Players you underrated

tastyt

Was just chatting about this the other day, players you underrated when playing but seeing old games and looking at their career you might have changed your mind along the way. Not absolute superstar players but ones who were better than given credit for . I”ll start with 3 :

Michael Carrick - brilliant passer of the ball forward , firing it through gaps and getting his team moving quick , something no 6 players just dont do enough . Loads of medals, probably underrated coming so closely after Keane , Scholes etc

Lee Carsley - thought he was just a big lump but had a very good career with Everton . Would be first name in our midfield these days

Craig Bellamy - maybe it was because he was so easy to hate but he was an absolute handful, scored plenty of goals , blistering pace and prolonged Alan Shearers career by a few years playing beside him

blueser

tastyt wrote: »

Was just chatting about this the other day, players you underrated when playing but seeing old games and looking at their career you might have changed your mind along the way. Not absolute superstar players but ones who were better than given credit for . I”ll start with 3 :

Michael Carrick - brilliant passer of the ball forward , firing it through gaps and getting his team moving quick , something no 6 players just dont do enough . Loads of medals, probably underrated coming so closely after Keane , Scholes etc

Lee Carsley - thought he was just a big lump but had a very good career with Everton . Would be first name in our midfield these days

Craig Bellamy - maybe it was because he was so easy to hate but he was an absolute handful, scored plenty of goals , blistering pace and prolonged Alan Shearers career by a few years playing beside him

Agree with you re Bellamy. I always thought he was one of those players who'd start a row in an empty house (and he probably was!). But he was fantastic for us. We had Robinho in the same period, who had twice the skill but half the application of Bellamy. If you could create a hybrid of those two, you'd have some player.

NITRO95

tastyt wrote: »

Was just chatting about this the other day, players you underrated when playing but seeing old games and looking at their career you might have changed your mind along the way. Not absolute superstar players but ones who were better than given credit for . I”ll start with 3 :

Michael Carrick - brilliant passer of the ball forward , firing it through gaps and getting his team moving quick , something no 6 players just dont do enough . Loads of medals, probably underrated coming so closely after Keane , Scholes etc

Lee Carsley - thought he was just a big lump but had a very good career with Everton . Would be first name in our midfield these days

Craig Bellamy - maybe it was because he was so easy to hate but he was an absolute handful, scored plenty of goals , blistering pace and prolonged Alan Shearers career by a few years playing beside him

John O'Shea - Really took for granted that he could slot in anywhere in a back 4 and the team was never any weaker. Also provided cover in CM at times

Robbie Keane - I for sure took his goals for Ireland for granted towards the end of his career

Gary Neville - Never got the headlines but he was such a consistent performer and rarely injured. His combination with Beckham on the right was a huge part of the greatest English club team ever

event

Gary Neville was underrated?

Forget about the 20 trophies, he played 85 times for England and was on PL team of the year 5 times. I wouldnt have thought he was underrated at all

El Gato De Negocios

event wrote: »

Gary Neville was underrated?

Forget about the 20 trophies, he played 85 times for England and was on PL team of the year 5 times. I wouldnt have thought he was underrated at all

It's players you yourself underrated as opposed to players that were widely underrated.

CSF

Heung Min Son.

His first 2 seasons (maybe even a good bit of the 3rd one) I thought he was a generally awful footballer who did score goals.

Fair to say that opinion has now greatly changed.

martyos121

Olivier Giroud is one of the first names that comes to mind. A much better footballer than I, and many, have given him credit for, and as far as team players go, he’s as good a number 9 as you’ll get in that regard.

tastyt

martyos121 wrote: »

Olivier Giroud is one of the first names that comes to mind. A much better footballer than I, and many, have given him credit for, and as far as team players go, he’s as good a number 9 as you’ll get in that regard.

Ya Giroud is actually a very good one , World Cup winner , played with top clubs but never really trusted at club level to be the main man . Very few players like him around these days

Bobby Baccala

tastyt wrote: »

Ya Giroud is actually a very good one , World Cup winner , played with top clubs but never really trusted at club level to be the main man . Very few players like him around these days

He was the main striker at Montpellier and Arsenal, was also one of the quickest to reach 50 goals for the latter.

I always under rated Salah but I’m sure most did

osarusan

Jordan Henderson. Soon after he joined Liverpool I remember describing him as exactly the kind/calibre of player that means you will never win a league.

Might have got that a wee bit wrong.

gimli2112

I always liked Henderson but didn't think he'd reach the heights that he did. The two I underrated the most at Liverpool were McCallister and Milner. I mean they were both fairly highly regarded I just didn't think much of them. Thought they were a waste of money and they were free.
My lack of judgement is but one reason I'll never manage at premier league level.

topmanamillion

Glen Whelan - A victim of Eamon Dunphy scape goating him every time Ireland had a poor game. The worst part was he was one of the most consistent Ireland players over his career, very effective at breaking up the play. Poor players simply don't make 300 odd EPL appearances and get 90 caps for their country.

Robert Pires - think he was obviously over shadowed by Henry but he was different class. Think I let the penalty incident against city overshadow my opinion.

I probably under estimated how good David Villa was. Anytime I watched that Barca side I was really watching Messi. Villa was immense, a similar amount of international goals as Keane in about 50 games less. For anyone saying it was easy to do it for Spain, Torres has about half as many as Villa in about 10 more caps in the same time period. A contender for the greatest striker/poacher there's ever been.

Zaph

gimli2112 wrote: »

The two I underrated the most at Liverpool were McCallister and Milner. I mean they were both fairly highly regarded I just didn't think much of them. Thought they were a waste of money and they were free.
My lack of judgement is but one reason I'll never manage at premier league level.

You'd never find a single Leeds fan who wouldn't have had either of them back in a heartbeat. Milner made his debut at 16 and was considered by most to be the greatest prospect the club had had since the Revie days. He was sold to Newcastle cheaply because of the financial shambles that befell the club, but everyone knew we were losing a special player. McAlister was one of the finest passers of the ball ever seen at Elland Road, and again it was a sad day when he left the club, even though he was 31 and most probably thought he probably only had a couple of years left. That he managed to keep playing at that same level for so long afterwards says so much about the sort of player he was, Liverpool were incredibly lucky to have him for such an important couple of years for the club.

passatman86

Kevin hunt - bohs.. The size of him i thought he'd not last in league of ireland but one of the best midfielders i seen play in the league

Paddy mcCourt - when at celtic.. I expected him to get way more appearances. Very gifted player

Maxi Rodriguez - Liverpool.. Seriously talented. Would have liked to see him stay on longer at Liverpool he's 40 now and still playing

Francie Barrett

osarusan wrote: »

Jordan Henderson. Soon after he joined Liverpool I remember describing him as exactly the kind/calibre of player that means you will never win a league.

Might have got that a wee bit wrong.

Jordan Henderson was a bit of a joke at Liverpool after his first season that Kenny signed him. Was there even a single Liverpool supporter out there who thought he would become the inspirational leader that he became? If there was, it wasn't here.

Francie Barrett

topmanamillion wrote: »

Glen Whelan - A victim of Eamon Dunphy scape goating him every time Ireland had a poor game. The worst part was he was one of the most consistent Ireland players over his career, very effective at breaking up the play. Poor players simply don't make 300 odd EPL appearances and get 90 caps for their country.

Agree that, Glen Whelan was definitely underrated. Whelan was not a world beater, but he was a very solid player who gave everything in every game he played for us.

I think people should reflect on the abuse that Whelan got. There are certain players today who while are not popular have always tried their best. Not saying anyone's un-droppable, but 95% of the Ireland contingent I have seen today are definitely trying.

MrStuffins

event wrote: »

Gary Neville was underrated?

You'd be surprised in how many quarters Neville is underappreciated.

Currently reading White Angels, the book on the Galactico era at Madrid. At one point the author says

"Salgado was one of the least accomplished in the Madrid team, but was a born-again Garrincha compared to Gary Neville"

Extremely harsh!

The Floyd p

I know he's considered a great player, but I always felt that Ricardo Carvalho didn't get his dues. Terry, Cech and Cole received a lot of the credit for the Mourinho Chelsea defence, but I felt Carvalho was every bit as influential as they were. Not physically gifted but a great reader of the game and was still contributing at a high level well into his mid 30's. Taking into consideration his success in Porto, winning the UEFA Cup and CL in back to back seasons, and his time with the Portuguese National Team, and we're talking about a seriously accomplished player. He often gets overlooked in this era compared to Terry, Ferdinand, Vidic, Puyol etc but I feel that he was every bit as gifted a defender as these players.

pjohnson

I think thought Paulo Ferreira was the most underrated of that backline. I dont think he ever got recognition for his part in that defence. People would eventually mention Carvalho but never the Right Back :pac:

callaway92

I know he's still playing, but I really think Riyad Mahrez has been underrated for quite a while now. It's likely because of the lack of minutes he gets with City, but the style of player he is, he probably still has another 5 top years in him.

Sheridan81

Dimitar Berbatov. When I saw him play for Bayer Leverkusen, I thought he was above average at best.

Henrik Larsson. Saw him play at the World Cup in 1994 and I thought he wasn't up to much.

Gareth Bale. I didn't see him turning into a world class player and a game-changer at the highest level.

David Beckham. Always rated him, but looking back, he was almost up there with Pirlo in terms of vision, long range passing, free-kicks and technique.

Cristiano Ronaldo. He was always very good but I didn't think he had it in him to develop into a Portuguese Pele and one of the top ten players ever.

Gary McAllister. I didn't rate him highly enough.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Always rated him as a mercurial talent but he's one of the best strikers ever now.

Arghus

Now nobody would dispute that Robin van Persie was top quality, but I remember having a very hard time convincing non-Arsenal supporting fans for years that he wasn't just good, he was actually world class - but that unfortunately he was always getting injured!

It wasn't until he had that final season and a half at Arsenal where he finally got a run of fitness together and started banging in goals that everyone started to notice how good he was, but the quality was always there.

Shanotheslayer

Harry Kane. I had him as the one season wonder. How that quickly changed.

Hercule Poirot

Christian Eriksen - even in his pomp at Spurs I didn't get the hype until I was in the stadium when we were hammered by Denmark and the ease with which he was able to create space for himself and others was mesmerising. Now ye might say, as I did at the time, that it was against a poor Ireland team but after that I started paying more attention to his movement on and off the ball whenever I saw Spurs play, and finally I got what everyone was raving about

Fabio Aurelio.

I was blinded by his injury record but he was a very talented player.

Arghus

Shanotheslayer wrote: »

Harry Kane. I had him as the one season wonder. How that quickly changed.

I thought even during his breakthrough season there was a chance that he'd be be a one season wonder - but there was something about the variety, importance and quality of his goals that made me think he was more likely than not a serious player who'd last.

On the other hand, I thought Papiss Cisse was going to be a legend after his first half season at Newcastle: he was consistently scoring absolute crackers. Oops!

Another one I was way wrong about was Emmanuel Frimpong at Arsenal. I remember him playing against Liverpool in the early days of 2011/12 - Arsenal were really shaky to start the game, low on confidence, but as the game went on Frimpong began to dominate, started to boss the midfield, he had this raw power and energy to him - eventually the rawness came to the fore and he clattered into Lucas and got sent off and immediately Arsenal lost control of the match and conceded twice in the final ten minutes.

Okay, the team lost and his exuberance got him sent off, but I thought, "Holy sh!t, that guy has got amazing potential, pure raw ability - if they can just harness it." But it never happened, there was already stories about his attitude and fighting with players by the next game and then he did his ACL shortly afterwards - and then the rest of his career was loans, more injuries, moves down the leagues, moves to nothing clubs in far off places. Ended up playing less than 100 league games for a succession of clubs before retiring. A sad story in my book.

Dante

Robbie Keane is one that springs to mind.

JPA

Arghus wrote: »

Now nobody would dispute that Robin van Persie was top quality, but I remember having a very hard time convincing non-Arsenal supporting fans for years that he wasn't just good, he was actually world class - but that unfortunately he was always getting injured!

It wasn't until he had that final season and a half at Arsenal where he finally got a run of fitness together and started banging in goals that everyone started to notice how good he was, but the quality was always there.

So you never underrated him, just everyone else did!

RugbyLover123

Sheridan81 wrote: »

Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Always rated him as a mercurial talent but he's one of the best strikers ever now.

Really? One of the best strikers ever? Not a chance.

He’s played the majority of his career in a poor Serie A, always with one of the main teams. I think he’s only ever scored 1 goal in the CL knockout stages and that was the round of 16. Barcelona got rid of him after 1 season, Inter won the treble the year he left.

No doubt a skilful player and athletic freak but his goal scoring record is seriously helped with the fact he’s always played in the dominant team in poor leagues.

MrStuffins

RugbyLover123 wrote: »

Really? One of the best strikers ever? Not a chance.

He’s played the majority of his career in a poor Serie A, always with one of the main teams. I think he’s only ever scored 1 goal in the CL knockout stages and that was the round of 16. Barcelona got rid of him after 1 season, Inter won the treble the year he left.

No doubt a skilful player and athletic freak but his goal scoring record is seriously helped with the fact he’s always played in the dominant team in poor leagues.

Nah!

RugbyLover123

MrStuffins wrote: »

Nah!

1 goal in CL knockout stages in nearly 20 years? Yeah sounds like an all time great striker to me.

crossman47

Inzaghi (born offside according to Sir Alex). I always thought he only scored tap ins but the point is he was there - a bit like Robbie Keane.

Arghus

JPA wrote: »

So you never underrated him, just everyone else did!

Yeah, I'll take that.

Bobby Baccala

RugbyLover123 wrote: »

1 goal in CL knockout stages in nearly 20 years? Yeah sounds like an all time great striker to me.

Look at some of the goals he’s scored. That bicycle kick against England was nuts. Spinning back heel for Ajax back in the day. Well up there with a shout as one of the best ever strikers to play the game.

RugbyLover123

Bobby Baccala wrote: »

Look at some of the goals he’s scored. That bicycle kick against England was nuts. Spinning back heel for Ajax back in the day. Well up there with a shout as one of the best ever strikers to play the game.

He can have all the great goals he likes in international friendlies, Still hasn’t done it at the highest level. If scoring aesthetically pleasing goals is the barometer for being the best ever then we can stick Giroud up there, hell he even has a better record in the CL knockouts then Zlatan.

MrStuffins

RugbyLover123 wrote: »

I think he’s only ever scored 1 goal in the CL knockout stages and that was the round of 16.......

Again, nah!

Sheridan81

Zlatan has scored 11-12 goals in CL knock-out rounds, something like that. Again, nah!

MrStuffins

RugbyLover123 wrote: »

1 goal in CL knockout stages in nearly 20 years? Yeah sounds like an all time great striker to me.

You might have some sort of point of this was in any way accurate. You've just pulled it out of your ar*e.

RugbyLover123

Ah he’s scored 4 - 1 against the mighty Stuttgart, 2 against Arsenal and 1 against Barcelona. 2 of those in last 16. I suppose 2 goals in the 1/4, Semi & Finals in CL over 20 years is a decent return for one of the best strikers of all time!

MrStuffins

RugbyLover123 wrote: »

Ah he’s scored 4.......

Nah!

artanevilla

Hercule Poirot wrote: »

Christian Eriksen - even in his pomp at Spurs I didn't get the hype until I was in the stadium when we were hammered by Denmark and the ease with which he was able to create space for himself and others was mesmerising. Now ye might say, as I did at the time, that it was against a poor Ireland team but after that I started paying more attention to his movement on and off the ball whenever I saw Spurs play, and finally I got what everyone was raving about

As far as I can remember for a while at Spurs he was considered overrated, I think because of the money they paid for him. I remember people arguing me about him as I always said he was excellent but I think that was based on his debut (or an early game) against Villa when him and the other debutant and considered overpriced Lamela ran the show.

~Rebel~

RugbyLover123 wrote: »

Ah he’s scored 4 - 1 against the mighty Stuttgart, 2 against Arsenal and 1 against Barcelona. 2 of those in last 16. I suppose 2 goals in the 1/4, Semi & Finals in CL over 20 years is a decent return for one of the best strikers of all time!

1 against Stuttgart - Last 16
2 against Arsenal - Quarter Finals
1 against Arsenal - Last 16
1 against Barca - Quarter Finals
2 against Leverkusen - Last 16
2 against Chelsea - Last 16 (both legs)
1 against Man City - Quarter Finals

That's his actual record in knock out games.

pjohnson

~Rebel~ wrote: »

1 against Stuttgart - Last 16
2 against Arsenal - Quarter Finals
1 against Arsenal - Last 16
1 against Barca - Quarter Finals
2 against Leverkusen - Last 16
2 against Chelsea - Last 16 (both legs)
1 against Man City - Quarter Finals

That's his actual record in knock out games.

I'm certain that adds up to more than one goal, I'd even say that I'm pretty sure thats definitely more than 4 goals aswell.

HalloweenJack

We are really seeing just how important Robbie Keane was to us. I remember complaints about his tap-ins and only scoring against crap teams but I also wonder how many goals have we scored altogether since he retired and what percentage of our goals did he score during his career, especially once the rest of that 97-02 generation started retiring.

I'm more prone to over-rating players so there's not many names that spring to mind. The under-rated players tend to be the ones that go quietly about their jobs and don't hog the spotlight, especially defensive mids (Whelan who got a disproportionate amount of stick) or centre-backs with partners who steal the show (Carvalho, Varane). 'Tap-in' strikers (Inzaghi, Keane) are another lot.

Scholes was a player it took me a long time to appreciate just how good he was. Giroud, too, especially since he came to Chelsea. I thought he should be scoring more goals but he actually has a decent return and he is an incredibly intelligent footballer. Son took a while to convince me but he' s turned into quite a fine footballer.

Bobby Baccala

Nacho Monreal, went about his business quietly at Arsenal and rarely let the side down.

spurshero

Underrated players and ya have posters going on about Ronaldo beckham Harry Kane and van Persie ... lord above !

Shanotheslayer

spurshero wrote: »

Underrated players and ya have posters going on about Ronaldo beckham Harry Kane and van Persie ... lord above !

Think you need to read the thread again. It's about players the poster underrated.

Not actually underrated players.

breezy1985

crossman47 wrote: »

Inzaghi (born offside according to Sir Alex). I always thought he only scored tap ins but the point is he was there - a bit like Robbie Keane.

Inzaghi should be almost everyones first answer. So many people underrated that legend and even his teammates couldn't understand how he ever got on a football team. World Cup and 2 Champions Leagues though and was top scorer in Europe until Messi and Ronaldo came along and destroyed all the records. There's a good Goalazzo podcast about him where the go through some of the quotes about how bad some of his teammates though he was.

Given our current state I very much underrated but R.Keanes when they played for Ireland

Sheridan81

A team I underrated was Spain 2008. I rated their players but I didn't think they'd back it up and dominate. I wasn't that impressed by their victory, mainly because arguably their best performer and most important cog at that tournament was, in fact, a naturalised Brazilian named Marcos Senna who subsequently retired from duty. I have a sneaking feeling they might have been drugged -not going to get into that- but they were nevertheless possibly the greatest international team ever.

Greenlights16

Thomas gravesen clearly after sealing a deal from Everton to Real Madrid, did anyone see that coming!!

pjohnson

Greenlights16 wrote: »

Thomas gravesen clearly after sealing a deal from Everton to Real Madrid, did anyone see that coming!!

I see Gravesen and raise you Julien Faubert.


That was a weird few years for the Galacticos :pac: