Jump to content

Your Most Underrated and Overrated Villa Player of All Time


Big Salad

Recommended Posts

Mellberg was a very good player and certainly not overrated IMO - most people rate him in the second tier of CBs with the first being reserved for McGrath/Laursen levels, and that surely is a fair place for him to reside. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, HKP90 said:

Tekkers was an unbelievable player for us.

I don't care one jot about what he did for Liverpool or Palace, he was absolute class for Villa.

Singlehandedly kept us in the Prem. Came up big in important games. Outstanding player. 

 

 

 

Think he scored vs the top 4 when he was here. Revisionism about him because what happened since. Was talk on here at the time that he was better than Lukaku and could go to Dortmund and replace Lewandowski 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Zatman said:

Think he scored vs the top 4 when he was here. Revisionism about him because what happened since. Was talk on here at the time that he was better than Lukaku and could go to Dortmund and replace Lewandowski 

Yeah I can remember the better than Lukaku stuff and at the time it was actually pretty fair, he was playing better, he was better at the big target man role, he was Belgiums 1st choice for about 2 years too from memory 

Careers went in very different directions though, Lukaku to be fair to him really improved at inter after utd misused him

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a hard subject this..

Overrated....difficult really. I'm not sure villa fans are optimistic enough to overrate any player. Most fans think our players are shit most of the time, even when they are not, because they confuse form and talent. 

Downing maybe? Bacuna? Baros? Barry? Actually I've just thought of the correct answer- it's Gabby. Head down, run (very fast) in a straight line, exhibit almost no guile or vision. 

 

Underrated:

Joachim- scored way more goals than he's given credit for. 

Hendrie- Came across as a bit of a knob, but some of his goals were outstanding. He was a great AMC before it was widely used. 

Ugo- His pace was deceptive and last ditch slide tackling was precise af.  

Alan Wright- loved him. He'd be much more loved in a modern team with the way fullbacks/wingbacks are deployed nowadays. 

There are loads of underrated players. Too many to go through while I'm at work!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Essentially it doesn't really matter who you lot think are overrated or underrated, I sincerely don't really mean this but I don't think anyone that matters cares. A sign we need to get back to winnin ways.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, useless said:

Essentially it doesn't really matter who you lot think are overrated or underrated, I sincerely don't really mean this but I don't think anyone that matters cares. A sign we need to get back to winnin ways.

What, you thought we were giving our thoughts on here to influence management? It's a fun hypothetical for a horrible Thursday

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, KMitch said:

From my time as a fan ('06-Present):

Most Overrated:

  • O'Neill Era - James Collins - He was somehow beloved by most of the Villa fans when he was here, but I see Mings getting lambasted for doing the same things today.  Never rated him.
  • Houllier Era - Barry Bannan - You either loved him or hated him, but some acted like he was Iniesta 2.0.  
  • McLeish Era - Chris Herd - Awful footballer who got way too many passes for his poor play because of his goal at Anfield.  Most of us were hoping he'd turn into a good player, but his performances just got worse and worse over time.
  • Lambert Era - Gabby Agbonlahor - Only played well when he was moving for a contract extension.  Still gets a pass by Villa supporters for his form under MON.  Defines the entire Lerner era at Villa.  Lots of potential, but was too lazy to do anything with it.  
  • Sherwood/Garde Era - Jordan Ayew - I still hear some talking about how much they rated him at Villa during this time.  He was one of the most selfish players I've ever seen in a Villa shirt.  Reminded me of that kid we all played with when growing up who tried to dribble through the entire opposing team before taking a shot, instead of just passing the ball to a wide open teammate in a better position.  
  • RDM/Bruce Era - Jonathan Kodja - I had very high hopes for him when he started, but ended up performing well short of expectations overall.  
  • Smith Era - Trezeguet - Villa supporters LOVE a tryer...  He's the Egyptian Brett Holman.  Runs around a lot, but offers nothing on the ball and lacks any sort of football brain.

Most Underrated

  • O'Neill Era - Carlos Cuellar - I loved this guy.  Still one of my favorite all time Villa players and I'm still shocked some think he was poor for us.  Was easily our best CB behind Laursen & Melberg, during MON's time.  
  • Houllier Era - Nathan Baker - Never seen a defender consistently put his body on the line like he did.  Made a lot of mistakes, but you could see he had a lot of potential.  Clark adapted to Premier League football quicker, so Baker was always compared to him, even though he was younger.  
  • McLeish Era - Marc Albrighton - I'm still sad Lambert let him go.  He's a legend at Leicester now, but I would love to see him back at VP before he hangs his boots up.  
  • Lambert Era - Ashley Westwood - Pure class, but a lot did not rate him because he isn't a brick shithouse DM
  • Sherwood/Garde Era - Idrissa Gana Gueye - Probably the best DM we've had in the past 20 years, but some still talk about how he "hid from the ball", even though he topped every single statistical rating chart for his position in the Prem.  
  • RDM/Bruce Era - Neil Taylor - I still don't get the amount of flack some fans gave him.  He was never an attacking fullback at any point in his career, so expecting him to come in and be Roberto Carlos was never realistic.  
  • Smith Era - Connor Hourihane - Played out of position for Deano, never complained, and still gave his all on the field.  Wasn't a defensive midfielder, but he did a great job in our 10 game winning run as the anchor in the midfield.  Also has a wand of a left foot.  

I like your underrated list. All have one thing in common, they weren’t ‘flashy’ players. Anything they did that was good got ignored ‘ because that’s what they are paid to do’ but any errors were immediately pounced on ‘ because they were s**t’

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, smg said:

I like your underrated list. All have one thing in common, they weren’t ‘flashy’ players. Anything they did that was good got ignored ‘ because that’s what they are paid to do’ but any errors were immediately pounced on ‘ because they were s**t’

With all due respect, with the exception of Gueye, they were all absolute dog vomit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I always thought Lowton was underrated and Westwood got far more stick than he deserved.  Milner as a winger was overrated, I used to get pissed off when he'd cross it straight at the arse of the defender 2 yards from him but he was much better when through the middle.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, sharkyvilla said:

I always thought Lowton was underrated and Westwood got far more stick than he deserved.  Milner as a winger was overrated, I used to get pissed off when he'd cross it straight at the arse of the defender 2 yards from him but he was much better when through the middle.

Westwood played the ball backwards more than the All Blacks

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Indigo said:

The below is from the game that summed him and his time at Villa up best for me. The other 10 constantly allowing a QPR team somehow even worse than us back into the game whilst he single-handedly dragged us through. One of those where despite how good he was you still come away from it feeling a bit despondent because there was no way it was going to last.

 

That was an equally frustrating yet entertaining match.

Did Benteke take many free kicks? I remember as he was standing over the ball thinking “hang on, does he normally take these?”. Then realising that if anyone was going to score it that night, it was only going to be him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, tomav84 said:

I think all 3 of our CBs (the ones owned by us) are better than him. our current RB is better too

Wow. I think he's possibly the best centre half I've seen at Villa Park outside of McGrath. He's comfortably better than the current crop.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, HongKongVillan said:

Underrated - currently AEG, people often forget if he had any consistency he would be Ona different class bracket. I’m happy for him to get those goals for us when is required. Almost go for Trez too. Aaron Hughes another one, mr average but reliable at the back.


overrated - as suggested , defo Delph. Not sure what he does in midfield and only quality you see is when he crack in from 25 yards, but that in itself it’s very rare. Another one who I’m not sure what he does in midfield, Andy tactic truck Townsend. 

I agree with some of what you say, but i'm not with you on Townsend. His workrate, and willingness to do the dirty work in Midfield was crucial to Atkinson's villa side, just like Draper was to Brian Little's  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

Wow. I think he's possibly the best centre half I've seen at Villa Park outside of McGrath. He's comfortably better than the current crop.

Was that Laursen (difficult to keep up with this thread). If so then I agree. IIRC he was injured a fair bit, but when fit he was outstanding. Not as much physically, but his ability to read situations. Not entirely unlike God. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, HKP90 said:

It's a hard subject this..

Overrated....difficult really. I'm not sure villa fans are optimistic enough to overrate any player. Most fans think our players are shit most of the time, even when they are not, because they confuse form and talent. 

Downing maybe? Bacuna? Baros? Barry? Actually I've just thought of the correct answer- it's Gabby. Head down, run (very fast) in a straight line, exhibit almost no guile or vision. 

 

Underrated:

Joachim- scored way more goals than he's given credit for. 

Hendrie- Came across as a bit of a knob, but some of his goals were outstanding. He was a great AMC before it was widely used. 

Ugo- His pace was deceptive and last ditch slide tackling was precise af.  

Alan Wright- loved him. He'd be much more loved in a modern team with the way fullbacks/wingbacks are deployed nowadays. 

There are loads of underrated players. Too many to go through while I'm at work!

Does anyone even rate Gabby anymore? Pretty much everytime I've seen him mentioned nowadays is in a negative light.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Laughable Chimp said:

Does anyone even rate Gabby anymore? Pretty much everytime I've seen him mentioned nowadays is in a negative light.

Fair point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...
Â