Footballers that are more/less famous than normal for their quality level

chomsky89

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More known:
-Bendnter.
- Ali dia
-Beckham. Legendary footballer, but his fame is still far greater than normal for ballon d'Or or number 2s, or even 1s. The best footballers do not get this famous normally
-Fellaini.
- Gabor Kiraly. Sweatpants
- Akinfenwa.
- Vinnie Jones
-Barton
-Ballotelli.
-Maguire
- Van der Vaart. Ibra beef, living up to his last name in a viral moment, not living up to his potential.
-Rory Delap
-

Less Known: This is harder, and mostly suggestions.
-Ronny Johnsen. If his partner were not insanely good, he would be mentioned more often. SAF says he is one of the best defenders he has seen in one interview, and also the most underrated.
-Lucio
-Di natale
-Zanetti
-Bonucci. Insanely good defender, that "lost" a bit of fame from not leaving italy and having the same nationality as Maldini. 121 national games.

Other suggestions?
 
Vinnie Jones is the poster boy for this thread. One of the highest paid players in the 80s and 90s, despite being mediocre and very violent. Yet he was never off the TV. I had a VHS out every Christmas, which were the 90s equivalent of doing Big Brother for a hundred thousand quid.
 
Antony and Maguire have been massive figures of fun on the internet over the past few years.

Hojlund had an Australian singer look like him during his goal drought and became famous on TikTok.

Adam Johnson - albeit probably not for the best reason.

Theo Walcott has a weird summer in 2006 where he was the most talked about England player not named Rooney, despite not playing a game.

Sheringham was class but overshadowed by Shearer at international level and bigger names at United much like the OP mentioning Johnson/Stam.
 
FujiVice said:
Vinnie Jones is the poster boy for this thread. One of the highest paid players in the 80s and 90s, despite being mediocre and very violent. Yet he was never off the TV. I had a VHS out every Christmas, which were the 90s equivalent of doing Big Brother for a hundred thousand quid.
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Sounds like you belong in this thread for not getting the fame you deserve then.
 
More known:

- Gerrard Pique- Played in a very successful Barca side and was probably the most overrated center back of the modern era
- Ederson- Played in a very successful Man City side and was never among the best GKs in the world, yet was somehow always highly rated
- Alvaro Morata- Has played in every major club and yet he is very average. One of the worst "big" names in modern day football
- Victor Valdes- A pretty average goalkeeper for a star studded Barca for a long time. Was a bench warmer in a bad UTD side.
- Jack Grealish- He was brilliant in Aston Villa but he's arguably the most expensive Man City flop in the modern era.
- Marcus Rashford- Only had 2 great seasons and is easily the most overrated post Fergie era Utd player. An eternal 27 year old "young" prospect
- Jesse Lingard- Similar arguments as Marcus Rashford
- Jadon Sancho- Another overhyped English player who flopped in Man Utd before he turned 22. Has attitude issues, and would rather play Fifa than be a good professional.
- Harry Maguire- A good center back, but he was the most expensive defender at his prime and never fully settled at Old Trafford
- Jeremy Doku- A dribbling merchant who has a terrible cross and finishing.
- Federico Chiesa- had a great EURO 2020 and was one of the most expensive flops in Juventus history. He's still in his prime and has barely any game time in Liverpool
- Filipo Inzaghi- Mr Offside himself. He had zero technical ability and is more known than he should have been
- Marco Matterazzi- Only known for the Zidane headbutt, and he was a pretty average player back in day.
- Mario Balottelli- More known for his antics than his football game
- Marco Asensio- He happened to be in insanely successful Madrid side and that's what he's really known for, even though he wasn't really that good
- Adama Traore- Known for his build, pace and speed, yet is a painfully average footballer
- Eric Djemba Djemba- He was supposed to be a replacement for Roy Keane, but he's now regarded as the biggest flop in Ferguson era of Man Utd. He was a meme before memes became a thing.

Less known:
- Henrik Larsson. What a baller was he for Celtic in his prime. He could have easily signed for a bigger club but he stayed loyal for Celtic. A decisive player in 2006 UCL final, at age of 35.
- Dida- Probably the most underrated GK of all time- What a shot stopper and penalty saver this guy was! He deserves a far greater recognition.
- Pepe Reina- He was one of the best goalkeepers in his prime and rarely do people mention his name these days.
- Ashley Cole- Arguably the best ever EPL left back and in his prime, he was the best left back in the world. Ronaldo said that Cole was the hardest player that he played against.
- Gary Neville- Easily the best right back in EPL during his prime and a very reliable Man Utd player. He's more known for his punditry, than his footballing abilities in Man Utd.
- Wes Brown- Was not a world class player, but in 2007/08 season was insanely good. It's looked like Gary Neville was never absent in that season.
- Obi Mikel and Branislav Ivanovic for Chelsea. Mikel was a great replacement for Makelele and a longtime Chelsea player. Ivanovic was one of the best defenders in EPL in his prime and a very underrated Chelsea player.
- Roy Makaay- a prolific goal scorer in early 2000s and one of the best strikers of the world at that time
- Michael Carrick- A great servant to Man Utd club and one of the most underrated midfielders of the modern era-
- Guti- Played for Real Madrid in Galactico era and he was somehow never the "big" name in Real Madrid
- Rafa Marques- Integral to Barca's 2000s success, and somehow has flown under the radar
- Oliver Kahn- Before Neuer there was Kahn. Kahn was disrespected throughout his career and yet is easily one of the GOAT goalkeepers.
- Ze Roberto- Most known for his time in Bundesliga as an excellent left wing back.
- Ricardo Carvalo- His pairing with John Terry during Murinho era was legendary
- Deco- A midfield maestro. He was brilliant in Porto and Barca. Shame his attitude and professionalism ruined his career.
- Michu- One season wonder for Swansea and what a season he had. He's kind of streets never forget type of players
- Jermain Defoe- Before Kane, there was Defoe. A very underrated striker in pre Kane spurs Era.
- Roque Santa Cruz- Had two stunning seasons in Blackburn Rovers but kind of disappeared after that
- David Villa- A phenomenal striker in Valencia and Barcelona. He was responsible for Spain winning World Cup in 2010.
 
Mauro Icardi. To think that there was talk he was coming to United - I think it was when Mourinho was in charge. Or was it Ole? Can you imagine having to deal with his agent wife? Fairly sure she was the one putting that rumor around.
 
Micah Richards is far more of a household name than he should be.
 
Excellent shouts on Barton and Bonucci for each category.

Would love the latter in our back 3. Only Licha can spot a long pass or vertical ball in behind, Bonucci was incredible at that, on top of being a world class defender.

Barton is so annoying. He’s a much less talented version of Kyrgios in tennis. Both have this annoying trait of having a lot of weird opinions and hot takes and an air of “take me seriously” that is completely disproportionate to the (lack of) achievements.
 
A controversial one: Cristiano. An all time great but far more famous than better footballers atleast historically; his fans on social media are something else, only Trump supporters are worse.
 
Jermaine Jenas somehow turned being a totally mediocre footballer into being a mainstream name in the UK and host of the One Show. This despite being a charisma vacuum...
 
Southall. One of the best 'keepers I've ever seen, tremendously good yet not mentioned much any more, and I'm guessing barely known outside the UK.

Same goes for Sansom, maybe England's greatest ever LB alongside Cole but mainly remembered now as a drunk.

Michael Laudrup. People forget just how good he was, more recognition needed for the Great Dane.

Paul McStay was a damn good player in a bad era for Celtic and would have been huge had he come to England.

Duncan Ferguson gets way too much recognition for what he was, a lanky target man who barely ever scored and was always injured. He's talked about in revered tones but he was no more than a John Fashanu or Mick Harford.
 
Wand of a right foot said:
A controversial one: Cristiano. An all time great but far more famous than better footballers atleast historically; his fans on social media are something else, only Trump supporters are worse.
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Not sure I`d agree fully - I`d say David Beckham fits right into that category. Ronaldo`s longevity and doing that playing at the highest level in the far more demanding late 1990s onwards game than some of the names of the decades of the 60s, 70s and 80s I think makes him rated correctly. He also did it at high level clubs involved in the big leagues and big competitions. Agree about his fans.
 
dazjoe said:
Southall. One of the best 'keepers I've ever seen, tremendously good yet not mentioned much any more, and I'm guessing barely known outside the UK.

Same goes for Sansom, maybe England's greatest ever LB alongside Cole but mainly remembered now as a drunk.

Michael Laudrup. People forget just how good he was, more recognition needed for the Great Dane.

Paul McStay was a damn good player in a bad era for Celtic and would have been huge had he come to England.

Duncan Ferguson gets way too much recognition for what he was, a lanky target man who barely ever scored and was always injured. He's talked about in revered tones but he was no more than a John Fashanu or Mick Harford.
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Is that Kenny Sansom? What happened to him?
 
Annihilate Now! said:
Jermaine Jenas somehow turned being a totally mediocre footballer into being a mainstream name in the UK and host of the One Show. This despite being a charisma vacuum...
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I was delighted to find out he was a deviant. Hope never to see or hear him commentate on a game or present a TV show again. I know he’s squirming his way back onto Talk Sport, hopefully that’s it.
 
TC23, Ravel Morrison.

A lot of players who have played for Man Utd are on this list, but outside of United.

Freddy Adu - FM legend

Jack Wilshire - great as a youngster

Balotelli - more know for being unhinged

Bojan - the next Messi

Quaresma - agent was great at transfer speculation
 
ryansgirl said:
Is that Kenny Sansom? What happened to him?
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Kenny yeah. Superb player, but hit the bottle hard, last story I read about him was him in a park looking homeless and drinking from a bottle. Terribly sad story.
 
He was before my time but it seems Baggio should be spoken about more than he is.
Other examples are very expensive flops like Antony, Pepe, Mudryk, Denilson.
 
Rashford. At his best he's a 'good' player, but somehow became our talisman for years and 'too big to drop'.
 
Pogba's never been close to as good as his fame would suggest.

The best stretch of his career came when he was playing in a piss-poor Serie A, in a midfield that had Vidal and Pirlo covering for all of his deficiencies.

A highlight reel player with really good PR.
 
Neil_Buchanan said:
He was before my time but it seems Baggio should be spoken about more than he is.
Other examples are very expensive flops like Antony, Pepe, Mudryk, Denilson.
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Agreed, Baggio is a good shout, Balon d'or winner and was massive in his time.

An even more underrated name from same era is Ruud Gullit, also Balon d'or winner, but also won more team honours than Baggio.
 
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