Topic: Most underrated footballers (excluding Liverpool players)

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Fair. But I think that does sometimes stop us reminiscing about him the way we do about our other top quality strikers. You kind of forget how reliable he was for a sustained period. Then again he never hit the peak numbers those others did over a single campaign.

Thats what happens when you end up playing for the Mancs

[he was my favorite player btw]

[Sarge]

[Sarge]

Serious amount of players in here who are not underrated.

[Alan B'Stard]

Case in point - not sure Paul McGrath is underrated. (His book is v.good btw)

[decosabute]

Case in point - not sure Paul McGrath is underrated. (His book is v.good btw)

Not underrated in Ireland and some parts of England, but definitely underrated abroad. I live in Denmark and no one here (I even work in football TV) seems to have heard of him. Was phenomenally talented and would have been seen as amongst the very, very best of his age if not for the booze and dodgy knees.

[Clayton Bigsby]

Serious amount of players in here who are not underrated.

[sinnermichael]

Freddie Ljungberg. Always got overshadowed in those great Arsenal teams by the likes of Henry, Bergkamp and Pires but in terms of goalscoring from out wide, there weren't many better at the time.

[decosabute]

Preben Elkjær. A player who most people outside of Denmark have either not heard of or know very little about, but he was arguably the best number 9 on earth in the mid 80s (Rushie might have something to say about that though).

[Sarge]

Preben Elkjær. A player who most people outside of Denmark have either not heard of or know very little about, but he was arguably the best number 9 on earth in the mid 80s (Rushie might have something to say about that though).

He was some player.

[ElDuderino]

Has anyone brought up Batistuta? Growing up he was the dog's bollocks. Never ever mentioned in a list of greats. I would even put Ronaldo up here. No one ever seems to mention him anymore because of that other prick.  I know obviously everyone still say he's great, but honestly, when he was at his best I don't know that I've ever seen anything quite like it. I'm talking maybe the greatest ever for about a three year period. 

[rafathegaffa83]

Marcos Senna

Excellent player.

[Keith Lard]

Abedi Pele just sprung to mind - thought he was class for Marseille back in early 90's. You never hear a thing about him these days. Or maybe I was getting blinded by the surname and I have the rose tinted specs on

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/zjTj00-kKVk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/zjTj00-kKVk</a>

Loved that Marseille vibe of the early 90's. The kit, the stadium, the Champions League matches against Rangers!

[kj999]

He's the one I would have brought up.
[/quote

He's the one I would have brought up.

Me too

[[new username under construction]]

kennedy bakircioglu

[JackWard33]

Zanetti

[Alan B'Stard]

Love him or hate him - David Beckham is underrated IMO. I think his celebrity profile gets more plaudits then his playing career.

[Broad Spectrum]

Serious amount of players in here who are not underrated.

Yeah just seen Nedved on the first page...

[LallanaInPyjamas]

Zlatko Zahovic. Outrageously talented player who should have made more of himself domestically really. Thunderous left foot.

[F412OUK]

Rui Costa - Top player, hardly gets a mention anywhere
Litmanen - think he’s way underrated, what a player!
Totti - One of my favourites, don’t see him get mentioned enough.
Nesta - one of the very best pure defenders I have ever seen, but everyone talks about his national team partner Cannavaro, who was a great in his own right.
Luis Enruiqe - was a quality player, very underrated.
Essien - what a beast of a player, when people talk about Chelsea team under mourinho, they mostly mention lampard, Terry, Drogba.
Ballack - same as above.
Harry Kewell - this one might divide opinion, but I’m talking his Leeds days, every time I watched him play he was awesome, a joy to watch, and I’d think to myself wish we’d sign him, shame injuries ruined him.

[Crosby Nick]

Zlatko Zahovic. Outrageously talented player who should have made more of himself domestically really. Thunderous left foot.

Loved him ever since plucking Slovenia out of a Euro2000 sweepstake!

[aw1991]

Eyal Berkovic.

[RyanBabel19]

I never ever... EVER hear his name but from everything i've seen Costacurta looks like he was a truly incredible defender

[TepidT2O]

I never ever... EVER hear his name but from everything i've seen Costacurta looks like he was a truly incredible defender

He was phenomenal..


Only underrated in Britain I suspect.

[thaddeus]

I'm going for the angle that the London media always hype their own and the big northern clubs have been so successful that their stars get plenty of attention.  And I know sod all about non-English football.  That leaves the malaise that is midlands football as a hotbed of underrated players.

Apologies if people haven't heard of some of these but I can't bring myself to say Paul McGrath was underrated  .

Gordon Cowans at Villa.  Cowans was a brilliant playmaker and a massive part of the Villa side that won the European Cup (!).  He was unlucky to be around at the same time as Hoddle, Bryan Robson, Wilkins, Reid, Trevor Steven etc. as he would have been a 50 cap midfielder in most other eras.  Not a Liverpool players thread, I know, but Steve McMahon suffered similarly - only 17 caps while Eric Dier has 40 and counting at age 25!

Trevor Peake at Coventry.  He played almost 300 games in the top flight as Coventry repeatedly defied relegation but has been completely forgotten about - look at the state of his wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Peake

Steve Walsh at Leicester.  Pigeon holed as an ill-disciplined thug, which he sort of was, he could actually play and made a decent makeshift centre forward.  During the period when Leicester were our ultimate bogey side he was a massive pain in the backside at both ends of the pitch.


My knowledge of Italian football is largely based on Channel 4 showing Serie A.  As nobody else has mentioned him - probably as he wasn't that good or wasn't underrated or both - Esteban Cambiasso.  Such a great all around midfielder; like a bald, white Gini.

[LallanaInPyjamas]

Loved him ever since plucking Slovenia out of a Euro2000 sweepstake!

He was like Patrik Berger with a better right foot and more goals in him. I guess I've always been a sucker for mercurial attacking midfielders who don't quite make enough of their talent... 

[Peabee]

Romario was a god to me in the 90s as a teenager. I bought a Brazil shirt and used to copy his “toe-pokes” to score goals. Was he underrated? I can’t decide as I always rated him.

Here’s a bit of Romario in the 90s:

https://mobile.twitter.com/90sfootball/status/757656710785798144

[didi shamone]

Eyal Berkovic.

This isn't the Julia Roberts thread.

[Crosby Nick]

This isn't the Julia Roberts thread.

[Broad Spectrum]

Rui Costa - Top player, hardly gets a mention anywhere
Litmanen - think he’s way underrated, what a player!
Totti - One of my favourites, don’t see him get mentioned enough.
Nesta - one of the very best pure defenders I have ever seen, but everyone talks about his national team partner Cannavaro, who was a great in his own right.
Luis Enruiqe - was a quality player, very underrated.
Essien - what a beast of a player, when people talk about Chelsea team under mourinho, they mostly mention lampard, Terry, Drogba.
Ballack - same as above.
Harry Kewell - this one might divide opinion, but I’m talking his Leeds days, every time I watched him play he was awesome, a joy to watch, and I’d think to myself wish we’d sign him, shame injuries ruined him.

How are these underrated though? They're some of the most well-known names in football over the past generation because they were excellent! Well, maybe not Kewell. Rui Costa is a good shout though.

[PoetryInMotion]

Serious amount of players in here who are not underrated.

Yep.

Serious amounts of known legends & greats as well.

[Boaty McBoatface]

Robert Prosinečki - Midfield maestro. Had the ball on a string. Loved a drink and a smoke and injuries got the better of him, but on his day he was up there with the best.

[BobPaisley3]

Romario was a god to me in the 90s as a teenager. I bought a Brazil shirt and used to copy his “toe-pokes” to score goals. Was he underrated? I can’t decide as I always rated him.

Here’s a bit of Romario in the 90s:

https://mobile.twitter.com/90sfootball/status/757656710785798144

Depends how you define ‘underrated.’ Romario was World Player of the Year in 1994, he was obviously rated highly in a lot of circles. I agree with you, he was brilliant.

[kaesarsosei]

Costacurta is a great shout - he was only marginally less good than Baresi (who is easily top 5 CB of all time) and Maldini (who would possibly qualify as both a top 5 LB and top 5 CB). But when people list the great Italian defenders he is never mentioned.

I think Brazilian Ronaldo is under-rated. For me he is the third best player of all time (Messi/Maradona) and this is despite a career that had injury and psychological problems, but people only think of the Portuguese Ronaldo now.

Dennis Irwin - never hear much about him but he is arguably the best LB in United's history and up there with Ashley Cole as the best LB in PL history.

[Boaty McBoatface]

Roy Makaay - Great all round striker with pace, good in the air and a good shot. Left foot, right foot, headers, penalties. Golden boot winner and a 1 in 2 strike rate over his entire career. Unlucky not to play more for Holland due to competing with Kluivert, Bergkamp and van Nistelrooy in the 4-3-3 system.

[Stubbins]

Not a Liverpool players thread, I know, but Steve McMahon suffered similarly - only 17 caps while Eric Dier has 40 and counting at age 25!

I saw Steve McMahon walking down Anfield road before the last game of the season against Wolves. Apart from me (maybe it's because I'm an auld arse) no one seemed to recognise or acknowledge him. Underrated indeed - a real shame.

[Nitramdorf]

I saw Steve McMahon walking down Anfield road before the last game of the season against Wolves. Apart from me (maybe it's because I'm an auld arse) no one seemed to recognise or acknowledge him. Underrated indeed - a real shame.

I used to love him. One goal sticks in my mind not because it was amazing but because of the crowd. Think it was against Abu Dabhi FC to put us top of the league late 80s, he kind of leant back and put it in and the crowd surged so far. Must have moved about 15 feet, like a wave.

[Keith Lard]

How good were the USSR players in the 1988 team that got to the Euro 88 final against Holland? I was really young at the time, but my recollection was that they had some excellent players in the team that you hear nothing about these days. Likes of Alexei Mikhailichenko, who I thought was an excellent player for Rangers.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s82OgfTcR4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s82OgfTcR4</a>

Man, football just seemed so much more exciting back then. Loved the cut of the grass on those pitches, the grainy sound, the stands without cover, etc.

[The North Bank]

Marc Overmars

[clinical]

This won't be popular but Ander Herrera.

[WillG.LFC]

Got some players who really could have played at higher levels like Kevin Phillips. Was top scorer a few times in the league when at sunderland wasn't he?