Your thoughts?
Who is the most underrated footballer in modern history?
- Thread starter GatoLoco
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Me.
Carrick seems very much under appreciated/rated outside of United fans.
Puyol. Or Sam from the Dog and Duck. Or Lee Trundle.
I can never remember his name 
Maybe Giroud?
Not even the most underrated French striker (Benzema).
Benzema
Casemiro. Fantastic player.
Others have already mentioned him, it's Benzema. What a player.
I saw a headline recently about Samuel Eto'o not getting the credit he deserves. I didn't read the article to be fair but he rarely gets spoken about in the same circles as the great strikers in European football, despite scoring an absolute fecktonne of goals wherever he played.
10 seasons with 30+ hauls is incredible going.
10 seasons with 30+ hauls is incredible going.
Very good shout as well!
I think he is very much appreciated in a way Makelele was as well...
This. Absolute Rolls Royce of a player. With a more extrovert personality he might have stood up and been noticed a bit more but I think that would have made him a different player and likely worse.
I really wonder how non biased football followers (so non United/Liverpool fans) would rate Carrick vs Henderson...
Not underrated as such, but injuries at key times have robbed Marco Reus of a much higher standing in football. Robbed of a world cup in 2014 - and if he was fit he might've been the star player that team.
I honestly feel a lot of people underrate (or refuse to see) how insanely good Neymar is on his day, because most people feel he's such a massive cnut.. The reactions after the recent PSG - Bayern games surprised me as so many people's inintial response was about what a diving crying baby Neymar was again in stead of applauding him for his performance..
Benzema
This, or maybe Fletcher/Carrick for utd.
Agreed pex. Even some of our very own fans still underrate him. I was sort of in that camp as well. Always thought he could have “shown a bit more aggression when the chips were down”. But as you mentioned, it’s rarely in that type of playmakers nature. I’ve appreciated him more and more since retirement.
Good shout.
Heskey
Paul Scholes..not during his playing days atleast
Guti.
He played 542 games for Real Madrid as a classy, creative midfielder (occasionally pushed further forward into attack) as a regular for around a dozen years, winning 3 Champions League titles in teams with 'recognised greats' like Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo, Raul...
Yet Guti rarely gets mentioned from that era, and for whatever reason only played 13 times for Spain. One of the best passers of a ball I've ever seen - he produced some amazing assists.
He played 542 games for Real Madrid as a classy, creative midfielder (occasionally pushed further forward into attack) as a regular for around a dozen years, winning 3 Champions League titles in teams with 'recognised greats' like Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo, Raul...
Yet Guti rarely gets mentioned from that era, and for whatever reason only played 13 times for Spain. One of the best passers of a ball I've ever seen - he produced some amazing assists.
Gabi, I think. Him being underrated is even a bit understandable as he was a late-bloomer who did a lot of thankless work for a team that wasn't the most glamorous or aesthetically pleasing; almost like he fell out of the ugly-duckling tree and hit every branch on the way down. Particularly in recent years, a lot of casual football watchers associate Atlético with Simeone, Griezmann, Koke, Godín, Luís, Saúl — and oftentimes, Gabi's name gets lost in the mix, even though his influence within the team (as a leader and a combative lynch-pin type in midfield) was second to none. Finished his career with zero international appearances as well...an unfortunate byproduct of being born in the wrong era for Spain from a functional/stylistic standpoint, and being a bit long in the tooth by the time he hit peak performance levels. What a player, though — a tireless release valve for the harshest defense of the decade, while also dictating the team's overall play.
This goal at Camp Nou was quite symbolic...Gabi with the delivery and Godín with the finish; the two pillars of the team combining to finally disrupt the Barcelona—Real Madrid duopoly, and clinching the first league title for Atlético in close to 2 decades!
This goal at Camp Nou was quite symbolic...Gabi with the delivery and Godín with the finish; the two pillars of the team combining to finally disrupt the Barcelona—Real Madrid duopoly, and clinching the first league title for Atlético in close to 2 decades!
It's Benzema. World class player for a long, long time.
Scholes. He was even better than they say
Carrick is rated exactly as he was: a very good player who wasn’t quite a great one. That’s fine. I’m not sure why (some) United are so insistent in their view that he is ‘underrated’.
How so, exactly? Most football fans would recognise that he was an important player for United. Please don’t mention England either; he often underwhelmed for England and that was entirely his fault.
How so, exactly? Most football fans would recognise that he was an important player for United. Please don’t mention England either; he often underwhelmed for England and that was entirely his fault.
Dider Drogba. Appreciated during his career but has seems to have disappeared from the conversation in a way that Rooney, for example, hasn't. Didn't contribute quite as much to all-round team play as Rooney but was a more consistent centre-forward. He was always the striker from another team who I coveted.
Ribery.
Comfortably one of the best dribblers in the game.
Comfortably one of the best dribblers in the game.
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Diego Costa
You can probably extend this to any of the players who were part of Barcelona's mid 00s CL winning team but not of the Pep team (although Samuel was there in the first year) except Ronaldinho. Totally overshadowed by the next team.
What counts as modern football? The PL era?
of course we have the most rated, underrated footballer in history in Denis Irwin.
A lot of people have mentioned Benzema. When Ronaldo was there, yes - but think he’s now recognised as the player he is.
of course we have the most rated, underrated footballer in history in Denis Irwin.
A lot of people have mentioned Benzema. When Ronaldo was there, yes - but think he’s now recognised as the player he is.
This also for me. Without being biased as a Utd fan, Scholes is criminally underrated. The best footballer I have seen in my lifetime playing for UtdScholes. He was even better than they say
Agree.
Neymar, for all of his theatrics, is still one of my favourites players to watch.
I don’t think he ever played in any of their CL finals which is surprising.
Edit: didn’t even make the squad for any of them
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Why do you think he's underrated? What players should he compare with?
Out of current players its probably Benzema.
Who is that? The bloke who used to only pass sideways and backwards? Great player
Think Cavani could qualify for this. Despite being one of the most prolific scorers of the last decade or so, I never got the sense that he was thought of as highly as some of the other top players of his era.
We're obviously hearing a lot more about it now because he's playing for us, and the commentators mention his goal-scoring record at every opportunity, but until then he almost went under the radar to a certain extent. Perhaps it's just ignorance on my part, but I never got the sense that he got the credit that his record deserved. Including from me.
We're obviously hearing a lot more about it now because he's playing for us, and the commentators mention his goal-scoring record at every opportunity, but until then he almost went under the radar to a certain extent. Perhaps it's just ignorance on my part, but I never got the sense that he got the credit that his record deserved. Including from me.