10 most underrated players of all-time as Benzema’s quality finally noticed

The term 'criminally underrated' is banded about all too often in football these days – so let's get a few things straightened out before we begin.

Firstly, just because your rivals think your reliable workhorse midfielder is a bit rubbish it doesn't make him underrated. Secondly, if overused, the label can actually be contradictory. If everyone says a certain player is 'underrated', then he isn't. Claude Makelele, Michael Carrick, James Milner – sorry lads, but you're all appreciated appropriately.

Thirdly, to be considered 'criminally' underrated, there needs to literally be a chasm between a player's reputation and what he actually brought to the table. So with that in mind, here are 10 of the most genuinely underrated players of all time.

Karim Benzema

He spent nearly a decade in Cristiano Ronaldo's shadow, but the world is finally coming to terms with just how incredible Karim Benzema is. Back to back Champions League hattricks against Paris Saint Germain and Chelsea paint a bite-sized picture of the kind of form the Frenchman's been in recently, but truth be told, he's always been this good.

The Real Madrid striker has scored, on average, 24 goals a season across his 13 years at the Bernabeu – and that figure jumps to 31 since Ronaldo's departure – but there's far more than just goals in his deadly arsenal.

The 34-year-old can use both feet, he can drop deep and aid build-up, he has the vision of a playmaker and the positional intelligence of a classic poacher, and as last night proved, he can head the ball better than almost anyone. Simply put, Benzema is the full package, and it's high time we all recognised it.

Are there any 'criminally underrated' players that we've missed? If so, let us know in the comments section.

Jimmy Greaves

Perhaps not for people of a certain generation but Jimmy Greaves has been cruelly lost to history in many ways. The Englishman is one of the most prolific strikers in history, and one of the most talented players the country has ever produced.

He broke through at Chelsea as a 17-year-old in 1957 and scored 132 goals in four seasons before sealing a mega-money move to AC Milan. Homesickness brought him back a year later and he signed for Tottenham, averaging 36 goals a season as the 1966 World Cup approached.

Going into the tournament he was the nation's standout star, ahead of even the likes of Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton, but was denied his rightful place in football folklore after injuring himself against during the group stage, and losing his place in the team to Geoff Hurst. Despite being fit for the final, manager Alf Ramsey stuck with Hurst, which worked gangbusters as the West Ham man went on to score a hattrick, but it was heartbreak for Greaves, who missed on the biggest moment of his life.

Greaves still holds one of the greatest goals-to-game ratios of any top flight player, and yet he's thought of as a tragic figure rather than the once-in-a-generation superstar that he was. Modern history looks back at him with cloudy indifference, and that is an unforgivable injustice.

Bernd Schuster

Bernd Schuster is one of a unique group of players to have played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid (he also played for Atletico too – madness). The stylish German – nicknamed 'the Blond Angel' – exploded onto the scene with Koln before sealing a dream move to the Nou Camp as a 21-year-old.

He finished runner-up in the Ballon d'Or that year – after starring in Germany's emphatic Euros victory in 1980 – and came third in '81 and '85. Few denied his obvious quality, nor his importance to both club and country, but he was always seen a bit of a support act in most people's eyes. He played second fiddle to Diego Maradona at Barcelona, to Hugo Sanchez at Real Madrid, and to Lothar Matthaus and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge with Germany.

He missed the entirety of the 1986/87 season after falling out with Barcelona boss Terry Venables and would later 'Luis Figo' his way from Catalonia to Madrid in 1988, which did little to boost his reputation. But in spite of everything, you could probably count the number of midfielders more effective than Schuster during the 1980s on one hand.

Paul McGrath

Just three defenders have won the PFA Player of the Year award in the Premier League era – Virgil van Dijk, John Terry and Paul McGrath. The illustrious company serves as a much-needed reminder of just how good McGrath was at his very best.

The centre-back was an integral part of Manchester United's side during the 1980s, but was sold by Sir Alex Ferguson in 1989 in light of recurring problems with fitness and alcohol. He moved to Aston Villa and in spite of menagerie of personal demons and injury problems, he took his game up a couple of notches. Like McGrath's health, Villa's form see-sawed from season to season. A relegation scrap in 1992 was sandwiched between two title challenges, but through it all McGrath remained at his consistent best.

Despite a smattering of recognition from Ireland, United and Villa fans, McGrath remains one of English football's forgotten geniuses. Falling off the wagon post-retirement probably didn't help public perception of him, but the fact that he isn't widely recognised as one of the Premier League's greatest defenders is a mystery.

Keylor Navas

Keylor Navas' CV speaks for itself. He's spent the past six seasons between the sticks for Real Madrid and PSG … and yet … he's never really felt like a 'big deal', has he? Well, he wasn't meant to be. Los Blancos signed him as Iker Casillas' backup in 2014 and he only got a run in the first team when David de Gea's deadline day move from Manchester United collapsed the following season.

Three years later he had three Champions League winners' medals in his back pocket, but recognition was still hard to come by and Madrid quietly went about sourcing his replacement, despite the fact they clearly didn't need to. The fact that he dragged himself up from stopgap to mainstay at the Bernabeu is an impressive feat in of itself, and by the end of his first full season he looked every bit a Galactico as the rest of them.

Despite PSG signing Gianluigi Donnarumma last summer, Navas has defied the narrative again, earning more game-time this season than his Italian colleague, and the fact that Donnarumma is still the 'pin-up' only cements Navas' status as one of modern football's truly under-appreciated gems.

Ledley King

Thierry Henry was once asked who the best defender he'd ever played against was, prompting a snap response. "Ledley King. He's the only one that didn't have to foul me to get the ball." High praise for a man with just 21 international caps and one major honour to his name.

But King was a truly special footballer, and had it not been for chronic knee problems which plagued most of his career he'd be no where near a list like this. He was an all-round defender with a devastating mix of pace and power. His ability on the ball was as good as a midfielder's and his positional awareness was second-to-none.

King's injuries got so bad that he lost all of the cartilage in his knee, and barely trained with his team-mates during the latter half of his career as he'd have to spend all week recovering. But come match-day he was a behemoth, week-in and week-out.

As Tottenham fans' famous chant goes (to the tune of 'que sera sera'): 'Oh Ledley, Ledley. He's only got one knee,' … just imagine if he had two!

Pablo Aimar

"I've never played with another player who knows where I'm going to be or just lifts his head knowing where I'm going to," Pablo Aimar's Benfica and Argentina team-mate Javier Saviola once said.

Aimar was one of those before-his-time kind of geniuses. An elegant playmaker who could pull rabbits from hats in tiny spaces, and manipulate defenders with subtle body feints and rapid changes of directions – not too dissimilar to compatriot Lionel Messi, who names Aimar as a major influence of his.

But because he never got a (hashtag) 'big move' anywhere, Aimar's brilliance has largely fallen by the wayside. He spent his peak years at Valencia, Real Zaragoza and Benfica, and despite having two La Liga titles to his name, isn't afforded the same respect of his Barcelona and Real Madrid counterparts.

Edinson Cavani

Like Benzema with Ronaldo, Cavani was been forced to surrender the limelight during his prime years to the likes of Luis Suarez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, but he's quietly going about his business as one of the most prolific and effective centre forwards of the 21st century.

Not only are his numbers super impressive (304 goals in 437 games across spells with PSG and Napoli – averaging 33 goals a season for decade) but he also doesn't get anything like the credit he deserves for being a well-rounded, all-encompassing attacker who could score from 35 yards just as easily as he could skip past four defenders and chip the goalkeeper.

He works like trojan, looks like one too, and his on-field intelligence should be studied in a lab. But like Schuster, he'll always be the supporting act in people's eyes, and that really doesn't do the man any sort of justice.

Lily Parr

Who is Lily Parr, you ask? Only the greatest goalscorer in English football history!

During the First World War, women's football exploded in popularity, thanks in-part to the suspension of the men's leagues, and Parr was the revolutionary poster-girl. She made her professional debut at just 14-years-old, initially starting at left-back before being converted into a winger.

She scored a whopping 43 goals in her first season (yes, as a 14-year-old) and went on to bag another 900 or so over the course of her career – the entirety of which was spent with Preston-based side Dick, Kerr's Ladies, named after the munitions factory where most of the players worked.

Parr is alleged to have had a harder shot than any one in the men's game, with team-mate Gail Newsham noting: "She had a kick like a mule. She was the only person I knew who could lift a dead ball, the old heavy leather ball, from the left-wing over to me on the right and nearly knock me out with the force of the shot."

Parr, who died in 1978, was the first woman to be inducted into the English Hall of Fame at the National Football Museum, outside of which a statue has been erected in her honour. Underrated indeed.

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