Most under-rated player in the world today?

[Heliodorus]

How can any of the players mentioned be under rated?

Surely the names mentioned should be coming from the likes of the Danish, Lithuanian, LOI, Norwegian, Belgian Leagues etc etc. Drag the thread up in a year or two and see who is right then.

Mentioning the likes of Messi in a thread like this is crazy.

[rambler14]

Wasn't Messi injured for a good portion of the season aswell?? The same amount of time as Ronaldo?

[DeLorean]

I think the people that talk about it being a Jan-Dec thing as opposed to a Aug-May award are cluthching at straws just because they are anti-Ronaldo. I'm not the guys number one fan and think that Messi is a far superior player but lets be fair...42 goals for a midfielder in a season is phenominal, for it to happen in a season where it helps your team to win their domestic league and the Champions League crowns it off. Ronaldo scored against all but 3 teams United played against last season including all of the other 'Big 3' where it was claimed he never performed against. The only teams he didn't score against were:

Coventry Carling Cup - didn't play
Manchester City Prem - suspended for first match, failed to score in second
Barcelona - misssed pen

I agree totally with whoever said these guys shouldn't be mentioned in this thread by the way.

[Closed Account 2]

Now he is overrated. He had a good UEFA Cup campaign and Euro 2008 but other than that he's been nothing special. His reputation seems to be built on that match against Holland in the Euros and Football Manager games!

I wouldn't say he's overrated now, I'd say he's pretty much level rated. I think the trouble is if he is playing against top class teams he needs a top class target man to link up with. In Zenit's run to the UEFA final he was playing very well with Pavel Pogrebnyak their tall center forward. Pogrebnyak got injured just before Euro 2008, and since then has only been back for a couple of games at a time. It didn't matter for the Russian national team because Pavluychenko is a similar player to Pogrebnyak (tall target man with powerful shot and good hold up play).

But in terms of clubs, in the interim Zenit have played with the Turkish striker Fathi Tekke or even with Alejandro Dominguez (essentially a winger in his time at Quilmes and River) as a striker. Neither of these is really the type of target man Arshavin needs so his form for Zenit has dipped slightly. Additionally Zenit brought Danny from Dinamo Moscow in the summer, he's a great player but a bit too similar to Arshavin.

He's done very well internationally for Russia in the last two games, scoring and being joint man of the match away to Germany and scoring and setting up both goals (own goals) in the 3-0 win vs Finland (nice goal too (http://vinovo.magnify.net/video/Russia-vs-Finland-30-Andrei-Ars)!).

[ken foree]

...scoring and setting up both goals (own goals) in the 3-0 win vs Finland (nice goal too (http://vinovo.magnify.net/video/Russia-vs-Finland-30-Andrei-Ars)!).

lovely goal amply aided by some woeful defending. wish he and other players would ditch that arrogant "shh" celebration though.

[Oink]

Alan Dzagoev (CSKA), Lavezzi (Napoli), Pogrebnyak (Zenit), Danijel Pranjić (Herenveen), Vedad Ibišević (Hoffenheim), Aureliano Torres (san Lorenzo), Martín Morel (CA Tigre), Salvador Cabañas (CA America), Omar Arellano (Chivas de G.)

Straight from Football Manager that list.


Chelsea CB Alex is really underrated/overlooked in my opinion, he rarely puts a foot wrong and has a fantastic reading of the game.

[Buzzer]

Ricardo Carvalho - undeservedly overshadowed by John Terry in the press IMO

nail on the head there.the best central partnership that chelsea had was gallas and carvalho.
the only reason terry kept his place,and gallas being moved on,was politics concerning his england captaincy etc.
he is being shown up now with carvalho out.dirty sneaky player too...and that's my little rant for the day over!!!!!!

[DeLorean]

Straight from Football Manager that list.


Chelsea CB Alex is really underrated/overlooked in my opinion, he rarely puts a foot wrong and has a fantastic reading of the game.

If you read the rest of the thread I think our knowlegable friend has more than explained his selection.

[gustavo]

In Eircom League terms - Conor O'Grady

[Oink]

If you read the rest of the thread I think our knowlegable friend has more than explained his selection.

Meh..... I think with the exception of Dzagoev, most of them cannot really be considered underrated, they are highly rated in their respective countries but haven't really proven anything on a European, international or highest level domestic league...... Dzagoev has been outstanding in the UEFA cup.

[On The Ball]

Mind me askin where your from and is it football manager your playin?
Im copying most of them names.It's gotta be from football manager.

[JoeSemi]

Sulley Muntari is vastly underrated. Been a huge loss to Portsmouth and has fitted into Inter with ease, scoring some important goals. Great player and one of many vastly underrated African footballers. Add Yaya Toure, Seydou Keita and Freddie Kanoute to that list too.

[Closed Account 2]

I dont play Football Manager, the last football management game I played was Championship Manager 1998.


Meh..... I think with the exception of Dzagoev, most of them cannot really be considered underrated, they are highly rated in their respective countries but haven't really proven anything on a European, international or highest level domestic league...... Dzagoev has been outstanding in the UEFA cup.

Cabanas was top scorer in the Libertadores in 2007 and 2008*, you probably don't know what that competition is, it's an international competition, basically the Champions League for South America + Mexican teams. He's Paraguayan and has been top scorer, not only in Paraguyan leagues but also in most leagues he's played in (Chile and Mexico).

Lavezzi's only had the chance to play in one European tie for Napoli (UEFA Cup v Benfica) but he did well for the Argentinian team in Beijing this summer scoring twice in 3 starts.

Pogrebnyak has scored something like 30 goals in 60 games for Zenit (it's pretty much a 1 in 2 ratio), and was joint top in the UEFA Cup with Luca Toni last season (both 10 goals).

Pranjić hasn't had much chance to play european matches at Heerenveen, but he played all 4 games for Croatia in Euro 2008 (pretty much the only outfield player to do this for them) and set up Darijo Sernja for the goal vs Germany and then scored the goal vs Poland.

Aureliano Torres has been a key player for the Paraguayan national team since 2004, where he - along with the legendary Carlos Gamarra, was key in their silver medals at the Olympics (and bumping Brazil out in the qualifiers :D)

*2008 joint top scorer with Marcelo Moreno Martins.

[Closed Account 2]

Alan Gatagov, a defensive player at Lokomotiv Moscow, is looking like he could be a great player. He's forced his way into their starting eleven over the last few months. He's usually a full back but Yuri Semin has also played him in central defence and in a defensive midfield role. He's a player to keep an eye on and could even transition into Semak's role in the national team.

[wexfordman]

some serie a players are v under rated.

Julio cesar GK, Maicon RB, Diego Milito ATT all from inter
Diego,sissoko and chiellini all juve
Cassano samdoria, Di Natalie udinese, Hamsik napoli

[Infadel]

some serie a players are v under rated.

Julio cesar GK, Maicon RB, Diego Milito ATT all from inter
Diego,sissoko and chiellini all juve
Cassano samdoria, Di Natalie udinese, Hamsik napoli
I don't think he is under-rated. He is very good winning the ball but as we saw in his Liverpool days his passing is awful to be considered a ver good player

[John83]

I don't think he is under-rated. He is very good winning the ball but as we saw in his Liverpool days his passing is awful to be considered a ver good player
A Juve fan I know once suggested that Sissoko was the only player he'd ever seen who'd give the ball away just so he could win it back. They're very fond of him over there. He isn't really underrated outside of England (and its sphere of influence), where some fans are wont to dismiss him as a Liverpool reject - much like Henry was long underrated in Italy as a Juve reject.

[PartySaint]

some serie a players are v under rated.

Julio cesar GK, Maicon RB, Diego Milito ATT all from inter
Diego,sissoko and chiellini all juve
Cassano samdoria, Di Natalie udinese, Hamsik napoli

I've seen Maicon a few times and i dont think he is upto anything special

Dieago Lopez the Villarreal GK is very good and Nikola Zigic at Valencia is definitly one to watch, he is the Serbian Peter Crouch

[Acornvilla]

possibly shay given yaknow? he dosent really get much credit other than from us lot considering how good he is.. he should really be up there with buffon

[gustavo]

some serie a players are v under rated.

Julio cesar GK, Maicon RB, Diego Milito ATT all from inter
Diego,sissoko and chiellini all juve
Cassano samdoria, Di Natalie udinese, Hamsik napoli

Don't think Maicon and Julio Cesar are under-rated to be fair , They're both widely acknowledged as being fine players

[shakermaker1982]

Man Utd are rumoured to be after Cesar now.

[rambler14]

Julio Cesar is a fine keeper in my opinion. I would have no problem with him replacing Van Der Sar.

[Thunderblaster]

Edin Dzeko of Bosnia and Wolfsburg is another player that would, I would think, be considered to be underrated.

[IsMiseSean]

I reckon Stilian Petrov, top quality midfielder in my opinion..