There are some players who have done or are doing great job in the field of play but they always go unnoticed or even under appreciated. Probably it could be because they are are under the shadows of the so called "big names" in their team or because they don't score lots of goals like Messi and Ronaldo, in the case of midfielders.
Every one is too much busy praising Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for their personal achievements and the trophies they won for their respective teams.
But neither Cristiano nor Messi is the most decorated footballer of all time, it's Dani Alves who is the most decorated footballer of all time.
Apparently media plays a role when it comes to hyping of players probably due to marketing strategies.
When it comes underrated players these are a few players that spring my mind:
1. Francesco Totti:
The Roma legend is a world class playmaker, blessed with a superb first touch, highest level of confidence, composure and excellent passing of through ball and assist ability. He is simply a midfield maestro. His assist compilations on YouTube give plenty of evidence of his high calibre abilities. Probably due to the fact that he didn't play for bigger teams like Juventus or AC Milan that's he did not get enough credits for his performance on the pitch.
2. Xabi Alonso:
when you talk about passing of the ball and shot accuracy Xabi Alonso come to my mind. He is arguably the greatest long range passer ever. His ability to pick someone out from 70 yards plus was unique and completely precise where the ball would be placed for an attacker to perfect placement. Alonso was highly Underrated even in the Spanish national team that comprises of Silva, Xavi and Iniesta.
3. Paul Scholes:
He is undoubtedly he was one of the best midfielder in England No one knows or thinks that because of how underrated he is. Probably at least 10% of all people who watch soccer don’t even know who he is. He is one of the best, but so underrated. He always have been overshadowed by some of the greatest Midfielders like Zidane, Gerrad, Lampard and Xavi. He made 499 league appearance for the club and registered 107 goals. He played at many different positions right from attacking Midfielder to defensive Midfielder. He was master in long shots and long balls. It's unfortunate that nowadays, the media focuses more on the number of goals players, including defenders score. He was under appreciated probably because he wasn't a box to box midfielder that scores a number of goals per season
4. Edin Džeko:
Džeko is one of the most underrated footballers ever. He is one of the best strikers in football. Coming from a war torn country of Bosnia-Herzegovina, he shot to prominence at VFL Wolfsburg where he won the 2008–09 Bundesliga. In 2011, he transferred to Manchester City where he was mainly used as a backup striker or a super sub. He won the 2011–12 and 2013–14 Premier League, 2010–11 FA Cup, 2013–14 Football League Cup and the 2012 FA Community Shield. However due to limited appearances and competition in the starting 11, Džeko was loaned out to AS Roma in 2015. Despite a bad initial season, AS Roma made his a loan deal permanent and now is a regular starter for AS Roma.
Džeko is only footballer to score 50+ goals in the top divisions of more than two countries’ league. (He scored 50+ goals in the Bundesliga, Premier League and Serie A). He is the captain and record goal scorer for his national team, Bosnia-Herzegovina and he is referred to as the “Bosnian Diamond”.
Džeko and AS Roma are best known for their exploits in the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. Despite a 4–1 away defeat to Barcelona in the first leg, they bounced back and defeated Barcelona 3–0 at home to eliminate them and qualify for the semifinals. Džeko scored the one crucial away goal which helped AS Roma to qualify on away goals rule. On the final match day of the 2011–12 Premier League season, Manchester City needed a win to seal the title. However they were trailing 1–2 to QPR at stoppage time. But they bounced back 3–2 with Sergio Agüero scoring the stunning last minute winner as Manchester City snatched the title from Manchester United. However, it was Džeko who scored the equaliser from a header coming from a corner a couple of minutes back. But Aguero took the credit alone.
5. Jamie Vardy:
One of the main men behind the reason of the Leicester City’s shock 2015–16 Premier League title win. Vardy played for many small English football clubs before signing for the “Foxes” in 2012. Leicester City managed to save themselves from relegation in the 2014–15 season. They were given a very low probability of winning the 2015–16 Premier League title. However, the “Foxes” under Claudio Ranieri as their manager lifted the 2015–16 Premier League title thanks to extraordinary performances from Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N‘Golo Kanté. In the 2015–16 season itself, Vardy obtained the Premier League record of scoring goals in most number of consecutive opening fixtures (11 games, all those were from match day 1 to match day 11 in that season). Since Leicester City could not replicate their success in the following season, Vardy was dismissed as a one season wonder. However as of 2019, Vardy has almost reached 100 goals for Leicester City in about 250 games.
Vardy is also one of the best strikers in football. Leicester City can boast of having a Premier League title, whereas Premier League heavyweights such as. Still, the sad reality is that Vardy will be unrecognised in his career, unless he plays for a bigger club.
6. Keylor Navas:
One of the most underrated goalkeepers ever, Keylor Navas is one of the heroes in Real Madrid. He played in a few Latin American clubs before joining the La Liga club, UD Levante in 2011. He joined Real Madrid in 2014 after he led his national team, Costa Rica to the quarterfinals in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, thanks to his heroic goalkeeping. He remained as a backup goalie to Iker Casillas throughout the 2014–15 La Liga season. After Casillas’ departure in 2015, he was promoted to the position of the main goalkeeper. Originally, he was involved in a swap deal with Manchester United in order to get their goalie David de Gea, but the deal did not materialise.
7. Sergio Busquets:
I have yet to see a Central defensive midfielder in recent memory who has such a High IQ in reading the game, a great passer and tempo dictator and an intimidating defensive screen without breaking a sweat most of the time.
Pluck Messi out from the Barca sides of the past decade and their offense suffers. Pluck Busquets out and their entire functionality as a team suffers.
There might be other names who might not have gotten their plaudits as compared to Busquets, but the fact Busquets is so consistent and does his job without much drama makes him lose out to mass market appeal from more star studded players.
8. Park Ji-Sung
Park is the most underrated player ever. His work rate cannot be over emphasized. The South Korean would be the first to instigate and finishes off Manchester United’s deadly counter attacks and at the end of the game he’d be the one making sure the Red Devils did not slacken and continued to press until the referee blew the final whistle.
On top of his exuberant nature, Park Ji-sung oozed quality. He was excellent on the ball and could play in almost any position Sir Alex Ferguson demanded of him. Park Ji-sung’s footballing intelligence was exemplary. He understood what runs he needed to make, when to put pressure on the ball or the best pass to make.
He was the perfect team player. He would be willing to sacrifice his position in the team and often played in roles in order to do just that.On top of everything, Park Ji-sung’s dribbling ability was a standout trait, he could dribble past opponents with ease and his pace always gave him that extra edge against defenders.
The South Korean international had everything you could ask from a player. Yet often he was overshadowed by the presence of the likesbof Ronaldo and Rooney in the team.
The truth is, Park Ji-sung created the space for the likes of Ronaldo and Rooney to thrive in with his clever positional play.
Not much is talked about him since his retirement, but with 205 appearances for Manchester United and 27 goals, Park Ji-sung is a true Red Devils legend.
His goals in vital games makes him a cult hero and a much beloved presence at Old Trafford.
Thanks for reading 📖.
Found it interesting? Comment and Share to your friends!
Every one is too much busy praising Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for their personal achievements and the trophies they won for their respective teams.
But neither Cristiano nor Messi is the most decorated footballer of all time, it's Dani Alves who is the most decorated footballer of all time.
Apparently media plays a role when it comes to hyping of players probably due to marketing strategies.
When it comes underrated players these are a few players that spring my mind:
1. Francesco Totti:
The Roma legend is a world class playmaker, blessed with a superb first touch, highest level of confidence, composure and excellent passing of through ball and assist ability. He is simply a midfield maestro. His assist compilations on YouTube give plenty of evidence of his high calibre abilities. Probably due to the fact that he didn't play for bigger teams like Juventus or AC Milan that's he did not get enough credits for his performance on the pitch.
2. Xabi Alonso:
when you talk about passing of the ball and shot accuracy Xabi Alonso come to my mind. He is arguably the greatest long range passer ever. His ability to pick someone out from 70 yards plus was unique and completely precise where the ball would be placed for an attacker to perfect placement. Alonso was highly Underrated even in the Spanish national team that comprises of Silva, Xavi and Iniesta.
3. Paul Scholes:
He is undoubtedly he was one of the best midfielder in England No one knows or thinks that because of how underrated he is. Probably at least 10% of all people who watch soccer don’t even know who he is. He is one of the best, but so underrated. He always have been overshadowed by some of the greatest Midfielders like Zidane, Gerrad, Lampard and Xavi. He made 499 league appearance for the club and registered 107 goals. He played at many different positions right from attacking Midfielder to defensive Midfielder. He was master in long shots and long balls. It's unfortunate that nowadays, the media focuses more on the number of goals players, including defenders score. He was under appreciated probably because he wasn't a box to box midfielder that scores a number of goals per season
4. Edin Džeko:
Džeko is one of the most underrated footballers ever. He is one of the best strikers in football. Coming from a war torn country of Bosnia-Herzegovina, he shot to prominence at VFL Wolfsburg where he won the 2008–09 Bundesliga. In 2011, he transferred to Manchester City where he was mainly used as a backup striker or a super sub. He won the 2011–12 and 2013–14 Premier League, 2010–11 FA Cup, 2013–14 Football League Cup and the 2012 FA Community Shield. However due to limited appearances and competition in the starting 11, Džeko was loaned out to AS Roma in 2015. Despite a bad initial season, AS Roma made his a loan deal permanent and now is a regular starter for AS Roma.
Džeko is only footballer to score 50+ goals in the top divisions of more than two countries’ league. (He scored 50+ goals in the Bundesliga, Premier League and Serie A). He is the captain and record goal scorer for his national team, Bosnia-Herzegovina and he is referred to as the “Bosnian Diamond”.
Džeko and AS Roma are best known for their exploits in the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. Despite a 4–1 away defeat to Barcelona in the first leg, they bounced back and defeated Barcelona 3–0 at home to eliminate them and qualify for the semifinals. Džeko scored the one crucial away goal which helped AS Roma to qualify on away goals rule. On the final match day of the 2011–12 Premier League season, Manchester City needed a win to seal the title. However they were trailing 1–2 to QPR at stoppage time. But they bounced back 3–2 with Sergio Agüero scoring the stunning last minute winner as Manchester City snatched the title from Manchester United. However, it was Džeko who scored the equaliser from a header coming from a corner a couple of minutes back. But Aguero took the credit alone.
5. Jamie Vardy:
One of the main men behind the reason of the Leicester City’s shock 2015–16 Premier League title win. Vardy played for many small English football clubs before signing for the “Foxes” in 2012. Leicester City managed to save themselves from relegation in the 2014–15 season. They were given a very low probability of winning the 2015–16 Premier League title. However, the “Foxes” under Claudio Ranieri as their manager lifted the 2015–16 Premier League title thanks to extraordinary performances from Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N‘Golo Kanté. In the 2015–16 season itself, Vardy obtained the Premier League record of scoring goals in most number of consecutive opening fixtures (11 games, all those were from match day 1 to match day 11 in that season). Since Leicester City could not replicate their success in the following season, Vardy was dismissed as a one season wonder. However as of 2019, Vardy has almost reached 100 goals for Leicester City in about 250 games.
Vardy is also one of the best strikers in football. Leicester City can boast of having a Premier League title, whereas Premier League heavyweights such as. Still, the sad reality is that Vardy will be unrecognised in his career, unless he plays for a bigger club.
6. Keylor Navas:
One of the most underrated goalkeepers ever, Keylor Navas is one of the heroes in Real Madrid. He played in a few Latin American clubs before joining the La Liga club, UD Levante in 2011. He joined Real Madrid in 2014 after he led his national team, Costa Rica to the quarterfinals in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, thanks to his heroic goalkeeping. He remained as a backup goalie to Iker Casillas throughout the 2014–15 La Liga season. After Casillas’ departure in 2015, he was promoted to the position of the main goalkeeper. Originally, he was involved in a swap deal with Manchester United in order to get their goalie David de Gea, but the deal did not materialise.
7. Sergio Busquets:
I have yet to see a Central defensive midfielder in recent memory who has such a High IQ in reading the game, a great passer and tempo dictator and an intimidating defensive screen without breaking a sweat most of the time.
Pluck Messi out from the Barca sides of the past decade and their offense suffers. Pluck Busquets out and their entire functionality as a team suffers.
There might be other names who might not have gotten their plaudits as compared to Busquets, but the fact Busquets is so consistent and does his job without much drama makes him lose out to mass market appeal from more star studded players.
8. Park Ji-Sung
Park is the most underrated player ever. His work rate cannot be over emphasized. The South Korean would be the first to instigate and finishes off Manchester United’s deadly counter attacks and at the end of the game he’d be the one making sure the Red Devils did not slacken and continued to press until the referee blew the final whistle.
On top of his exuberant nature, Park Ji-sung oozed quality. He was excellent on the ball and could play in almost any position Sir Alex Ferguson demanded of him. Park Ji-sung’s footballing intelligence was exemplary. He understood what runs he needed to make, when to put pressure on the ball or the best pass to make.
He was the perfect team player. He would be willing to sacrifice his position in the team and often played in roles in order to do just that.On top of everything, Park Ji-sung’s dribbling ability was a standout trait, he could dribble past opponents with ease and his pace always gave him that extra edge against defenders.
The South Korean international had everything you could ask from a player. Yet often he was overshadowed by the presence of the likesbof Ronaldo and Rooney in the team.
The truth is, Park Ji-sung created the space for the likes of Ronaldo and Rooney to thrive in with his clever positional play.
Not much is talked about him since his retirement, but with 205 appearances for Manchester United and 27 goals, Park Ji-sung is a true Red Devils legend.
His goals in vital games makes him a cult hero and a much beloved presence at Old Trafford.
Thanks for reading 📖.
Found it interesting? Comment and Share to your friends!
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