Player’s You Don’t Rate As Highly As Others

Cascarino said:
tbh, I think it's said about all of the players you've listed. There's a plethora of comments on this forum alone stating that Mbappe has to leave the French league if he wants to realise his potential. This forum (and football fans in general) underestimate the quality of the French league, but it's undeniable that Neymar currently playing in Ligue 1 impacts his standing in the game more so than if he was plying his trade in England or Spain.
He's probably the best player in the world but that's not really the common consensus, and a large part of that is due to where he plays his football.
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I think Messi is still probably the best player in the world right now, but I’d have Neymar as second. Just a couple of months ago I thought Neymar was maybe number one but Messi has been in superb form recently
 
The Original said:
Nope, he was classed as the best in the generation right before this happened. When Eto'o was king, Xavi wasn't really playing and Iniesta was getting games here and there and Messi would make his debut towards the end of that era. Eto'o made his name playing with Ronaldinho and Deco, under Rijkaard.
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Correct
 
NasirTimothy said:
I think Messi is still probably the best player in the world right now, but I’d have Neymar as second. Just a couple of months ago I thought Neymar was maybe number one but Messi has been in superb form recently
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Yeah you are right, I should have said second best, at least imo anyway. Messi is so good I usually leave him out when judging players.
 
Bwuk said:
Cristiano Ronaldo is the best to have played in the league. Not going to list other names.
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False. Henry’s PL career was much better overall than Cristiano Ronaldo’s, though Ronaldo was obviously a better player taking everything into account
 
Henry. Yes he was fast, quick and speedy but I’ve heard people call him best in the league. What about CR7? What about Giggsy? What about Scolesy?
 
DOTA said:
The only player I think you can make a serious case for is Shearer but I fear something much worse is coming.
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I honestly don’t think you could make a case for Shearer either
 
Cascarino said:
Yeah you are right, I should have said second best, at least imo anyway. Messi is so good I usually leave him out when judging players.
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To be fair, Messi did have a rough period last year. It was odd because he’s so freakishly consistent, especially for a creative player.
 
Rozay said:
Yea but what does that mean though? You may as well add Paul Scholes to this thread on the basis that he lacked qualities to play on the left. If you agree that Gerrard was a ‘real force and genuinely world class’ in his main role, then he probably doesn’t belong.
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I was implying he seemed a better player when he had two other central midfielders to free his defensive duties a bit more which wasn't the case all through his career. I recall Gerrard having his best season with Torres in 08-09 with Mascherano and Alonso as the central midfielders.

The difference in his first half performance against AC Milan and his second half where he moved further up the pitch was down to Hamann coming on and getting a grip on the midfield. His best performance against us was probably in that 4-1 game (playing in a free role behind Torres), and his FA Cup final MOTM had him playing as a right midfielder next to two holding players.
 
Stack said:
Harry Kane
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I was in this camp up until about 2 years ago I reckon. For his reputation, I never feared him when facing Spurs. Was more concerned with Son. Of course, I knew that if he was presented with a clear shot on goal in front of goal, he would score - but to me, he had nothing about him that would earn that opportunity. No pace, skill etc. He was very well handled for years against us.

That said, in the last couple of years, his game has really come on massively in almost every aspect and I give him his dues now.
 
Michael Carrick with his sideways and backwards passing. fecking useless white text
 
Irwin99 said:
I was implying he seemed a better player when he had two other central midfielders to free his defensive duties a bit more which wasn't the case all through his career. I recall Gerrard having his best season with Torres in 08-09 with Mascherano and Alonso as the central midfielders.

The difference in his first half performance against AC Milan and his second half where he moved further up the pitch was down to Hamann coming on and getting a grip on the midfield. His best performance against us was probably in that 4-1 game (playing in a free role behind Torres), and his FA Cup final MOTM had him playing as a right midfielder next to two holding players.
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That’s all fine, but it again doesn’t sound like you think he wasn’t that good at all. You seem to agree that he was as great a player as is said, only that when not played to his strengths, he is not as good. Which may be true of course, but it doesn’t matter as he spent much of his career making the great attacking contributions that you agree he was very good at.
 
Drogba is one I’d forward for this thread. He wasn’t that good to me, although had some great moments.
 
Neymar.

Nowhere near Ronaldo and Messi. Never has been, never will be.

I rate Ribery and Robben way higher than him.
 
DOTA said:
He did hit 20 in a season seven times. But, no, I think it's Henry.
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Yeah you can’t take anything away from Shearer’s finishing, but he was nowhere near Henry as an all round player IMO
 
OutlawGER said:
Neymar.

Nowhere near Ronaldo and Messi. Never has been, never will be.

I rate Ribery and Robben way higher than him.
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That just isn’t true. In 2015 I think, he certainly moved past Ronaldo. He should never have gone to France, but he was carrying Barcelona for a while, and was almost top scorer, but Ronaldo scored I think 17 penalties.
 
NasirTimothy said:
I think Messi is still probably the best player in the world right now, but I’d have Neymar as second. Just a couple of months ago I thought Neymar was maybe number one but Messi has been in superb form recently
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Rozay said:
I was in this camp up until about 2 years ago I reckon. For his reputation, I never feared him when facing Spurs. Was more concerned with Son. Of course, I knew that if he was presented with a clear shot on goal in front of goal, he would score - but to me, he had nothing about him that would earn that opportunity. No pace, skill etc. He was very well handled for years against us.

That said, in the last couple of years, his game has really come on massively in almost every aspect and I give him his dues now.
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This is a good thread, decent replies with good points
 
Bergkamp - great but overrated
Henry - my favorite French player and a joy to watch for Arsenal but also a player whose flaws where hidden in EPL but not outside it
Gerrard
Kimmich - versatile but not exceptional
Varane - he's 28 but still plays like a promising youngster with great potential that is yet to be fulfilled
 
NasirTimothy said:
I honestly don’t think you could make a case for Shearer either
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The reason I'd make a case for him is because he dragged Blackburn to the title. Henry had the privilege of playing in a significantly stronger team under one of the greatest managers of all time. In terms of PL careers, they are close.
 
I'm gonna say it. Sergio Ramos.... I admire his will to win, and he went on a run of popping up with some goals. But I see his name too often with the great defenders of this generation. He's the Jordan Henderson of Real Madrid.
 
Even before he joined, I never got what Alexis Sanchez was all about. Not really a winger, not a striker, not a playmaker. When Arsenal tore through the LvG team and then did well sometimes against Jose and Ole, it was Ozil and the other forwards doing a lot of the damage.
 
Martial. It's baffling he even has his own fanclub on here

Also Griezmann. Not sure what the fuss over him either
 
N'Golo Kante. I will choose Jorginho in my team over Kante every single time.

SATA said:
Martial. It's baffling he even has his own fanclub on here

Also Griezmann. Not sure what the fuss over him either
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No coincidence that our results and performances have improved since he's been unavailable for selection.
 
If you don't rate eto you should stop watching football.

He is the greatest ever striker
 
NasirTimothy said:
False. Henry’s PL career was much better overall than Cristiano Ronaldo’s, though Ronaldo was obviously a better player taking everything into account
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You say false...then say Ronaldo was obviously the better player?

Ronaldo won 3 leagues, 1 FA Cup, 2 league cups and 1 CL. How was Henry’s career better? It was just longer.
 
Rozay said:
Yea but what does that mean though? You may as well add Paul Scholes to this thread on the basis that he lacked qualities to play on the left. If you agree that Gerrard was a ‘real force and genuinely world class’ in his main role, then he probably doesn’t belong.
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The problem was that Gerrard's main role that he spent most of his career playing in, and that people tried to claim he was world class in, was central midfield. I thought it was obvious for years before it finally happened that he needed to be pushed forward into a more attacking role, but instead he just continued playing in midfield trying to be the main playmaker (and being very inconsistent at it). He always had the tools to be truly world class in a more attacking role but ended up only really playing there for a couple of seasons.

I feel very similarly about Pobga now interestingly enough.
 
Micheal Carrick.

His was the first name that sprung to my mind. Decent player in a great team. If you put him in the United teams since SAF retired he wouldn’t have been successful, in fact he was in some of them and wasnt. He did a job, we had the best back four in world football and the best front three, we also had Scholes. You’d struggle not not win trophies with that team. People talk about him now like he was some sort of misunderstood football god, better than Busquets and Pirlo.
 
Zidane - An incredible big game player, but in terms of performances game-in game-out over the course of the season he was never near the level that people try to put him.

Kaka - His best ever season where he won the Balon d'or, he wasn't even the best player in his league (Totti was better) let alone better than Cristiano. A very good CL campaign, part of which was up against a second string Utd defence because of injuries, seems to have led people to rate him at a higher level than I really think he reached.

Bergkamp & Zola - Good players, but not as good as they seem to get rated. Hell I see people (normally non-Utd fans) try to claim they were at a similar level as Cantona.

Gerrard - As I said in a post above, he had all the tools to be truly world class in a more advanced position but spent the majority of his career as a talented but inconsistent central midfielder.
 
Jeppers7 said:
Micheal Carrick.

His was the first name that sprung to my mind. Decent player in a great team. If you put him in the United teams since SAF retired he wouldn’t have been successful, in fact he was in some of them and wasnt. He did a job, we had the best back four in world football and the best front three, we also had Scholes. You’d struggle not not win trophies with that team. People talk about him now like he was some sort of misunderstood football god, better than Busquets and Pirlo.
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I think that's harsh as he was starting to get past his best at that point and was struggling with injuries and health. I remember in Mourinho's first season Carrick came back from injury and we instantly got into our best form of the season and he looked like the main reason for that, but then Jose did what Jose does and expected him to play 90 minutes every match and ran the 34 year old Carrick into the ground.

You have to remember that even towards the end of Fergie's reign Carrick was largely functioning as a one man midfield next to the likes of Cleverley, Anderson and a past-it Scholes. Indeed his best ever season came when he had to take on the main role himself and the midfield and defence around him were no longer anywhere near their best.
 
Bruno - he has worldclass goal stats as a midfielder, but I don’t think he is worldclass based on his overall game and performance as a midfielder.

Lampard - similar as Bruno, he had worldclass goal stats, but he isn’t worldclass in his overall game.

Mctominay - he is hardworking, always willing to run, does some decent defensive work and could score a few goals. But apart from that, he doesn’t have many talent, and his passing is one of the worst I’ve ever seen from any midfielder.

Haaland - best bully type of striker in the game right now, but he lacks natural talent and was rather “unproven” week in week out at top league. Would be interesting to see if he could keep up his amazing stats once he moved to a more difficult league. But right now he is definitely overhyped by his agent and fans in general, although he is still very good.

Modric - Obviuosly a very good midfielder, but I don’t believe at any point of his career he was among top 3 player in the world, let alone the best (winning Ballon D’or). He was good in couple of games during WC group stage, and was in general top 3 midfielder in the world during his peak, that’s all. Winning Ballon D’or was a complete joke, and I rate De Bruyne much higher than him.
 
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Steven Gerrard. He was a rather good midfielder, but at any point in time there's about ten other PL midfielders at the same level. His legacy comes down mostly to the fact that he was a one club man and that football media throughout the 2000-2015 era consisted mostly of people who worshipped or used to play for Liverpool. His actual skills as a footballer were not much more than what you'd expect of a player who spent his entire career at a club that struggled to´stay in the top 4. He also has too many hilarious mistakes and slips on his resume, and was a notable cheat without owning up to it. If England didn't have this weird forced romanticism about Liverpool, he wouldn't be remembered for much. He was just a pretty good midfielder. United have had at least five equal or better ones during the same span of time, but somehow he's heralded as some kind of master despite not doing a whole lot to warrant it besides staying at LFC.
 
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Best for me to stay off this thread, feel there are some ridiculous posts here and it’s a battle to not reply to all of them because most likely posters only watch these players when United play them or have some kind of personal agenda against them. People not rating Neymar, Henry etc.
 
Martial. Loads of talent but he's useless when it comes to actually applying it.

Gerrard. He's best playing a free role behind the striker with no defensive responsibility and yet he's played as a central midfielder where he's hailed as world class despite being caught out of position most of the time.

Di Canio - Fascist twat, comparing him to Cantona is an insult.

Dele Ali - everytime I've seen him play, all he has done is dive and foul a lot.
 
Zaha. Bang average footballer. So sick of the endless "when will he get his big move". Crystal Palace is his level.
 
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