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Most Underrated Players Ever

Discussion in 'World Football' started by Liam Scales, Mar 11, 2017.

Discuss Most Underrated Players Ever in the World Football area at TalkCeltic.net.

  1. PaulM1888 Moderator Moderator Gold Member

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    List is absolutely all over the place. Cristiano Ronaldo will be in amongst the GOAT debate, Xavi above Iniesta?, Effenberg a great?, Jari Litmanen a demi-*? Nesta and Gullit above Cannavaro?

    Load of rubbish.
     
  2. Swervedancer Guest

    Oh no no no, CR7 is an excellent footballer but he's not nearly one of the beautiful ambassadors of the game. I do agree with you when it comes to Xavi and Iniesta as I think they at least deserve equal status, Iniesta always being my favourite non Celtic midfielder. I don't really know the other guys you're talking about. Litmanenen is Finland's greatest football star I think. Cannavaro the only defender to win the Balon d'Or. I think that's cause Italy won the World Cup that year though and he was captain. Usually the most outstanding footballers start at midfield with creativity and then the next who can finish are regarded as Gods because it's so rare to find such consistent confidence. I'm not sure how much esteem that should be regarded in when there were so many who missed out. Gullit was a good player, I don't know Nesta, only heard he was a brilliant defender? Effenberg escapes me completely.

    But let's get one thing straight, there's Ronaldo and then there's the Real Ronaldo. He's up there where he belongs.
     
  3. Callum McGregor The Captain Gold Member

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    Nesta was better imo.
     
  4. ILoveTheCeltic

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    Id promote Xavi to the top tier, him and Zidane are the two best midfielders ever i'd say.

    Id demote Best, Schmeiechel, M.Laudrup, Muller, Baggio and Romario down a level and put Rijkaard, Gullit, Cafu and Iniesta up.

    Id put Hagi, Litmanen, Redondo down 2 levels. I'd put Socrates, Koeman, Breitner, Krol, Passarella and Carlos up.

    Id put Rui Costa, Casillas, Giggs, Effenberg, Prosinecki, Shearer and Gascoigne down a level and put Johnstone, Maier, Keane, Makelele, Kopa and Sammer up.

    I'd delete Bebeto, A.Pele. B.Laudrup, Beckham, Stojkovic, Overmars, Blokhin, Francescoli from it, i'd say they were not world class players.

    Ibrahimovic, Lahm and Busquets into Demi *, Riquelme into great, Lucio, Drogba, Veron, Seeler, Terry, A.Cole, McGrain, Van Nistelrooy, Maicon, Schweinsteiger absolute loads of players missing from very good.

    Defensive players are probably under-rated overall.
     
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  5. Liam Scales Gold Member Gold Member

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    I'd have Xavi above Iniesta I think. Not as flashy as Iniesta but I've never seen a player able go control a football match like Xavi.
     
  6. Aidan O’Shea

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    Totally agree. Best I've ever seen.
     
  7. ILoveTheCeltic

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    Id promote Xavi to the top tier, him and Zidane are the two best midfielders ever i'd say. Culdn't have one without the other. C.Ronaldo should go up there too.

    Id demote Best, Schmeiechel, M.Laudrup, Muller, Baggio and Romario down a level and put Rijkaard, Gullit, Cafu and Iniesta up.

    Id put Hagi, Litmanen, Redondo down 2 levels. I'd put Socrates, Koeman, Breitner, Krol, Passarella and Carlos up.

    Id put Rui Costa, Casillas, Giggs, Effenberg, Prosinecki, Shearer and Gascoigne down a level and put Johnstone, Maier, Keane, Makelele, Kopa and Sammer up.

    I'd delete Bebeto, A.Pele. B.Laudrup, Beckham, Stojkovic, Overmars, Blokhin, Francescoli from it, i'd say they were not world class players. They were not better than players like Pedro, Van der Vaart, Ivan Cordoba, Cocu, Guardiola, Van Bommel, Ljungberg, D.Milito, Klose, Andy Cole, Yorke, Michael Owen, Elber, Di Canio, Van Hooijdonk, Huntelaar etc type good players who shouldn't make the cut as they just weren't world class.

    Ibrahimovic, Suarez and Busquets into Demi *, Neuer and Riquelme into great, Dani Alves into great atleast especially considering his longevity. Lucio, Drogba, Veron, Seeler, Terry, A.Cole, McGrain, Van Nistelrooy, Maicon, R.Ferdinand, Y.Toure, Ayala, Ribery, Robben, Lizarazu, Evra, Ballack absolute loads of players missing from very good, id probably include Robert Pires in the bottom tier as well possibly Juninho of Lyon.

    Defensive players are probably under-rated overall.

    You could also probably seperate Pele, Maradona and Messi into Goat themselves and rename the tiers going down as they are who most people would put top 3.
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2017
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  8. 31B404 Gold Member Gold Member

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    Ricardo Bochini
     
  9. PaulM1888 Moderator Moderator Gold Member

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    Nesta was better than Cannavaro? Almost double the amount of Italy caps, a Fifa world player of the year and a Ballon D'or suggest differently!

    For me at the very, very, best you would have them at the same level.

    Iniesta is a creative genius, Xavi was a midfield metronome. I know which I prefer personally just in terms of how the game is played.

    You can appreciate the likes of Xavi as a world class talent but when it comes down to technique, creativity and vision in the final third Iniesta is a level above.

    Cristiano Ronaldo will be mentioned in the greatest ever debate, there's actually not even a debate to be had about that fact. His stats and his club and individual honours list does that itself before you factor in that in terms of skill (maybe not as much in recent years) he is a supreme talent.
     
  10. Officer Doofy Come to me, human man Gold Member

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    Completely agree. Xavi was my favourite player in the world at his peak.
     
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  11. ILoveTheCeltic

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    I think Xavi was a level above Iniesta tbh. Would also say technically better and better vision, Xavi scored more goals, assisted more goals and was better defenisvely, more consistant and he dominated games. Iniesta great also obviously but pretty poor shooting, weaker passing, less consistant and less clever defensively although a better dribbler.

    Nesta was better than Cannavaro for me also but he did suffer badly with injury a lot so overall i'd consider them the same level as both were great. Nesta just a bit more class on the ball and clever defensively but he did miss a lot of games and possibly tournaments cant mind if he missed the world cup they won but think he might have and Cannavaro lasted longer at the top level.
     
  12. McChiellini..

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    Weak passing and Iniesta don't go, sorry....I can't have that..

    Wonderful variety of passing from a brilliant player..
     
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  13. ILoveTheCeltic

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    Compared to Xavi though, Xavi could ping passes all over the park with deadly accuracy at pace. Probably alongside Messi the best passer to kick a ball.

    Iniesta floats passes about more and is good at keeping possession but for me wouldnt compare to the top players in terms of range of passing. His touch, ball control and dribbling are 2nd to almost none and his best attributes for me, he also has great vision but his actual range of passing is not absolute top level not as good as Alonso, Pirlo, Scholes or Xavi or Messi. Id also have him below Riquelme, Veron and some others.
     
  14. The Prof Administrator Administrator

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    What has he ever won ? :84:
     
  15. McChiellini..

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    I know what you meant mate, but in no way was it a weakness in his game..

    Xavi was top class..
     
  16. Liam Scales Gold Member Gold Member

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    Each to their own mate, I'd disagree with that though. Iniesta is a genius, as was Xavi. There's a reason two of the greatest teams in history were built around Xavi, that Barca and Spain sides. The way he controlled everything on a football pitch was a level above everything that came before him. He's unique in world football for me.

    Greatest ever central midfield player. I'm just happy we got to see both of them play in the same team.
     
  17. Swervedancer Guest

    @PaulM1888 @ILoveTheCeltic I have to disagree about the very greatest players, CR7 does not belong in that group. I know his statistics are incredible and he's a phenomenal player but as Pique said, Ronaldo is the best of the humans.

    I'm not sure Eusebio deserves to be there either but I can't judge cause I never seen enough of him.

    I also don't know enough of Di Stefano to judge if he was a genius or not. Was definitely some team he played in.

    Although I did mention that Messi should be even higher than Pele and Maradona who were the two outstanding players you could say were supernaturally gifted before Messi came along and changed the game.

    Beckenbaur I've heard changed the game defensively and was amazing at coming forward with the ball.

    But genius is totally different. I would say Pele, Maradona and Messi all have it. Although to be fair I'm only judging Pele on what I've heard and there's quite a few videos of him on YouTube where his unnatural skill can be observed. Ronaldo worked hard to become the supreme athlete he is. He is nowhere near a genius though.

    I don't see how people can say Iniesta isn't good at passing the ball. Veron, Scholes, Alonso, Pirlo? No way. Seriously they are world class but so is Iniesta. He's capable of amazing vision. But he's capable of so much beauty as well. Plus anyone saying he's not good at shooting, he scored the winner for Spain in the World Cup Final. The cheeky * scored a volley against us. I think he's scored in other big games. I will accept though that it's possible Riquelme and Xavi were more clinical and Messi is the best of them all.
     
  18. PaulM1888 Moderator Moderator Gold Member

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    Andres Iniesta pretty poor shooting and weak passing. I've literally heard it all now.

    Xavi assisted more because he played more games for Barca, thus far. He scored more because he hit a lot of free kicks that Iniesta hasn't. Seeing as you love a stat, have a look at their assists to games...

    Neither are arguments for one over the other.

    Both those sides were also built around Pique, Puyol, Iniesta and Villa. You can take your pick from Barcelona for both of them.

    Fair enough it's personal opinion but Xavi would scrape into my top 5 personally. No slight on him, I'd just prefer guys like Riquelme, Zidane, Iniesta and even Roy Keane.
     
  19. Liam Scales Gold Member Gold Member

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    Hmm, I'm not sure built around them is the right word. Xavi was the man in the middle, using his passing and ability to control a game to bring a full new way of playing football. Those guys were part of the teams, no doubt at all, it was built around Xavi though and the style has largely went to * when Xavi was no longer there to be the conductor on the pitch.
     
  20. Swervedancer Guest

    Jeez oh Paul you're tripping now. Roy Keane and Zidane better than Xavi? :40: Just Iniesta is his equal I'm settling for although much better to watch. Riquelme was quite revolutionary so he'll be up there fair enough.