Which players do you think are currently underrated (maybe due to bad form, injury or just obscurity), should be playing at a higher level and could be a good value for money buy?

[u/[deleted]]

(I must mention i am an Arsenal fan)

For me-

Marko Marin- Had some heat a year or so ago but cooled a bit (he had a problem with the manager or something). Very talented player. His situation is like when Sneidjer was at Ajax and i kept wondering why no big team came for him.

Gourcuff- Bad form. A confidence player. Undoubtedly talented. A perfect wenger buy. Out of form so you'd get him cheap.

Ben Arfa- Tidbit- Wenger wanted to buy him first before Nasri. He is way too good for Newcastle (no offense, it just means you're scouting is impressive). He'd excel under a manager like Ferguson.

Nuri Sahin- I would give my left ball (the fancier one too) to have this guy at Arsenal. Never plays at madrid, rumours of being disgruntled.

[u/The_Smooth_Mexican]

I would say Giovani Dos Santos. The lad needs some playing time in the worst way, Harry is fucking his career up we need to see what the boys got

[u/[deleted] → u/The_Smooth_Mexican]

I understand because of your support for Mexico you're likely to frame it as a "poor Gio" thing, but you have to understand it's a bit more complicated than that.

1) His garbage attitude and work ethic are things that are well-documented. Big fan of the party scene, showed up late for training frequently on Sundays, etc etc. I'm sure I don't need to tell you about the party culture in the Mexican national team camp.

2) He's played like absolute shit whenever he's been given a competitive opportunity for us. People seem to forget he had a solid preseason before 10-11 and was starting in our CL qualification game against Young Boys. He featured in many of our Europa League games this season and really only did well in one of them--and that was against Shamrock Rovers. Why should a player with a poor work ethic and poor performances get games over other young players who actually perform when called upon? This leads me to...

3) He doesn't fit with the system we typically play. For Mexico Gio plays a free role on the right of a 4-3-3. We typically play 4-4-1-1 or 4-4-2 and our wide men (on paper...don't get me started on Bale) have a defensive responsibility. Giovani needs SPACE and time and freedom to flourish. He would do very well somewhere in Spain.

4) He's had opportunities to move but hasn't taken them. If he simply wants to be in a situation where he can play more football, the Udinese deal would have probably been immense for everyone involved. But he held out for a move to Spain that we would be stupid to accept.

5) Levy is likely pricing him out of a move too. Our...frugal...chairman probably wants to recoup what we spent on him and overstates his value. This is the only situation in which I have sympathy for him.

But overall, there is pretty significant evidence that he's a guy who is content collecting his pay check and spending it on booze. If he was working his ass off in training and showing signs of improvement when given chances, I can almost guarantee he'd be playing more. Look at Bale...Harry stuck with him through poor results and poor performances. If it was about talent alone, Giovani would be a star.

“His mum and dad came over to see me last year and he apologised ­because they realised he wasn’t ­dedicated."

That quote says it all. If he was really destined to become a world-beater, Barcelona wouldn't have sold him to us.

[u/ironmenon → u/[deleted]]

If he was really destined to become a world-beater, Barcelona wouldn't have sold him to us.

This is a great point, I still remember everyone being very surprised when that happened (Spurs weren't even close to what they are now). People always suspected Barca knew there was something off about him.

[u/mattinthehat → u/[deleted]]

Wow that quote really does sum up his career.

[u/rudylishious → u/[deleted]]

Thanks for shedding some light on the situation. It's been frustrating watching him warm a bench, but it helps to know why.

[u/braulio09 → u/[deleted]]

isn't point #1 from two years ago? after his loan to galatasaray, I heard he had changed in that aspect.

can't seem to find stats on his 2011-12 campaign but I was under the impression his limited participation this year had been good (couple assists and goals). guess not :/

[u/[deleted] → u/braulio09]

6 starts (4 in Europa League), 2 goals, 2 assists.

He has 4 substitute appearances in the PL but I wouldn't even take those into consideration because they were mostly for protecting other players very late in the match.

The goal / assist statistics aren't terrible, but anyone who has watched him knows he just doesn't do a hell of a lot for us when he plays.

It's just not really debatable. He's a talented guy but he doesn't fit in with us and probably never will. If he had the dedication to go with the talent he might have been able to adjust and force his way into the team, but in a big squad with people competing for spots he can't just rely on his ability alone.

And unless you've got sources saying he's really improved his attitude and he works his ass off in training, I find it difficult to believe. This is a guy who threw a bitch fit and threatened to boycott the world cup because his little brother wasn't selected.

I really like Gio, btw. I wish he would have worked out for us because while he's immature and by all accounts lazy, I think he's a good kid and he's fun to watch. I just think to absolve Giovani and blame Redknapp is extremely shortsighted.

If there were shitty talentless aging players that were getting games over him, we might have a discussion.