Your most overrated footballer

Studies have shown that 99% of the people who think that Pirlo was overrated are English fans who discovered him in 2012 when he was already past his prime, and never saw him play from 2003-2008.

:lol: I've been exposed. Never thought he would make a world xi.
 
My top ten below (most overrated 1st!), with honourable mentions to Javier Hernandez & Sean Wright Phillips, lol!

1. Falcao
2. Pirlo
3. Pogba
4. Neymar
5. Veron
6. Mcmanaman
7. Griezmann
8. Anelka
9. Sterling
10. Martial

That's a bizarre list. Unless you were claiming they were all the best players ever.
 
I watched Arahavin demolish Rangers in the EL final and then Holland at the Euros and thought this guy might be the best player on the planet, I was wrong
 
My most overrated footballers:-

- Maradona > better than Pele
- Dinho > better footballer than Messi and Ronaldo
- Rivaldo > better than Zidane
- Okocha > better than Gerald & Lampard
- Scholes > better than Gerald & Lampard
- Nani > better than Valencia & Young
- Kanu - underrated
 
Arshavin. The unforgettable Euro and the mind blowing start of his PL career made me a huge fan and I still think he could have been a legendary midfielder if the right mentality was there.
I'm mad to this day that he didn't quite make it, because I adored to see him play.

Honorable mentions: Ljungberg, Hleb, Rosicky, seems like an Arsenal thing for me for some reason. :lol:
I think it’s a bit unfair to Arshavin that most judge him from 2008 on. He was borderline world-class/world-class for a few seasons before that already and he came to England at the decline of his career (with Euros being the absolute pinnacle of it). It was unnecessarily rough decline though, and he only has himself to blame, but people usually underrate how good he was for a prolonged period of time because of how late he had moved abroad (and how little exposure he got outside of Russia).

Mentality-wise he was akin to Messi minus the almost insatiable drive to win. Happy to stay in his own little pool (but Messi was already at a pool that suited his talent), waiting for his dream transfer to Barcelona — before getting sold to Arsenal as they’ve offered more money.
 
Giuly was my favourite Barça player for a couple of seasons, I couldn't stop going on about his off the ball movement and his pace, to the point my mates started to make fun of it. I understand he was probably not as good as I thought back then, but I still think he was a brilliant player who deserved more love, and was definitely a very important part of the best version of Rijkaard's Barça, which was actually the foundations of Pep's.
 
I thought Jose Antonio Reyes (RIP) was going to be the best player in the world. Was extremely annoyed when he joined Arsenal. Did he score on his debut?

there was one season he scored in almost every game until Neville kicked him off the park at Old Trafford
 
I'm not sure they're even that highly rated, at least not anymore, but both Griezmann and Morata are players I never really thought would perform as well as the hype involving their respective transfer sagas. I think I was right.
 
Current players. Raheem Sterling and Antoine Griezmann.

A bit further back in time. Patrick Kluivert and Alessandro Nesta.
 
Laurent Robert, Jay-jay Okocha & Angel Gomes
:nono:

Okocha was one of the most gifted players I've ever seen. Too bad about everything else.

Back in the days at the football academy I was in, the coach made us watch two VHS tapes: one was SAF's training methodology and the other was Okocha's dribbling without touching the ball. We were 9 year olds. Same place where João Felix started at and I was better...
 
Curious about the overrating of Griezmann. I mean we're talking about a player who at his best was a genuine ballon d'or contender in the era of Messi/Cristiano....

What exactly did you people thought he could be? :eek:
 
:nono:

Okocha was one of the most gifted players I've ever seen. Too bad about everything else.

Back in the days at the football academy I was in, the coach made us watch two VHS tapes: one was SAF's training methodology and the other was Okocha's dribbling without touching the ball. We were 9 year olds. Same place where João Felix started at and I was better...

Loved him! Might have been on of the reasons I really got into football.
 
Curious about the overrating of Griezmann. I mean we're talking about a player who at his best was a genuine ballon d'or contender in the era of Messi/Cristiano....

What exactly did you people thought he could be? :eek:

For how long did that best last? He's been underperforming for so long now that his new standard is bang average.
He was great for a season or two, though. That much is undeniable.
 
Pirlo overrated?...for feck sakes burn this thread to the ground.
 
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Gonzalo Higuain - never has there been more money spent on such an average player
 
We should have a separate list for those we subconsciously overrated purely because of old football games: Akinfeev, Yakubu, Adu, Nedum Onuah ...I could see they were average but kept telling myself they'd really kick on and be the best in the world
 
There’s an ocean between average and best in the world, Yakubu knocked about somewhere between the two
 
Giuly was my favourite Barça player for a couple of seasons, I couldn't stop going on about his off the ball movement and his pace, to the point my mates started to make fun of it. I understand he was probably not as good as I thought back then, but I still think he was a brilliant player who deserved more love, and was definitely a very important part of the best version of Rijkaard's Barça, which was actually the foundations of Pep's.

Ditto! He was a hell of a player though, definitely underrated.
 
Was he really that bad though?

I felt he came and did quite well at Arsenal as far as I remember. Maybe I forgot.

I thought he ended up dying off a bit but it's not like that doesnt happen to alot of Arsenal players under Wenger like the ones you mentioned.

I was like you, I felt maybe under a different coach he could have extended that great run much longer than it lasted.

After a while it became invisible. I couldn't understand why, and I assumed Wenger was undermining him. Later I read that he had problems settling down, was drinking etc so the problem was likely on his end, but a different manager could have brought the best of him. As you say, Wenger really seemed to lack the skill to light up players who started declining.
 
After a while it became invisible. I couldn't understand why, and I assumed Wenger was undermining him. Later I read that he had problems settling down, was drinking etc so the problem was likely on his end, but a different manager could have brought the best of him. As you say, Wenger really seemed to lack the skill to light up players who started declining.

That's a shame that he might have started drinking.

Still enjoyed him with some neutrality at the time though.
 
My most overrated footballers:-

- Maradona > better than Pele
- Dinho > better footballer than Messi and Ronaldo
- Rivaldo > better than Zidane
- Okocha > better than Gerald & Lampard
- Scholes > better than Gerald & Lampard
- Nani > better than Valencia & Young
- Kanu - underrated
Are the ones NOT in bold the over rated ones?
 
Aguero. He's good but I don't really rate him as world class.
Same. I was surprised when I first started researching G/xG ratios and found that the most objective measure of "clinicalness" we have suggests that Aguero is a strong but unspectacular finisher who primarily benefits from a high rate of chances. Him and Kane have been trading places for all-time PL goals/game since seemingly forever but when you stop and think about it, that's kinda fishy in its own way.

One of them plays for a dominant attacking side and the other plays for a solid top 4/6 team that has never been dominant and has more recently been famous for parking the bus. Yet they still have similar GPG. From there, it makes sense that Kane's finishing outperforms expectation a lot more than does Aguero's in order for them to maintain even footing in GPG.
 
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Are the ones NOT in bold the over rated ones?
:lol: - you are right in saying that. I overrate them because I think they are underrated as compared to the ones on the left.
I used to intentionally overrate the ones in bold to fend off media bias from the ones on the right. Also, I preferred the ones on the left because of personal bias - while in school, modelled my game around M10, Dinho, Rivaldo, Ortega and Okocha - so very very biased :lol:.
 
Silvestre. I thought he was going to be the leagues best LB at one time. He turned out to be a good squad player - but I deffo overrated him and/ or his potential at one point.