Premier League’s underrated XI
XI players who I think are some of the most underrated players in the Premier League.
GK: Jussi Jaaskelainen (Bolton Wanderers): Been at Bolton since 1997 and is probably one of the most underrated keepers in the league. Last season he made 139 saves and a save/shot percentage of 67%, the second highest in the league. But the reason he goes in ahead of first placed Brian Jensen of Burnley is because of the sheer amount of years he has been doing it at the top level.
RB: Vedran Corluka (Tottenham Hostspur): nickname ‘Charlie’ the Croatian is a regular for both his country and Tottenham. He is versatile enough to slot into the right-back or a central role and possesses a good understanding of the game as well as having a strong physical presence. The defender was a big part of the Spurs defence over the last season (29 league starts). The Tottenham back line only conceded 41 goals in 2009/10 and helped the Lilywhites finally break the top four finishing in the much coveted fourth spot.
CB: Ryan Nelsen (Blackburn Rovers): Sam Allardyce’s team are hard to score against (especially at Ewood Park) and their captain is one of the main reasons why. He is an absolute rock at times, which is why the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United struggled against Blackburn at Ewood Park last season.
CB: Alex (Chelsea): With Ricardo Carlvalho’s injury woes over much of the last 18 months the Brazilian has played regularly under Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti. He also helped sure up a shaky defence this last season when Carvalho missed games through injury once again and revelations about John Terry’s personal life seemed to affect his game at times.
LB: Maynor Figueroa (Wigan Athletic): Apart from scoring one of the most spectacular goals this season against Stoke, he has caught the eye of some high profile clubs in the past like Manchester United and Tottenham. Should the 26-year-old Honduran impress in the World Cup the Latics may find it hard to hold onto him.
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It must be people you’re talking too.
Jaaskelainen, Alex, Yossi and Arteta are all fairly highly rated amongst the fans of the clubs they play for and i would also say a number of fans of clubs they don’t play for (unless they have a rivalry with the club)
You compare Bent to Heskey when a comparison with Defoe would be more apt and maybe Bent did score more goals than Defoe in the league this season but Defoe has a much better international record.
Park – i’ve watched him play plenty of times and yes you’re right (similarly to Liverpool’s Dirk Kuyt who’s underrated himself) he does run and run but that’s about it.
PJS 09/10 17 games 3 goals 1 assist
DK 09/10 37 games 9 goals 3 assist
similar stats from similar players.
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Dan mate, Park is a midfielder – it is not just goals and assists that show a good midfielder. I think Park is a great player. I actually think Bent is overrated – again, scoring goals is not everything – as Sunderland’s relegation battle showed. I don’t think he is a team player. In the context of the article Alex was underrated by previous Chelsea managers who never played him. Jaaskelainen underrated because a bigger club didn’t approach him. Arteta underrated because he is no where near Spanish squad (for known reasons), nor big Spanish clubs try to sign him.
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Dan, Kuyt is something of an unsung hero, but they all are in my opinion for various reasons. Thanks for commenting.
TonyTott, cheers for the comment mate and good points. Perhaps there is someone more worthy than Bent to be in the XI.
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Tonytott, just remind me what relegation battle Sunderland were involved in last season…..and how can you possibly overrate a striker who bags 24 Premier league goals ?
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“underrated because a bigger club didn’t approach him”
So he’s only underrated because no-one’s tried to buy him? No-one has ever tried to buy Ryan Giggs from Man Utd does that make him underrated?
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Aron lennon. People have this misconception his final ball lets him down. Well to clarify, before his injury at xmas he had the 2nd amount of assist in the prem. Why ? Because the guys friggin unstoppable when he gets going. I just hope capello tells him to stop passing backwards to the england golden boys – lampard, gerrard and rooney. To much respect Mr lennon, just do your thing and you will set the world alight.
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