alot of achievements than alot of great players which dont have them just cuz they were part of some team. Starting from some shity attacker who has champions league compared to Ibrahimovic for example.
He is better than henry technical
@@tzoleto I will agree with you on your statement.
In a different universe, Anelka makes the WC98 french team, becomes a beloved player in France, learns that fans can be a good thing,stays at Arsenal, teams up with Henry both for Arsenal and National Team. Wins every tournament between 1998 and 2006 with Zidane. Becomes the face of football, takes Ben Arfa, Nasri and Benzema under his wings and retires as the 3 start a new golden age for french football
Just a clarification, at 16:16 , the french "quenelle" wasn't an antisemitic gesture originally, despite what some might say... And here Anelka didn't do it in an antisemitic context either...
He never ruined his career. He did better than almost anyone to play the game, financially. Moving clubs is very lucrative for a player, and he did it a lot! If you aren't gonna be the GOAT, and he wasn't, you may as well get rich.
Spoken like a true loser.
The guy is a footballing legend despite the controversies.
He was a great player but unfortunately his brothers who were his advisors did not do enough for him in regards to seeking out his best interest.
As an Arsenal fan I am annoyed that he got pushed out the team for fan favourite Ian Wright. I wish Wenger could have incorporated Anelka alongside Side Wright and Bergkamp!!.
thats what im saying he didnt ruin anything he played for literally everyone legendary player
Not sure about getting rich... I think I've heard "struggled financially" somewhere in the video 😅 And after all those "lucrative" moves, his net worth as of now is 22.5 million pounds. Which is kind of low for a "legendary" footballer... But then again, he is worth 22.4 million more than me 🤣
@@omulamfibie yeah wages were high back then but not compared to how it was now Kai havertz now is earning more than what messi and kaka were earning combined in 2010
I was a kid when I saw this guy play for Chelsea him and Drogba were so good to watch
Nicolas Anelka was French that took the French arrogance to a whole new level lol.
😂😂😂😂 rt
Oh!!!Footballing legend Nicolas Anelka sir was an extremely so fantastic player in his footballing career but he must have have stopped talking too much,mainly about some of his former teams' management and politics which ultimately ruined the rest of his career,good friends!!!LONG LIVE,NICOLAS ANELKA SIR!!!🏋♂️
So many of us are extremely fixated on natural abilities that we don't see the work that goes behind it. Potential is nothing without dedication.
love the videos, really want to see one on rudi voller
As a Bolton fan, he isn’t forgotten by me.
This channel is the one of the only channels I get notified consistently every time you upload. So I am always early. The one video a week format seems to be working well. I always thought Anelka was a good player but I didn’t know why he didn’t fulfill his potential. From asking Chelsea fans he was a big complainer. My friend calls him “The Incredible Sulk” 😂
Love anelka.
He missed the penalty that gave utd the chsmpion league so he'll always have a special place in my heart.
Legend
Thank you so much for this video! I missed most of Anelka's career after he left Arsenal, which I thought he shouldn't have done...but these videos show that all the issues notwithstanding, he still didn't do too badly in his post-Arsenal career. A very great talent indeed!
science fiction 🤣
Anelka was an insane player. Always rmb his goal from the sideline for bolton. insane angle
I loved him on the PS2's Pess games (i dont like fifa) , it was amazing having anelka and henry(arsenal) and drogba(chelsea) at atack, such amazing atack duos.
I'm a Fenerbahce fan. Let me explain that "He suddenly looked different" Fenerbahce part.
We were so excited, and everyone acted like we bought Messi, he liked it, and impossible happened. He took Fenerbahce to QF's in CL (which is still the best run in club history) and played amazing against Chelsea in QF's (which made Chelsea buy him later probably).
Okocha was also a Fenerbahce legend, so probably some connections worked there, nothing bad happened.
So probably out of all these clubs, FB was the best place for him.
Uhm, Anelka wasn't part of the UCL QF run. You are waaay off. It was a year after the centenary season, 2007-2008 with Zico in charge. It was actually Deivid de Souza who destroyed Chelsea and Inter alike. Anelka left the club 2 years before that.
While I truly count myself lucky that I was able to watch Anelka during his time in Fenerbahçe (I was a teenager with a lot of time and free season ticket lol), and he was truly special, you are talking about entirely different seasons and players.
@@DogukanSeptemDavid de souza was a player! Was appiah there too no?
Alex dezousa
A real football mercenary indeed! I hope he finds peace, happiness and comfort.
First and I already knows it’s gonna be a banger video
Wow I just like this guy up to this day he was one of the greatest finishers ,one of the greatest dribblers, n also one of the best assisters, as a chelsea fan I will always value him of I guess more people should as well coz he's one of the very few to ever play for all of the greatest top 5 epl teams, not a lot of people have played for arsenal, then Liverpool, then Man City, then Chelsea 🎉🎉he's a legend we should see in the history books 📚
Truly a top top top world class striker. Without a doubt.
One of my favourite footballers ever because he spoke out for what is right. Met him twice when he was doing charity work door to door in the middle East.
Claim your “here within an hour” ticket right here🏆
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Anelka was another Balotelli. Infinite potential, overinflated ego and modest results
I remember seeing him for the 1st time at Arsenal, boy was he good, 17 year old with speed, him and Bergkamp where marvel to watch, pity he left too early to Madrid and was never the same again
Ask any of his teammates and they will tell u he wasnt problematic or a diva, even if he had one car for every day of the week, when your as good as Anelka, it doesn't matter, as long as he produces the goods, no one really paid attention to his "antics" (other players were doing far worse and nobody said much) just because he wasn't better than Hénry and going head to head with R9 doesn’t mean his career was a total waste, after all, he has an unbelievable Premier League legacy for someone who is considered a "wasted talent"
if he'd been born an only child he would've been the GOAT
5:23 Materazzi when plays for Everton.
12:45 --> "He was Fenerbahce's main playmaker"
He was a bright impact player with poor consistency at Fener. He was not the main playmaker. Main playmaker was Alex de Souza who missed out on playing for Brazil national team regularly then because Brazil had Ronaldinho, Kaka, and Juninho at their peaks. He was even benched for a while in favor of the Brazilian fox in the box/pivot striker Marcio Nobre (budget Inzaghi) who was Alex's buddy from Cruzeiro that served as a good wall for Alex to play off when Fener played 4-3-2-1 with no out and out wingers that season.
He was good when he decided to put in the work, especially in some big games but he often struggled with the highly physical "park the bus" defence smaller teams applied against Fener when games were 0-0...
He had nowhere near the influence or impact of Alex De Souza, Tuncay Sanli, and Stephen Appiah in that team...
Thanks to put some context bro. Well appreciated.
Huge respect for NOT SHUT HIS MOUTH
His talent has never been in doubt but all top coaches understand how important locker room chemistry is and Anelka earned his nickname "le sulk".
If he had stayed at Arsenal kept his head down and just listened to Wenger he'd prob have one of the greatest careers in football.
bt he wld not achieve nofink
I realy liked this item. Allways been a fan of Anelka... I loved the item you did about Crouch too! Would like to see you do an item about Faustino Aspirilla! Like your work!
Who said he was forgotten?
He is a legend.
ngl i completely forgot a out him this video brought back my memories of using him in fifa 11 his prime was before i watched the game
Sadly more of a Chelsea legend that he was for Arsenal due to his short spell.
Anelka did everything he's a legend
I wouldn’t say that Anelka was better than Henry because although Anelka was a striker from the start, Henry was a winger and didn’t convert til he went to Arsenal.
But still, Anelka was a better striker and Henry could have been the best winger in the world.
@@kohikappuHenry has 5 or 6 golden boots anelka was never on Henry’s level
@@mo2k638 Anelka seems to be more effective as a striker, but this is just my thought about him as I saw his playing style was different compared to Henry, who is more of a poacher than a target man.
@@mo2k638anelka had more natural ability. More natural finisher. Thierry fulfilled his potential though and ended up with the better career
@@SK-kh2rs Henry was a better dribbler more skilled technically better first touch more finesse and flair to his game ability wise it wasn’t close, yeah anelka was an amazing wonder kid but let’s not get carried away and what’s stats sugggest anelka was better scorer/finisher than Henry, what heights scoring wise did anelka reach than Henry didn’t reach and surpass ?
I am a Juve fan and even I forgot he joined us for 6 months
Can you do a video about Dennis Bergkamp next?
i flippin love Denis. Classy act
So long as Anelka was true to himself, other people's opinions don't matter. Ronaldinho could have won more, but he chose to party and live life on his own terms. Not everyone wants to spend their 20s living by other's rules.
Anelka was a magnificent talent, who did it his way. Props to him and other mavericks.
And to think Wenger went for Henry to team him up with anelka ,only for him to leave to Madrid. Imagine how it would of been like with the two played in arsenal up front for a couple yrs
I was a kid when he was at Arsenal and he was definitely a household name at the time. I remember he went to Madrid but I didn't follow his story from there until he came back to England and even then not very closely until Chelsea. When he was at Chelsea my brain finally connected the dots and I realised "Ohhh. This is the same Anelka from Arsenal... WTF.... where has he been for the last decade?"
Anelka was underrated for sure but I think Henry is underrated on the GOAT debate. I mean look what they do to Mbappe, Henry was a more perfect player than him and isnt recognized as much as him. Anelka did help Chelsea a lot though...
Henry isn't underrated. He's known as one of the best players ever.
Its not even close. The one who ruined his insane potential is adriano. he couldve been r9 2.0 for real. He even had one season scoring 40 goals in Italy. back then seria a was what prem is now.
@@DD-rk6kn Adriano is the one who will remain the biggest what if in football and youre damn right... Seria A was astonishing but from then we have just seen the downfall of it. Berlusconi predicted it years ago
because italy was stupid. The prem did a lot of friendlies and promos in asia china, japan and india to promote the premier league in the 90s and 2000s. Thats why they get those super tv deals now. China and asia watch the premier League the most.@@GoalRevolution
Nicolas Anelka was one of the first names I knew when I started to support Fenerbahçe. He put a decent performance, especially great performances in derbies such as scoring a late winner against Beşiktaş (after they scoring a late equalizer) and also scoring against Galatasaray. He won one league title, wished he won one more.
Also, I wouldn't blame him for what happened in 2010 World Cup. France was no longer the same team that won 98 World Cup and Euro 2000. Instead, it became a team that played WC final only because Zidane returned, then got eliminated last in Euro 2008 and robbed Ireland in 2010 WC Play-Offs. What happened in the team was the result of Domenech rule, not the reason.
By the way, he is still in Turkey, becoming CEO of Ümraniyespor (from second-tier league).
Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho are by far my favorite living football legends, they are the reason I fell in love with football in the first place, they are part of my childhood... Henry should have won at least one or two ballon d'or in the 2003 and 2004 seasons, he was so unique and underrated back then, he was almost unstoppable and genuinely a very good all-rounder authentic player. ☯️✌️
Attitude is everything
At Bolton and Chelsea, he was absolutely a beast... Bolton in those were some team to be honest, more like today's Spurs, they could challenge just about any team in the league, they beat the best and sometimes lose against the worse😂.. Okocha was more deadlier with his long throws than his foot, Anelka was scoring for fun
Nothing like spurs lol bolton is highest ever finish was 6th and next was 8th😂
All of life is mastering self discipline
The video was dub thanks for you content
But can you/have you make a video about Jay-Jay Okocha? i want to know what happened to that incredible Nigerian dribbler who played in India and for Stoke... I think his story would be really interresting
I remember his loan to Liverpool. LFC scoring 4, 5 goals for fun with Anelka, Hesky & Owen. LFC then turned down permanent deal and moved for the disaster Diouf.
Did Liverpool turn him down or did andlkas entourage turn down Liverpool?
Houllier didn't want Anelka cos Anelka would occasionally ask him questions about why he was wasting talented attackers by playing anti-football (less bluntly than that obvs). The behaviour of his brothers / reps was just an excuse.
A player with huge potential. After Ronaldo's injury, fans were desperately looking for a heir to the ''Fenomeno'' and that's when Anelka entered the game, fighting with Michael owen for the title of the most promising player
That’s a sad story man
His a net worth of 20 million!!! He doesn't need anyone's pity. Also the guy is a bit of a prick.
He was the cause of his downfall
Daily Dose makes everything seem sad
He will always be known as Le Sulk to me (2 brothers with no talent acting as agents always looking for a payday with another transfer was the problem)
I started supporting Arsenal because of this guy. To every team he went afterwards I watched their games only because of him. In his prime he was better than Henry, but no one is going to believe me. He was faster, had better ball control, better shot from distance and was extremely dangerous 1 on 1 with a keeper.
I was good yea. but no way better than Henry. no one was better than Henry then
@@jacksonagadagaonatry4648 Hi Nicolas, nice to meet you.
@@jacksonagadagaonatry4648 He was in-fact better than Henry.
And I would even argue he would have a better legacy as Arsenal legend than him.
@@kohikappuhe had the ability to hit higher heights than Henry but he never did. What if player.
PFA Young Player Award at age 20, playing for Fenerbahçe at age 26, Premier League Golden Boot at age 30 is one of the most interesting trajectory I've seen
Your voice is great
0:57, 0:58 , 10:30 wow I almost forgot that he played for Liverpool as a loaned player before. Thanks for this video!
Anelka, Adebayor, Bendtner all had one thing in common, attitude problems which stopped them from ultimately realizing their true potentials, especially Nicolas Anelka...all that is left is what should have been ...?
Adebayor was good what are you talking about ?
@@jshsvsjejed6960 Anelka was also good, we are talking about maximizing their potentials here.
Yeah, just like Odegaard and Dembele in recent years.
Adebayor had one good season at Arsenal and he thought he was the world greatest, even though he would miss 4 good chances to score 1
Being called a genie or a generational talent fries the brain of players !
le sulk !!! one of my all-time favorites. thank you for this video
There is a Netflix documentary about him and was really good but damn, he just couldn't shut up 😂 but was damn good 🔥
I saw that and all I could think was "wow, this guy's an idiot".
16:18
This is not an antisemitic gesture. People keep repeating this but it's wrong.
In France everybody knows what it means even though media keeps trying to convince its antisemitic.
There's no way Anelka was better than Henry, even in his best year at Arsenal
he was defo better aged 18/19 then henry was at same age
@@sponish0 Apples and oranges. Anelka started life and ended life as a striker. Henry was a winger who Arsene brought into a forward's role
@@BOZ_11 i mean they were both forward players and comparable, not like we are comparing a striker and a goalkeeper
@@sponish0 a striker and a winger
@@BOZ_11 and the striker was better than the winger at the time
really enjoyed watching him play for chelsea back then, he was even smiling fairly often and i think he enjoyed the time there as well.
They shouldn't have let him talk like de bruyne 😔
He's a LEGEND in every meaning of it...
He ended his career at my local club (Mumbai City FC) in India in 2014
I genuinely believe he had what it takes to become a legend.
I'm born in the same area and around the same year than Anelka, and sadly everything bad he did, it was in the "french surburbs" way, in every manner.
What makes me angry is that he always did things with his own rules, without respecting the others and the collectivity, yet he invariably posed himself has an eternal victim.
He always had problems to play for France only because it was France but never to this day fathomed why he missed the 98 WC from a nail.
🎉 Video 5stars veo 🎉❤, keep it flowing 😮, you're the best ❤🎉
Another request for Butragueno.
The mini documentary i needed to have seen in the early 2000s.👏👏👏👏
He did not ruin he’s career!!!😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 infact he had the career a lot of players would have dreamt off
People want others to be perfect while themselves they are far from perfect
Nico Anelka deserved better brothers.
I swear this guy just puts “better than *insert football icon here*” in air quotes next to anyone on every single thumbnail.
The one and only striker better than Henry is R9 in his era and later.
Google "Marco Van Basten" 😂
Van Basten retired in 95 when Henry and Ronaldo just started their careers. So they are not in the same era.
Suarez, benzema and lewandowski equaly as good as him and Suarez maybe even better than Henry.
@@pauliyonas3576no
I am French and Anelka is one of the greatest waste of footballing talent i have ever seen. With the proper mindset he could have been one of the greatest of his generation. His brothers were a constantly negative influence who kept pushing for a transfer and more money.
W vid
He was the reason I started to watch ManCity when City just promoted back to Premier League.
I told my son this; Anelka is the best talent I’ve ever seen at Arsenal under 20 only R9 was better at 18.
He was by far superior to Henry at the same age.
If he had stayed at Arsenal, who knows how good he could have become… But we do know that in the end, Henry did surpass him.
Adriano was better then anelka in everything already in that age. He shouldve been r9 2.0
He would never be forgotten. He is one of the fantastic forwards.
*"Better than Henry"*
😂😂😂
Clearly you didn't watch him play when he was young. I did, I watched him play at Arsenal, PSG, Real Madrid, Liverpool. He was better than Henry.
@@Legenda20SLOno
@@eddiss2199 yep. He was faster than Henry, had better ball control, better shot from distance, better 1 on 1. Watch his old clips from Arsenal. Even Henry admits that he was better than him.
@@Legenda20SLO maybe in your dreams that analka was better than henry, i never saw anelka leave the midfield, dribble past the team opposite and score, anelka didn't even take free kicks, anelka never carried a team on his back, you talk about technique but henry was more efficient than anelka by far
@@eddiss2199 Anelka was the fastest player in premiership, or maybe had the same speed as Owen. He outsprinted every defender like he wasn't even there.
I'd argue that not being forgotten is part of what makes someone a legend.
Utd fan here. Forget how many clubs he played for. I remember when he burst on the scene at Arsenal. In hindsight, feels a 'sliding doors' moment at that point. Under Wenger, and potentially partnering Henry up front, that would have been very tasty to behold- even as rival supporter. Sometimes luck or bad decisions are all that separates 'good' from 'great' players. Shame really. Was clearly a quality striker on his day...
FACTS. If he stayed at Arsenal at the time Imo he would of been up their with the greatest. Had so much potential. His brothers greed destroyed him.
That is why the quote "you should get out of your own way" is so powerful although I don't know where I heard it
Back in the day it was always one of my dreams to see a foot race between Anelka and Henry. What a duo they could have been for Arsenal!