Most under rated players who never played for City

I guess if we're talking players who don't really get recognition for being really good, then going back to my childhood then maybe Kevin Phillips, we'd have had a formidable strike force with him and Anelka up front under Keegan and I think we could have made Europe regularly for those couple of years instead of going for Fowler and Kev's other not so golden oldies.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kun
This is tough question because media cycles and fan perception are so dependent on location, so hopefully my answers aren't complete head scratchers

Might be cheating but I'd say Arteta. Barca reject, never capped for Spain, didn't get his "big" move until the end of his career to a declining Arsenal side. But he was such a classy, intelligent player

Another one for me is Pavel Nedved. The Italian league was quite popular here in the early 2000s when football was really gaining popularity. I absolutely loved watching him play, think theres an argument he was the best player in the world for a few years for those Juve teams. I know he won the Ballon d'or so a bit of a strange one but think of the other winners around his time...Zidane, Figo, real Ronaldo, Ronaldinho. Yes he's highly thought of but he doesn't seem to have the same staying power of the other legends of the time when in my eyes he was just as good if not better and for me that makes him underrated. Maybe forgotten or overlooked is a better way to describe him

Deco as well. Bit of a diver and perception of him soured a bit in his Chelsea days, but I loved watching him in those Porto and early Barca teams. No clue what the perception of him was internationally but I distinctly remember a friend telling me he was awful and I couldn't believe it

Jusi Jasskaleinein or however the fuck it's spelled was too good to be stuck on shit Bolton teams for 20 years
 
Last edited:
yankblue said:
This is tough question because media cycles and fan perception are so dependent on location, so hopefully my answers aren't complete head scratchers

Might be cheating but I'd say Arteta. Barca reject, never capped for Spain, didn't get his "big" move until the end of his career to a declining Arsenal side. But he was such a classy, intelligent player

Another one for me is Pavel Nedved. The Italian league was quite popular here in the early 2000s when football was really gaining popularity. I absolutely loved watching him play, think theres an argument he was the best player in the world for a few years for those Juve teams. I know he won the Ballon d'or so a bit of a strange one but think of the other winners around his time...Zidane, Figo, real Ronaldo, Ronaldinho. Yes he's highly thought of but he doesn't seem to have the same staying power of the other legends of the time when in my eyes he was just as good if not better and for me that makes him underrated. Maybe forgotten or overlooked is a better way to describe him

Deco as well. Bit of a diver and perception of him soured a bit in his Chelsea days, but I loved watching him in those Porto and early Barca teams. No clue what the perception of him was internationally but I distinctly remember a friend telling me he was awful and I couldn't believe it

Jusi Jasskaleinein or however the fuck it's spelled was too good to be stuck on shit Bolton teams for 20 years
Click to expand...
Arteta is an excellent shout
 
The majority of the Ipswich Town (late 70-early 80's) team under Bobby Robson never received the recognition I thought they deserved.
They were probably the best league team I have been lucky enough to see live.
In 1981 they should have won the Division 1 title. Aston Villa won the league, but Ipswich did the double over them.
Ipswich were the better team when City beat them in extra time at the 1981 F.A. Cup semi-final @ Villa Park.
So they only had the EUFA Cup to play for. They won it, but did not achieve what they deserved.
City signed the Ipswich goalkeeper, Paul Cooper, later on in his career. The majority of the Ipswich team did leave earlier in their careers e.g. Alan Brazil went to Spurs and MUFC. John Wark left for Liverpool. They also signed two excellent Dutch players in Muhren and Thyssen, when few English teams took the gamble of signing foreign imports.
Doubt if a team with that low an outlay on transfers and such a small (Town) support will ever again be that successful.
Ipswich Town and Bobby Robson were the great outsiders who never received the accolades they both deserved.
 
Pavel Nedvěd! Never spoken about like Zidane Scholes Vieira Keane Xavi Iniesta Gerrard Lampard are. He was an absolutely fantastic footballer.

Jimmy Greaves. Not just for his goal scoring feats but as my Father says about him “he’s the closest player to Messi that’s ever played the game”. And look at his goal scoring feats haha! Never talked about like George Best is despite being a better player.

A random one - Gareth McAuley. West Brom were a solid Prem team when he played for them. In his final season he got a lot of injuries, played just 12 games, and West Brom got relegated.

And I know you asked for non-City players but I have to mention Sergio Agüero. He’s massively underrated (despite the plaudits he does get). He’s scored more goals in his career than Ian Rush, Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer... of players who’ve spent most of their careers in England, only Jimmy Greaves and Dixie Dean have scored more career goals than Kun.

And look at the quality and difficulty of his goals, some of the angles he scored from, the distance he scored from, the amount of defenders he had in front of him, how many times he found that spot just inside the post where the goal keeper is never getting it, or how many times he hit the top corner...

But not just his goal scoring, his general play has always been brilliant and he adapted his game after Pep came in (some were saying he wouldn’t make it with Pep and be sold!). He’s got the best one-touch play in and around the box in our team, and he’s strong as fuck.

Even among City fans he’s underrated, he’s probably the best and most important player who’s played for us since the takeover, not many talk of him at that level though with most putting David Silva above him (there’s no way Silva is above Kun!).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top