Underrated/Overrated

[Evilo]

I disagree with Sule. He has one huge drawback : his speed. He's so far from Boateng in that regard.

He's a great young defenseman, but his lack of speed will prevent him from being a top 5 CB.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I love how all American players are overrated.

No one rates any of our players. How could they be overrated? They are in fact very underrated. We routinely perform better than all these hot-shot European countries, besides the top few, at the World Cup.

 

[StevenF1919]

Underrated
Skriniar: He's world class, and I say this as a Milan fan. He'd walk into the starting XI of pretty much any club in the world.
Mandzukic: Unreal player who can play almost anywhere on the pitch and still be effective. The guy even dominated at wingback in the CL last season.
Jorginho: Won't be underrated for much longer. He's going to dominate the EPL.

Overrated
Pogba: His accomplishments with Juve were highly exaggerated. Was never even the 2nd best midfielder on the team at any point of his career there. I keep being told he's world class and that none of his managers know how to use him correctly.
Dybala: Lacks consistency. When he plays to his ability he's one of the best players in the world but he's invisible far too often.
Rashford: Joins the long line of overrated English strikers who have pace but nothing else. I'd throw Lingaard in here as well but I don't think anyone really rates him.

 

[Islesfan22]

I love how all American players are overrated.

No one rates any of our players. How could they be overrated? They are in fact very underrated. We routinely perform better than all these hot-shot European countries, besides the top few, at the World Cup.

Pulisic is going to be really good. He has the gift that very few players have a high football iq to go along with excellent technical skill on the ball. Not a bad finisher either. I don't really judge USA on how they perform at World Cups as they have generally overachieved with the talent they have. The lack of top class players produced in the last 10 years is very concerning.

 

[Islesfan22]

Good call on Skriniar he was immense for Inter last season.

 

[Evilo]

I love how all American players are overrated.

No one rates any of our players. How could they be overrated? They are in fact very underrated. We routinely perform better than all these hot-shot European countries, besides the top few, at the World Cup.

When I say Pulisic has the upside of being a top 3 Bundesliga player and you say he has much better upside.
Or when you say me saying Dembele is a better young player than Pulisic is because I'm french.

Those are two great proofs SOME people are overrating american players.

 

[Evilo]

Pogba: His accomplishments with Juve were highly exaggerated. Was never even the 2nd best midfielder on the team at any point of his career there. I keep being told he's world class and that none of his managers know how to use him correctly.
Dybala: Lacks consistency. When he plays to his ability he's one of the best players in the world but he's invisible far too often.
Rashford: Joins the long line of overrated English strikers who have pace but nothing else. I'd throw Lingaard in here as well but I don't think anyone really rates him.

I love the Pogba statements here. Nobody rates Pogba among the top 3 CMs. Everyone ranks him top 10, where he belongs.
And yet, his WC was great. Much greater than several consensus top 5 CMs.

 

[Deficient Mode]

I have never seen a reason to move away from the view I developed watching Kroos over the years: he's a catalyst. In a well-oiled machine, he makes things go even smoother. If there's sand in the cogs, he's not one to pick the team up and carry it into working. There's obvious value to what he does, and whether those abilities make him a top-5/top-10/top-20 midfielder is for everyone to decide. I'll still take Thiago over him, just about any day.

My favorite is when people here insist he's overrated on this forum. Literally 70-80% of the most frequent posters here detract from him constantly and call him overrated. Some people have their heads so far up their own asses.

 

[Moncherry]

I love how all American players are overrated.

No one rates any of our players. How could they be overrated? They are in fact very underrated. We routinely perform better than all these hot-shot European countries, besides the top few, at the World Cup.

Like this summer?

Who are these 'hot-shot' European teams that aren't part of the top few?

 

[Il Mediano]

Underrated
Skriniar: He's world class, and I say this as a Milan fan. He'd walk into the starting XI of pretty much any club in the world.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with you here. That guy is unbelievable.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Pulisic is going to be really good. He has the gift that very few players have a high football iq to go along with excellent technical skill on the ball. Not a bad finisher either. I don't really judge USA on how they perform at World Cups as they have generally overachieved with the talent they have. The lack of top class players produced in the last 10 years is very concerning.

The "overachieved" thing is a phony excuse. It allows those who think everything revolves around European football to belittle the non-giants from the the Americas.

Why do USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay etc routinely perform better than the club teams of their players would indicate they should while teams like Switzerland, Serbia, Greece, Poland, Austria routinely perform worse than the club teams of their players would indicate they should?

If everything revolves around European football and these are teams outside of Europe who have a harder time getting their players into Europe, of course they are going to be underrated. Its not about overachievement. Its about being underrated.

Why do Sweden, Finland, Russia perform so well against USA and Canada in hockey when their players are so much less well known, lower draft picks, often times not drafted? Is it because they are such overachievers or is it because a big mark of prestige is something that they are at a disadvantage in achieving?

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Like this summer?

Who are these 'hot-shot' European teams that aren't part of the top few?

Stop.

I knew there would be some idiot who brings up this World Cup. How about you check the past five or so world cups? We've advanced out of the group stage 3 of 5 World Cups, including a knockout round win.

Not saying thats great, but thats a whole lot better than what we see on a regular basis from Serbia, Greece, Austria, Poland, yet no one is going to call out these countries for being overrated.

You don't even have to use the USA. Use a country like Mexico. They've advanced from the Group Stage the last seven world cups. Thats proving yourself to be a top 16 country in the world. But their players play for worse teams than the players of Austria or Serbia, so obviously that means they are overachievers and those other countries are underachievers. The whole Americas is underrated. Really badly underrated. Costa Rica advanced top of a group with Uruguay, England and Italy and then won their Round of 16 game. They had two players at the time who played in any of the top five European leagues. Must've been that they got so lucky and fluked their way to the QF's with a team whose club resumes might equal Northern Ireland.

The same type of thing is done in hockey where if it doesn't revolve around North America, they are overachievers. Its not that the experts overrate their own importance and underrate the ability and worth of those who are disadvantaged in getting prestige and recognition.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

When I say Pulisic has the upside of being a top 3 Bundesliga player and you say he has much better upside.
Or when you say me saying Dembele is a better young player than Pulisic is because I'm french.

Those are two great proofs SOME people are overrating american players.

You clearly are bothered by that discussion from last year or whenever it is. I stand by what I said. We'll see who ends up being right.

Last time I checked, there wasn't one American who player who existed. You probably couldn't even name 10 American players without using the internet to help, yet we are soOOO overrated. Everyone in football talks about American players soOOO much. We've gotten better results at the biggest tournament in the world the past 20 years than all but like 10-15 teams.

Lets face reality for a second. Since most people from Europe and those who worship European football can't name the players on a team like Costa Rica, there's an insistence that they must be worse than Serbia or Austria. Its pure snobbery, and it gets found out in the World Cup every four years. CONCACAF is talked down, but on a consistent basis our teams advance to the Round of 16, and occasionally the Round of 8. Thats better than pretty much everyone in world football whose not the powerhouses.

 

[Islesfan22]

The "overachieved" thing is a phony excuse. It allows those who think everything revolves around European football to belittle the non-giants from the the Americas.

Why do USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay etc routinely perform better than the club teams of their players would indicate they should while teams like Switzerland, Serbia, Greece, Poland, Austria routinely perform worse than the club teams of their players would indicate they should?

If everything revolves around European football and these are teams outside of Europe who have a harder time getting their players into Europe, of course they are going to be underrated. Its not about overachievement. Its about being underrated.

Why do Sweden, Finland, Russia perform so well against USA and Canada in hockey when their players are so much less well known, lower draft picks, often times not drafted? Is it because they are such overachievers or is it because a big mark of prestige is something that they are at a disadvantage in achieving?

Dude Sweden Russia Finland have World Class players and hockey is a totally different sport then soccer. Smaller countries like the Swiss Germany Belarus routinely get destroyed by the bigger hockey countries.
Nobody expected USA to get out of the group of death in Brazil but they did because they worked there socks off and were very disciplined defensively. Most people did not except Russia to get out of there group this world cup but they did. Certainly nobody thought Russia would get by Spain but they did. In football you see smaller countries get results against bigger countries a lot but rarely win it all except for Greece. If USA starts developing more players like Pulisic then maybe one day they can actually win a World Cup until then they will never be taken seriously by Europe or South America.

 

[Il Mediano]

Pogba is a curious one. I think he suffers a little from what people think he should be (based on raw ability/rare attributes) and what he actually is (which is still an impactful player more often than not).

At Juve, I thought his deficiencies were hidden by Vidal and Pirlo- but he was only a kid, so that's normal. He was still very, very good. And to be fair, those are quality midfield partners we're talkin' about.

I think I've decided I need to see Pogba away from Mourinho before I fully assess him. It's sad , but I think it might be that bad of a relationship. They're just not a good fit for each other; I don't care how well he does statistically in United's charge to finish behind City this season.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I don't know why you'd buy into that nonsense. Its deliberately put out there to disrespect the USA. Can't knock our results the last 20 years, so they try to say it was all luck, a fluke, overachievers. Russia hasn't advanced out of the group stage at the World Cup since 1986 prior to this World Cup, that they played at home. We've done it three of the last five World Cups, so to compare us to Russia is insulting and it kind of proves my point. Results don't matter. Its all about how you can group up European club football prestige. Thats how all of this is decided.

I really don't care who takes us seriously. They can underestimate us at their own peril. But lets not distort the facts here. We are one of the 15-20 most successful footballing nations of the last 20 years. Calling our players overrated is a joke.

 

[Islesfan22]

I don't know why you'd buy into that nonsense. Its deliberately put out there to disrespect the USA. Can't knock our results the last 20 years, so they try to say it was all luck, a fluke, overachievers. Russia hasn't advanced out of the group stage at the World Cup since 1986 prior to this World Cup, that they played at home. We've done it three of the last five World Cups, so to compare us to Russia is insulting and it kind of proves my point. Results don't matter. Its all about how you can group up European club football prestige. Thats how all of this is decided.

I really don't care who takes us seriously. They can underestimate us at their own peril. But lets not distort the facts here. We are one of the 15-20 most successful footballing nations of the last 20 years. Calling our players overrated is a joke.

USA has no World Class players in the last 20 years so yes they have had good results but isn't the ultimate goal to win a World Cup one day. There is a reason why France Brazil Italy Argentina Germany have won most of the Cups the last 30 years. The goal should be to win the World Cup not just have good results in World Cups. For that to happen you need great players and until USA develops great players they will never win a World Cup. Pulisic is a nice start but you need more.

 

[Moncherry]

Stop.

I knew there would be some idiot who brings up this World Cup. How about you check the past five or so world cups? We've advanced out of the group stage 3 of 5 World Cups, including a knockout round win.

Not saying thats great, but thats a whole lot better than what we see on a regular basis from Serbia, Greece, Austria, Poland, yet no one is going to call out these countries for being overrated.

You don't even have to use the USA. Use a country like Mexico. They've advanced from the Group Stage the last seven world cups. Thats proving yourself to be a top 16 country in the world. But their players play for worse teams than the players of Austria or Serbia, so obviously that means they are overachievers and those other countries are underachievers. The whole Americas is underrated. Really badly underrated. Costa Rica advanced top of a group with Uruguay, England and Italy and then won their Round of 16 game. They had two players at the time who played in any of the top five European leagues. Must've been that they got so lucky and fluked their way to the QF's with a team whose club resumes might equal Northern Ireland.

The same type of thing is done in hockey where if it doesn't revolve around North America, they are overachievers. Its not that the experts overrate their own importance and underrate the ability and worth of those who are disadvantaged in getting prestige and recognition.

The U.S. routinely outperforms some hand-picked second or third-tier European teams who aren't good enough to regularly qualify? Congratulations. There's also teams from outside the top bracket of UEFA that perform to the level of making the knockout round from time to time. This is ignoring the fact that you initially referred to the rating of individual players, not national teams, then combined the two to make a point. The expectations of countries like Poland and Serbia (how convenient you included two of the whopping three 'hot-shot' European teams eliminated in the first round this year) is based on their players. If Poland is expected to top a balanced group because they have a world class striker like Lewandowski, but they don't, is Lewandowski not actually a top striker? Does Milinkovic-Savic not actually have world class potential because Serbia didn't do well? I guess those players actually aren't better than a bunch of guys from the MLS.

The rest of your post is an irrelevant diatribe about the typical whiny 'eurosnob' nonsense, and what's more amusing is you decided to casually lump South America in there, as if there's any comparison between their quality, their results, or how they're viewed by European fans and North American teams.

Edit - My mistake, two of three teams.

 

[Gecklund]

Eh I wouldn’t say that USA players are overrated. I think we all know the likes of Bradley, Dempsey, Altidore, Howard, Wood aren’t very good. We do have some fantastic prospects though in Pulisic, Adams, McKennie, Sargent, Weah, Parks, etc. the only players that would be any better than squad players or bench warmers on a top European club are Pulisic and McKennie currently so if anyone is saying any other player is more than they are overrating them. Now I’m not saying they can’t be but currently those are the only two players we have in our entire pool that could be starters for top teams.

 

[Islesfan22]

Eh I wouldn’t say that USA players are overrated. I think we all know the likes of Bradley, Dempsey, Altidore, Howard, Wood aren’t very good. We do have some fantastic prospects though in Pulisic, Adams, McKennie, Sargent, Weah, Parks, etc. the only players that would be any better than squad players or bench warmers on a top European club are Pulisic and McKennie currently so if anyone is saying any other player is more than they are overrating them. Now I’m not saying they can’t be but currently those are the only two players we have in our entire pool that could be starters for top teams.

I like Pulisic a lot and i think he has a chance to be World Class one day. Need More great technical players to compete with the big nations. To be honest after the 1994 World Cup i would have thought USA would have developed a couple of World class players by now. They have not and that is very disappointing. Claudio Reyna for me was the most technically gifted player i have seen for USA but injuries really hampered his career.

 

[Gecklund]

I like Pulisic a lot and i think he has a chance to be World Class one day. Need More great technical players to compete with the big nations. To be honest after the 1994 World Cup i would have thought USA would have developed a couple of World class players by now. They have not and that is very disappointing. Claudio Reyna for me was the most technically gifted player i have seen for USA but injuries really hampered his career.

Yeah they have had good players (Bradley Dempsey and Donavan are the most recent) but none that are really world class. I think out of our current young group at least one will become world class.

 

[Blender]

Pogba is a curious one. I think he suffers a little from what people think he should be (based on raw ability/rare attributes) and what he actually is (which is still an impactful player more often than not).

At Juve, I thought his deficiencies were hidden by Vidal and Pirlo- but he was only a kid, so that's normal. He was still very, very good. And to be fair, those are quality midfield partners we're talkin' about.

I think I've decided I need to see Pogba away from Mourinho before I fully assess him. It's sad , but I think it might be that bad of a relationship. They're just not a good fit for each other; I don't care how well he does statistically in United's charge to finish behind City this season.

If anything we saw from Pogba, it showed the perfect situation for him to excel. If United were being smart, they would try and get a mobile defensive midfielder like Kante to play with him to give Pogba the freedom to also roam around like we saw for France. The pressing they were doing absolutely dominated the midfield at the World Cup.

 

[Il Mediano]

If anything we saw from Pogba, it showed the perfect situation for him to excel. If United were being smart, they would try and get a mobile defensive midfielder like Kante to play with him to give Pogba the freedom to also roam around like we saw for France. The pressing they were doing absolutely dominated the midfield at the World Cup.

Eh, I'm generally extremely hesitant to use national team performances to create opinion. It's so much different and France is ridiculously stacked. Pogba was obviously outstanding, though.

You can say United should get a midfielder like Kante, but none of the other DM's that fit the Kante archetype are as good as him. Besides, I don't think Matic/Fred/Herrera are actually the problem--Mourinho is.

 

[StevenF1919]

Unfortunately, I have to agree with you here. That guy is unbelievable.

It's only a matter of time before Barca/Real buy him. Crazy how Rugani gets all the hype when Skriniar is 10x better and a year younger.

 

[StevenF1919]

I love the Pogba statements here. Nobody rates Pogba among the top 3 CMs. Everyone ranks him top 10, where he belongs.
And yet, his WC was great. Much greater than several consensus top 5 CMs.

He's not nearly as effective as he should be given the tools he possesses and the hype that follows him around.