Underrated Skillful Players

Lord SInister

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While the likes of Ronaldinho, Romario, Bergkamp, Berbatov, Ozil, Riquelme, Zola and so on are deservedly in talks of being skillful players.

There are certain players who have gone under the radar because of well lack of exposure or being sandwiched in history and so on.

Was looking through YouTube compilation and came across this, while I always knew El Buitre was ridiculously skillful, but he rarely gets mentioned when talking about absolute ballers. Similarly there are the likes of Ribery, who is well known for being a devastating winger, but generally people don't mention him when it comes to skilful players when he is arguably the best dribbler apart from Messi in last decade(yes Hazard and Neymar are his competition).

This thread isn't about player comparison though, just appreciation of forgotten ballers.
 

Donut

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There was this Asian guy playing for Reading not too long ago. He always impressed, always seemed to take the right option. Very underrrated little skillful player.
 

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Peter Odemwingie
 

Gio

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Someone who never gets a mention - Pedro Munitis

Lillian Thuram came up all the best forward of his generation, but when he faced Munitis at Euro 2000 he said it was nothing like he had played against before.
 

No Love

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Someone who never gets a mention - Pedro Munitis

Lillian Thuram came up all the best forward of his generation, but when he faced Munitis at Euro 2000 he said it was nothing like he had played against before.
I remember that interview :lol: Thuram said the relief of Munitis being subbed off was like the sun appearing after a day of torrential rain. Good shout, that one.
 

giorno

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Someone who never gets a mention - Pedro Munitis

Lillian Thuram came up all the best forward of his generation, but when he faced Munitis at Euro 2000 he said it was nothing like he had played against before.
What a shout! :lol: though i wouldn't call him skillful, per se. He had crooked legs with one longer than the other, like garrincha. Like garrincha this gave him a weird gait that was hard to read and put defenders off balance easily. And like garrincha he had absolutely devastating acceleration from a standing start, which made him unstoppable in 1on1 situation. Fantastic dribbler, and he had a pretty good shot on him, too
 

432JuanMata

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Abel Tarrabt? He obviously gets overrated as people think he would of been excellent if he had the work ethic but he still plays for Benfica yet not caring about football
 

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Aaron Lennon. Terrible end product, but his close control and technique were brilliant. His acceleration is probably the best I’ve ever seen, and he could move so well between players.
However, I heard someone say it was better to let him dribble past and have a free shot on goal than blocking and risking a corner. Someone else might score from the corner.
 

THM

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Robert Pires is a good shout for this.

Quite an underrated footballer generally.
 

FrankDrebin

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Maluco

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Paulo Futre is a name I would throw in there. Really talented, ridiculously quick feet and rapid. Injuries and early retirement have made him a forgotten name, but he was electric before injuries took their toll.
 

Infordin

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Pierre Littbarski

In my opinion, the most technically gifted German player of all time, and one of the greatest dribblers ever.

 

Bertie Wooster

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JM Guti.
He played close to 550 times for Real Madrid, and won plenty of honours with them as a regular in some great lineups, so he wasn't underrated by them.
But he was often overlooked for praise by others, and not included when people rattle off the greats from his era. And despite his achievements with Madrid, he only played 13 times for Spain.

I love ball playing creative midfielders, and Guti was one of my absolute favourites of all time. His passing ability and vision was a joy to watch, and he produced some amazing assists.
 

Bertie Wooster

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The first world cup I remember was 1986. And maybe my love of a #10 style player was triggered by that early experience, as, along with the stunning exploits of Maradona, it had the likes of Enzo Francescoli, Hugo Sanchez and Michael Laudrup. And I feel the last 3 should be remembered more for their amazing ability. Another quality #10 from that era that deserves more attention nowadays is Gheorghe Hagi. He was a really great playmaker.
 

Yagami

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Jorge Valdivia
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Mario Coluna maybe. I don't know how well he's remembered now.
Luis Alberto
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Javier Pastore
 

Isotope

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Leighton Baines. Why he stayed to retire at Everton, is a mystery to me.
 

AkaAkuma

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Butragueno made the balon dor top 3 for a few consecutive years i believe. Time forgets some people, but historically you wont be.
 

Bebestation

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A player that no one seems to talk about is Roberto Baggio. Arguably Serie A was the tough spot aswell and he was quite a devastating and skillful player.

I also saw Rivaldo get mentioned on YouTube and how he has been a bit forgotten under the likes of Brazilian Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Romario.

Another player that is maybe not underrated but I feel that people dont talk much about anymore in conversations is Pavel Nedved - I could watch the guy play non stop because I felt he was elegant.
 

::sonny::

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Wittmann45

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Not really underrated but I guess kind of forgotten but Hleb.
Probably because he absolutely fell into irrelevancy right after the biggest move of his career, but at Arsenal he was also a great player to watch. I seem to remember it felt like he could always get away from pressure and even though he wasn't the fastest or the strongest, he was a clever player that worked really well with Fabregas and Flamini.

Also, I am pretty sure Wes Brown once tossed him half way across the pitch with a slight shove

That era of Arsenal had a few players that, while maybe not underrated, perhaps are forgotten as skillful players, ie, Hleb, Rosicky, Diaby, Denilson, Nasri
 
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::sonny::

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Wittmann45

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'Keep the flag flying Jimmy'
Is it really true that former Ballon d'Or winners who were renowned for their creativity and helped defined their era of football can be considered underrated? Just because they are not seen as being on the same level as Ronaldinho for skill doesn't necessarily mean they are underrated. Added to that, how could a player like Laudrup, who could destroy world class opponents when he could be bothered with his skill and creativity and who many of his contemporaries rate as the best player they ever played with or against be considered underrated?

One poster mentions some Asian guy from Reading whose name he or she cannot remember the other mentions a couple Ballon d'Or winners. These threads are always the best!

Either way, I have only seen Wes Hoolahan play a dozen or so times but I think of him as a clever player with a little bit of magic.

Also, Tuncay from his Middlesbrough days - he played for Middlesbrough and was really hard working which both kind of belie how creative and technical he could be. He could strike a ball on the volley pretty sweetly too
 
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