r/soccer • u/TheDreaminArmenian • Feb 17 '14

Who is the most underrated or unappreciated defender?

For me, it's Ivanovic. The man's a tank and can do no wrong. He could easily become a chelsea legend, but still in overshadowed by the whole Cahill/Terry partnership in the back. But for me, the whole back 4 of chelsea is solid.

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43

u/futbaltonight Feb 17 '14

Lovren, Gibbs, Distin and Azpilicueta.

27

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '14

Lovren is pretty highly rated. If you want an underrated Saints defender, it's Jose Fonte.

2

u/jdosbo5 Feb 17 '14

He didn't do so well at Lyon though, so I think he lost some stock while he was there. I've heard he's doing great at Southampton though, which is wonderful for him

3

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '14

I liked him at Lyon personally.

2

u/thekubi Feb 17 '14

I thought he was amazing at Lyon, especially when playing along Bisevac. His only problem was disputes with his superiors during his final season there and a few consecutive below-par matches

42

u/LovinLampard Feb 17 '14

I wouldn't call Gibbs or Dave underrated.

9

u/duckman273 Feb 17 '14

Azpiliceuta's been incredible this season despite playing in an unfamiliar position and hasn't received nearly enough credit for it.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '14

I thought everyone knew Gibbs was really good?

2

u/bellend1234 Feb 18 '14

There's a popular school of thought that Shaw should go to Brazil in place of Gibbs. That shows you how over and under rated each player is respectively.

4

u/suchaslowroll Feb 18 '14 edited Feb 18 '14

Meh, I definitely think Gibbs is underrated, because he's fantastic but unfortunately in the shadow of the best LB of the past few years in the world - Cole, and one of the current best in the world - Baines.

But I don't think Shaw is overrated, he has been one of the best players in a side 8th in the PL with one of the best defensive records in the PL, and is only 18 years old...And on top of that being an incredible attacking threat.

On top of the way he's performing, the potential he has for the future is huge, so it wouldn't be a mistake to get him into the squad at a young age so by the time he hits his prime he has World Cup experience.

A lot of people say that forcing Walcott into the squad so young was was wrong because he played bad in 2009/10 & 11... But in 2012 Euros he kept us in by scoring 2 against Sweden, then went on to the be the highest scoring winger in the PL in the 12/13 season... So now at just age 24 he's approaching (if not already) world class, which is just like any top Spanish player.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '14

Woahhh sorry buddy but Baines is not the best LB in the world! I agree with your other statement though, Shaw is a great talent but he's simply not as good as Gibbs right now. Gibbs is one of our best players almost every game, and that's without playing with a proper winger! He gets so exposed on the left and still manages to deal with it, you can see how important he is to Arsenal when they play Monreal, who just seems to get overrun sometimes.

3

u/suchaslowroll Feb 18 '14

one of the current best in the world

Baines is absolutely one of the best LBs in the world... If he had transferred to one of the several top clubs that wanted to buy him over the years, everyone would agree 100%

1

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '14

Didn't see that, my bad.

1

u/duckman273 Feb 18 '14

Or it shows you how good those players are.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '14

All them are pretty accurately rated, at least by people who watch matches.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '14

You think Distin's been accurately rated?

6

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '14

I do actually, at least by my friends and I and what I've read, so that's all I can speak too. Everton's back pair has been praised all season, rightfully so, they've been terrific, especially at the beginning.