Football can be a hard old game.
You’re playing well, you’re making money, you’re a hero with the fans and then it all goes wrong.
Whether it’s a drop in form, a fall out with the manager or a nasty injury, suddenly your standing in the game reduces dramatically and nobody is interested anymore.
Many players recover from such missteps, some even coming back stronger than ever before.
For others, however, it’s beginning of the end of their careers at the top level and they shuffle off into relative obscurity, only to be relevant in pub quizzes and on fan forums.
We’ve rooted around the back of our minds to find the ultimate faded away XI; a team of players that went off the rails so badly that as a unit would be sure to lose any football game.
Is there someone we’ve missed out? Let us know your thoughts on this select XI in the comments section below!
GK: Massimo Taibi
One of many goalkeepers that tried to fill the Manchester United boots left by the legendary Peter Schmeichel, Massimo Taibi gets our place between the sticks in the Faded XI.
Arriving at United for £4.5million with plenty of hype in 1999 following the great Dane’s retirement, a massive amount of money for a ‘keeper at the time, Taibi could only manage four appearances for the Old Trafford club before returning to Italy, never to be heard of by English football fans again.
After spells at Reggina, Atalanta and Torino, he retired from professional football in Serie B playing for Ascoli.
RB: Julien Faubert
Once a regular at West Ham United, right-sided utility man Faubert played his most recent season in Scotland, struggling to get a game for Kilmarnock and suffering the indignity of playing for their U20s side for a spell despite being 33.
He may be best remembered as the man who fell asleep on the bench at Real Madrid, when he moved to the Spanish giants in a bizarre loan move from West Ham.
CB: Jonathan Woodgate
Emerging at Leeds United in the late 90’s as one of the greatest prospects in English football, Woodgate’s career was blighted by injuries and he retired earlier this year after struggling to get a game for Middlesborough in the Championship.
With big money moves to Newcastle and Leeds, many tipped Woodgate to be one of the world’s great players but after horror injuries at both sides ended up heading to Middlesborough for his first spell at the club.
He only managed to play more than 30 games in a season once after that for Spurs in 2008/09, a campaign that saw a slight resurgence in his profile.
CB: Djimi Traore
A traditional left-back that could deputise in the middle of defence, Traore sneaks into our Faded XI alongside Jonathan Woodgate.
We need to be clear here, Traore did achieve the greatest prize in club football, starring for Liverpool in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final.
It was after this night that he slid into obscurity, playing for a further 7 clubs in France, England and America before retiring after a spell at Seattle Sounders.
Outside of Liverpool’s fanbase, he might be most well known for his calamitous Reds own goal against Burnley in a FA Cup tie – a goal which caused his side to suffer a humiliating upset.
LB: Royston Drenthe
Once tipped for big things at Real Madrid, Drenthe signed for the Spanish giants on the same day as Wesley Sneijder but had a tumultuous time at the club before signing permanently for Russian side Spartak Vladikavkaz.
Also having spells at Everton, Reading and Sheffield Wednesday, the left winger come left-back at the age of 29 is currently a free agent. His most recent spell was in the United Arab Emirates with Baniyas.
RW: Bernard Diomede
Incredibly, Bernard Diomede is a World Cup winner, part of the French squad that won the trophy in 1998.
His career never recovered after a move to Liverpool from Auxerre, however, and after just 5 games for the Anfield club returned to French football and obscurity in Ligue 2.
A star for the Auxerre side that tasted Ligue 1 glory in 1996, he arrived at Liverpool with high hopes but never looked close to reaching the standard required in the Premier League.
CM: Kleberson
Unveiled by Alex Ferguson on the same day as Cristiano Ronaldo, Kleberson has had a very different career path than his former Manchester United teammate.
Kleberson is another World Cup winner who, having won 20 Brazil caps by the time he had arrived at Old Trafford, was all set to become one of the Premier League’s biggest players.
He had a terrible time in red though and after 30 appearances across two seasons was soon shipped off to Besiktas in Turkey.
He has gone on to play for a further five clubs, slowly dwindling into obscurity. His most recent club was Indy Eleven who ply their trade in the rung below the MLS in America.
CM: Eric Djemba-Djemba
Eric Djemba-Djemba was another Alex Ferguson signing that left everyone scratching their heads. He was an African Cup of Nations winner by the time he arrived at Old Trafford and at the age of 22 had the whole world ahead of him.
It quickly became apparent that the Cameroon international wasn’t the man to replace Roy Keane in the heart of the United’s midfield and after 18 months he was sold to Aston Villa.
He didn’t have much luck there either and after a loan spell at Burnley found himself in Qatar. He’s played for nine clubs since then ranging from exotic Israel at Hapoel Tel Aviv to the er, non-exotic Paisley with St Mirren.
He’s still playing and currently features for a French club so obscure that they don’t even have a Wikipedia page. The horror.
LW: Ryan Babel
Ryan Babel arrived at Anfield in 2007 with a big price tag and big dreams that he could be a new Kop hero.
Despite a fairly impressive debut season, consistency was a real problem and first team opportunities became increasingly limited as his Liverpool career went on.
He moved to Hoffenheim where poor form again saw his international career with Netherlands end and a forced return to Ajax, the team he left for Liverpool expecting to take the world by storm.
Spells in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates have followed, although he has made a return to a decent standard of league, currently playing for Deportivo La Coruna in Spain.
ST: Federico Macheda
Federico Macheda’s last-minute winner against Aston Villa on his debut in 2009 will likely always be remembered by Man United fans.
It was one of those Premier League moments that caught the attention of everyone and signalled the start of what people thought would be a successful career at United.
The striker, however, would only go on to score another 3 goals for the club.
Unsuccessful loan spells at Sampdoria, QPR, Stuttgart and Doncaster Rovers spelled the end of his time at Old Trafford and he moved permanently to Cardiff in 2014.
He wasn’t very good there either and after a spell on loan to Nottingham Forest last season is currently a free agent, having had his contract ripped up in the summer.
ST: Alexandre Pato
Alexandre Pato was supposed to blossom into one of the world’s great players but has failed to live up to that promise since injuries and dwindling form saw him leave AC Milan.
An exciting teenager at Milan, he caught the attention of football fans across Europe with his bursting dribbling runs and finishing. Since then he’s done nothing.
Bizarrely he turned up at Chelsea earlier this year but became the laughing stock of the Premier League, playing only two games for the Stamford Bridge side.