Players who don't get the respect they deserve?

Smalling. Don't like the way he is lazily lumped in the same category as Jones and Rojo when he is clearly the superior player.

He does from Utd fans but Andy Cole doesn't tend to get the widespread recognition he should. It was Glen Hoddle during his mad days when he said Cole needed 5 chances to score 1 goal. It was a lazy stupid statement made by a man who lost his job over another stupid statement, but unfortunately this statement stuck as truth with a football public at that time who hated Utd.Shearer who most would say is best english striker in recent yrs, scored 260 goals in PL of which 56 were pk's. Cole had 187 goals of which 1 was a penalty. His assist play was also horribly undervalued by the public as well, 127 assists he had. He did miss chances as any striker does, and a few big ones automatically spring to mind, but he played for a Utd team at that time that attacked non stop. Cole was a great little player, who clicked so well with various strike partners. He may have missed the odd one but he scored plenty as well.

Did I mention Dirk Kuyt in this thread? If not, Dirk Kuyt for obvious reasons.

And I mean in reverse. He gets respect for being a sensible and likeable person even though he's actually a sanctimonious and preachy twat. He's also shite at football.

And he's ugly.

Loris Karius.

The way Liverpool treated him was a disgrace. He deserved a second chance.

David Silva.

Had he been at a bigger club I think he'd be talked about in the same breath as iniesta and xavi.

Agree with the lampard post. His record is absolutely ridiculous and even on his last legs at City he was very good. His intelligence and just general technical skills made him a far better footballer than Gerrard imo but he's almost always considered the worst out of the two and Scholes. He was still playing extremely well in the EPL at 36 and tore MLS apart when he was on the pitch. Compare that to Gerrard who couldn't even look good in MLS without his physical advantages.

Out of the current players I'd have to go with Kyle Walker. The most complete right back in the world imo.

SilentWitness said:

I don't think people talk about Lampards goalscoring record anywhere near enough as they should, it's bloody ridiculous. Been watching loads of football videos the past few days and went to look at his record and for 5 seasons in a row he had 20+ goals in all competitions as a box to box midfielder. Most strikers would be happy with that.

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What's even more overlooked was his huge number of assists.

Thiago Motta was a fantastic footballer. Especially in his old days with PSG, I think in a midfield with Verratti and Matuidi, he was the best one of the three.

And I’ve always loved Daley Blind much more than any of our current players. Just like Motta, he is left-footed, composed, and slower, calmer and smarter than everyone else.

In the current physical paradigm of professional football, I just love players who can hold their own without being that physical. For the record, Matic and Mata aren’t part of that group.

Aguero - easily one of the best strikers in Premier League history. I think he was get the recognition once he retires.

Pires - was Arsenal's most influential forward after Thierry Henry in the early 00s.

Beckham - his public image took away just how good of a footballer he was. Finished 2nd in 1998-99 for the Ballon D'or. Still the best crosser of the ball I have ever seen.

Eric's Seagull said:

Denis Irwin. Exemplified by this quote from Sir Alex "People ask you who is your best Man United team, it is absolutely impossible. But honestly, I would say Denis Irwin would be the one certainty to get in the team. I called him an eight out of 10. At Highbury in one game he had a bad pass back in the last minute and Bergkamp came in and scored. After the game the press said ‘you must be disappointed in that pass back. I said, well, one mistake in 10 years isn’t bad. He was an unbelievable player".

Scored 22 goals of which most were penalties and never missed 1!

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This, absolutely great player for us!

I'd also add Ronny Johnsen for us was rather understated but formed a great partnership with Stam in the treble season and often stepped into a DM role when we needed him to.

Pedro for me. Probably past his best these days, but a really dynamic player with a great goalscoring record and an amazing trophy haul. His contribution at Barca is particularly overlooked given the players he played alongside. Really sad we never signed him.

Oh yes the summer where we absolutely had to sign Pedro and Otamendi, 2 players I am not remotely bothered about having.

SilentWitness said:

I don't think people talk about Lampards goalscoring record anywhere near enough as they should, it's bloody ridiculous. Been watching loads of football videos the past few days and went to look at his record and for 5 seasons in a row he had 20+ goals in all competitions as a box to box midfielder. Most strikers would be happy with that.

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I agree, but he definitely went through a phase where he seemed to get a lot of deflections and so I always had the impression he was a jammy git.

Can’t knock his stats though.

sincher said:

Oh yes the summer where we absolutely had to sign Pedro and Otamendi, 2 players I am not remotely bothered about having.

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Even if he's better on the left, wouldn't Pedro be nailed on as first choice at right wing for us for a 5th straight season again this year? Even if he's not a star, that transfer would have absolutely helped us.

Carrick, Fletcher and Park for your lot in recent years.

Probably Moutinho and Boly for us.

Yes Lampard gets underrated as good as finisher as top strikers plus a underrated passer to boot, go look back at some of his videos some of the passes and assists are incredible, it's worth remembering he just wasn't a goal scorer.

GatoLoco said:

Loris Karius.

The way Liverpool treated him was a disgrace. He deserved a second chance.

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Agreed. He's a great player, a gentleman and a hero.
He should be made to play for whoever we're playing against every week