Naturally gifted slightly underrated footballers?

[sergio_giorgini]

Mousa Dembele (the spud midfielder) - man was proper baller.

Dimitri Payet - one of the most flamboyant and aesthetically pleasing players I’ve seen.

Ibrahim Yattara - YouTube him.

Lua Lua - Loved watching him play for Newcastle and Portsmouth.

Sergen Yalcin - I’m not Turkish but this guy was almost on a par with Zidane in terms of elegance and creativity.

Aleksandr Mostovoi - The Russian Pirlo.

Pierre Littbarski - Played more like an Argentinian than a German.

Prosinecki - Looked like a bank manager but made opponents look silly in his heyday. Technician.



Those are off the top of my. There’s so many examples.

 

[A_M Iniesta]

Berbatov for me is underrated , great technique , cool as ice.

 

[avenellroad]

Some good shouts. Saw Prosinecki play live for Portsmouth back in the day, guy was playing football like he was having a kick about in his back garden. So ****ing good. Wasn’t he smoking 20 a day at the time too?

Lothar Matthäus for me. Arguably one of the most complete/best midfielders ever yet never seems to get talked about by pundits/fans alike in those terms compared to his contemporaries

 

[UpTheGunnerz]

Adel Taarabt on his day did stuff on Messi level, same goes with Ben Arfa.

 

[sergio_giorgini]

Some good shouts. Saw Prosinecki play live for Portsmouth back in the day, guy was playing football like he was having a kick about in his back garden. So ****ing good. Wasn’t he smoking 20 a day at the time too?

Lothar Matthäus for me. Arguably one of the most complete/best midfielders ever yet never seems to get talked about by pundits/fans alike in those terms compared to his contemporaries

Matthaus doesn’t qualify imo. Guy is generally considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time.

 

[AberGooner]

Marcelinho at Hertha was a highlight reel back in the day. Djalminha at Depor another.

In the PL era there's so many to name. The obvious Di Canio/Merson/McAllister/Le Tissier's but others not so often mentioned like Tugay, Benarbia or Malbranque where great to watch. McManaman was an incredibly gifted footballer but not sure if he counts as underrated, Huckerby could beat players for fun off the dribble as well.

 

[2Smokeyy]

Hands down one of my favourite AW signings during that period. Definitely underrated by our fans.

His dribbling was just so good.

 

[SA Gunner]

At Arsenal, it was Mertesacker, Monreal, Sagna, Abou Diaby, Giroud, Vela, Denilson and Xhaka today.

Away from Arsenal it was Carrick, Ji-Sung Park, Xabi Alonso, Bojan and Hamsik.

 

[AberGooner]

Joe Cole another shout. One of the most naturally gifted English players of recent times. Some of the stuff he was doing at West Ham was video game like.

 

[Blaziken]

Alexander Hleb
Seydou Keita
Pablo Aimar
Michael Carrick
Alvaro Recoba
Diego Tristan
Adebayor

 

[Rex Stone]

Kerlon

 

[Rosso]

Was Prosinecki underrated? Anyone who knows football knew how technically wonderful he was. Sure there are loads but I’ll throw in Ji-Sung Park, he’s remembered as a workhorse who did a job for the team which is true but he was also class for PSV on their way to the CL semi-finals in 2005. Also Djorkaeff was a lovely player but probably doesn’t get remembered as much because of Zidane.

 

[bingobob]

Berbatov for me is underrated , great technique , cool as ice.

One of the best players ive seen live.

This is a tough topic because what counts as underrated? What is naturally talented?

Id guess for me anyway id go with two players close to my heart.

Damien Duff is a player that was just immense and had what could have been a great career curtailed by injuries. Fantastic for Ireland and a key player in the early years of the Roman era for Chelsea. Mourinho wasn't keen and he still forced his way back into the Chelsea team. Won a couple of leagues and cups, was massive in the champions league for them, won silverware at Blackburn and was part of a team that took Fulham to a European final. Its a shame there will be a generation of Chelsea fans that couldn't pick Duff out of a line up.

The other player probably more controversial because some will say he is rated just enough. Rubbish to that. If he played for us or another EPL for a significant period of time he'd be regarded as one of the best out and out strikers to grace the game. The all time Europa/Uefa cup top goal scorer, the obly player to score against Mourinho in a European final (he done it twice), European golden boot winner, record spl goal scorer and done all this after recovering from a horrendous double leg break. I know some Arsenal fans cant have him because as Henry said 'People always talk about Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o, Ludovic Giuly and everything, but I didn't see them today, I saw Henrik Larsson. He came on, he changed the game, that is what killed the game. Sometimes you talk about Ronaldinho and Eto'o and people like that; you need to talk about the proper footballer who made the difference, and that was Henrik Larsson tonight' - 34 year old in his last game who'd done his Acl the previous season but that just underscores his greatness.
Shocking underrated but such a gifted footballer. Left foot, right foot, chips, header, outside the box, fantastic link up play, super movement and intelligence.

 

[sergio_giorgini]

One of the best players ive seen live.

This is a tough topic because what counts as underrated? What is naturally talented?

Id guess for me anyway id go with two players close to my heart.

Damien Duff is a player that was just immense and had what could have been a great career curtailed by injuries. Fantastic for Ireland and a key player in the early years of the Roman era for Chelsea. Mourinho wasn't keen and he still forced his way back into the Chelsea team. Won a couple of leagues and cups, was massive in the champions league for them, won silverware at Blackburn and was part of a team that took Fulham to a European final. Its a shame there will be a generation of Chelsea fans that couldn't pick Duff out of a line up.

The other player probably more controversial because some will say he is rated just enough. Rubbish to that. If he played for us or another EPL for a significant period of time he'd be regarded as one of the best out and out strikers to grace the game. The all time Europa/Uefa cup top goal scorer, the obly player to score against Mourinho in a European final (he done it twice), European golden boot winner, record spl goal scorer and done all this after recovering from a horrendous double leg break. I know some Arsenal fans cant have him because as Henry said 'People always talk about Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o, Ludovic Giuly and everything, but I didn't see them today, I saw Henrik Larsson. He came on, he changed the game, that is what killed the game. Sometimes you talk about Ronaldinho and Eto'o and people like that; you need to talk about the proper footballer who made the difference, and that was Henrik Larsson tonight' - 34 year old in his last game who'd done his Acl the previous season but that just underscores his greatness.
Shocking underrated but such a gifted footballer. Left foot, right foot, chips, header, outside the box, fantastic link up play, super movement and intelligence.

Underrated = Underappreciated or not renowned as much as their talent deserved.

Gifted = The game just seemed to come naturally to them. They made it look easy.

Half the players listed so far don’t fit both criteria.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

Andy Reid, he'd have been one of the finest midfielders around if he wasn't such a fat bastard.

 

[sergio_giorgini]

Alexander Hleb
Seydou Keita
Pablo Aimar
Michael Carrick
Alvaro Recoba
Diego Tristan
Adebayor

No trolling around here please!

 

[GDeep™]

Juan Carlos Valeron.

 

[Rex Stone]

Juan Carlos Valeron.

Great shout.

Add Micoud and Diego to that.

 

[2Smokeyy]

Forgot about Marcos Senna too.

He was easily one of the reasons why Spain won the Euros in 2008 but not many mention him.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

Great shout.

Add Micoud and Diego to that.

Diego was an utter demon for Bremen.