Redemption Arcs

I believe it's fair to say that the greatest motivator for any athlete is the desire to bounce back from a setback.

Sometimes the setback is a result of an injury other times it's when a player loses a big game.

My favorite examples from the last decade from both a team and player perspective are Bayern in 2012-2013 and Messi in 2014-2015.

Bayern in 2012 was competing for a treble, but blew it all away in the last weeks. They were nicknamed Never Munich on here. They ended up securing the treble in dominant fashion the following year in 2013. Messi on the other hand had his first trophyless season in years with Barca in 2014 then lost the WC final in extra time. He bounced back to lead Barca to a second treble and had arguably the greatest individual season ever.

How a player or team bounces back from those setbacks help define their legacy, so the question I'm asking is who do you think will have redemption arcs this year?

I'm going to start it off with Mbappe who ghosted against City, flopped in the Euros, and then got a lot of flack for missing the game deciding penalty against Switzerland. He was memed to hell after that. Now he's trying to move to Madrid to be the main man of his childhood team which would break the super team PSG has built this summer. If the move does go through he'll have all to prove and the pressure will be on. That cold stare he had after missing against Switzerland spoke a thousand words. He's out for himself this season and I predict he'll be very successful in doing so. Jordan 91 vibes incoming.

Mbappe just isn't that guy, unfortunately

El Gunner wrote:Mbappe just isn't that guy, unfortunately

agreed we should be trying to sign Aubameyang instead

El Gunner wrote:Mbappe just isn't that guy, unfortunately

It’s the outlet pace merchant’s time to show up. French team laughed him out of the dressing room when he tried to act like the top dawg.

He’s running away to Madrid to get that respect. The scenes if he’s in Benzema’s shadow if he arrives ffs. I’d have to edit my entire last paragraph.

Never saw 2014-15 as some sort of solo redemption for Messi. That was the year Neymar hit his stride and Suarez joined.

Some meh examples I don't really see those as redemption arcs especially Messi in 2015

If anyone has the chance to complete a true redemption arc right now it'd be Ronaldo if he goes back to United. Last match was losing the CL final, moves to Madrid in the same summer. Comes back and wins it all would be a great story.

Disagree about Messi.

In 2014 he was fat and was walking 5km a game. Barca had their first trophyless season since 2008. It was also the first time in 7 years Barca got knocked out before the semis with Messi getting most of the flack for the loss against Atletico.

He lost the Copa Del Rey final with minutes to go against Madrid and then lost the league on the last match day to Atletico.

World Cup comes around and there’s really no other player who has as much pressure to win something for their national team than he did. He helped them get to the final and lost. He was clowned for winning MVP of the tournament and for blasting that last minute free kick into row z.

The season with Barca starts and he beefs with Lucho which led him to getting benched against Sociedad. He then followed Chelsea on Instagram which promoted Bartomeu to call elections at the end of the season. MSN also wasn’t clicking at the time either.

Then the match against Atletico happened the next day. I believe that was the the first time he played RW since 2009 and he played like a man possessed.

Scored 40 goals in his last 30 matches then had his highlight reel moment against Bayern which was his first CL semis goals since 2011. He then had the wonder goal against Athletic Bilbao and helped Barca win another champions league.

Given the context of the events that year I think it’s fair to say it was definitely a bounce back.

Another redemption arc candidates are the English core for Man City.

They lost the CL finals and Euros finals. Will that fuel the likes of Stones, Walker, Foden, and Sterling to greater heights?

Leroy Sane is another. He’s been getting booed all season from Bayern fans and was clowned for his most recent CL and Euros performances. Nagelsmann just said he’ll move Sané back to LW which is where his best City performances came from. I could see a turn around coming from him too.

How is Bayern in 2012-2013 a meh example?

They lost the CL finals at home to a weaker side on penalties. They lost the DFB Pokal finals and lost the Bundesliga to Dortmund.

They were clowned so heavily for being chokers. They then stomped everyone the next season.

They're meh examples because redemption usually involves someone hitting rock bottom and bouncing back in a dramatic manner to reclaim elite status.

Bayern were favorites to win it every year and have been knocking on the door for years, that CL title was almost inevitable. 2013-2014 Messi was still arguably the best player in the world and 2014-2015 was more about MSN clicking than it was about Messi "bouncing back".

Redemption is R9 coming back from 4 injury-ravaged seasons to win a world cup and a Ballon d'Or.

Honestly wasn’t really thinking about it as zero to hero candidates because those are rare as is.

Just a bounce back for players relative to a new level or a return to previous one. Didn’t really think of the thread in as extreme of a sense as 2002 R9 lol.