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There is a famous scene from the popular Bollywood hit Munna Bhai where the protagonist, a goon studying MBBS, expresses his gratitude to the sweeper of the hospital for selfless dedication to make sure that the place stays clean. Doctors treat the patients and, indeed, save lives, but it is the cleaners that clean the place and kill the chance of deadly viruses spreading due to unhygienic environments even before they arise.Limelight is not for everyone. We see the leaves and the fruits of the tree, but we don’t see the roots of it. In every football team, the midfield general could be considered as the root of the team’s attack – and they are perhaps among the most underrated members of the team.One of the best examples would be Claude Makelele. The Frenchman was the crux of Real Madrid’s best team in the modern era, but was sold by Florentino Perez who thought that he couldn’t pass forward. Each and every of his team-mates were against the decision. For Zinedane Zidane, he was the engine of the team; for Perez, he was a nobody.Even now we can find a number of midfield generals not getting the credit that they deserve and here are some of them.
#1 Claudio Marchisio
In a team that had Paul Pogba, Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal, it is quite natural that the recognition that he gets is not up to what he deserves. However, he is worthy of fandom just like his counterparts.
There are some staunch lovers of this Italian midfield engine, but it isn’t as many as someone of his ability deserves.
The Juventus man is one of the most loyal players around. His ability to turn defense to attack is commendable as he possesses great on-the-ball driving skill and off-the-ball defensive awareness. An all-action midfielder, it is his consistency that is one of the reasons for Juventus becoming the best team in Italy.
While he might not have earned the deserved plaudits with the aforementioned three around, his importance will now fall more on people’s eyes with the departures of Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal.
#2 Radja Nainggolan
Radja Naingollan is one of the most criminally underrated midfielders in the world. How he isn’t playing for a bigger club than Roma, with respect to the Rome club, is beyond the levels of comprehensible.
He has been one of Serie A’s most consistent performers over the years and it is of little surprise that he was linked to some European giants in the summer, but he has stayed put at the Stadio Olimpico.
A combative box-to-box midfielder, Nainggolan is another one of Belgian’s gems. He is an explosive player who can blast forward with lethality and disrupt the opposition’s defense. This, at times, make him guilty of being out of position, but his fine tackling skills allow him to recover from messy situations.
Had he been playing in the Premier League instead of Roma, we would not have heard the end of his praises.
#3 Andre Gomes
Valencia have carved out a fantastic team using the transfer window as an effective tool with Andre Gomes being the cornerstone of Peter Lim’s ambitions.
Chelsea were heavily linked with the midfielder, showing us that Jose Mourinho has an eye for talent and knows one when he sees one - especially if it is his countryman. The former Benfica commander spent the last season on loan with the Spanish club before being permanently bought by them.
While Radja Nainggolan is a crunching defender who can pass well, Andre Gomes is a superb passer and skilled attacker who can defend well. His contributions, however, have gone largely unnoticed on the world scale.
With age on the early side of 20s, he can yet – and will – improve and could become one of the finest midfield exponents of the game.
#4 Grzegorz Krychowiak
His complex name is perhaps one of the reasons why not many outside the La Liga fraternity know him because if playing skills were concerned, his name should be on the minds of almost every football enthusiasts.
He is what one could call a true holding midfielder, someone who sit as deep as possible and sets the tempo of the attack and initiates them with long-range passes—a role that is reminiscent of Xabi Alonso.
What makes him really special is his ability to read the game. His positional awareness is almost other-worldly as he is one of the best interceptors of the ball—a testament to the earlier claim. Not only that, he can tackle his team out of trouble and play an inch-perfect long ball to devastate the opposition defense in the very next moment.
With Sevilla in the Champions League this season, he will find more eyes watching him – and that could bother Seville club.
#5 Daniele De Rossi
Playing in the Serie A is hard. Despite being a household name in Italy, the international recognition doesn’t echo with justice and Daniele De Rossi is just one of those victims.
One can easily point out Daniele De Rossi on the pitch, not due to his one half-sleeve and one full-sleeve shirt, but due to his resilient and leadership nature on the pitch. He possesses an insanely gritty spirit that makes him one of the most respected persons in the country.
Like Krychowiak, he has unbelievable knowledge and foresight of what could happen next – an ability that allows him to a step ahead and have incredible defensive positional awareness. However, unlike the Polish, his tackling can be a bit rusty at times.
And little needs to be said about his passing as he Roma’s primary distributor and doing that from deep in midfield is what keeps the smoothness within the team.
#6 Christoph Kramer
Another one of Germany’s best talents. To put him in simple words, he is a more technically gifted version of Sami Khedira – the man he replaced in the final of the 2014 World Cup.
As Sami Khedira was drifting closer to an exit from Real Madrid, the name that was rumoured to take his place was Christoph Kramer. Ultimately, it didn’t happen and the player has stayed in Germany with Bayer Leverkusen.
A rundown of his performances over the past few seasons is a good indication of the type of player that he is. He is a crunching tackler and wise reader of the game. His ball-winning ability is superior to many other midfielders and he couples it beautifully with crisp and clever passing.
However, after a superb 2013-14 came an understating 2014-15 that has somewhat evaporated his name from the front pages, but it won’t be long before he gets back there.
#7 Nabil Bentaleb
Tim Sherwood might have not been regarded highly by Tottenham Hotspurs fans, but it’s impossible not to give him credit for his ability to look into the academy and place talented players from it.
In a reign that was more ridiculed than praised, the Englishman could point at Nabil Bentaleb when someone asks him about his success at Spurs. Indeed, it was his trust on the young Algerian from which the club are now reaping rewards.
He might have had an atrocious start to the season, but it’s not enough – not even close – for anyone to deem him as a bad player. In fact, it is quite the contrary. The 20-year-old is actually underrated, if anything, and deserves a lot more acclaims than he does.
The left-footed midfielder is a silky passer of the ball, but his real strength lies in the defensive side of the game. His main ability is to stop the danger before it arises and he does that with some cunning defensive positional awareness.
#8 Lars Bender
Many would claim that he is quite highly rated, but that only happens when he is being linked to a move to Arsenal – which happens every window. After that, during the season, his name gets wiped off the face of the planet until the transfer window opens again, where he is the next best thing after pizzas.
Keeping all the talk of naïve fandom aside, and looking instead at his abilities, we can safely say that he is one of the most powerful midfielders in the world, someone in the mould of Arturo Vidal – but not as good as the Chilean, yet, obviously.
He is constantly up and down the pitch and it is for this reason that he is one of the most respected players in Germany. He has great tackling skills and can run at a good pace, something that makes him really useful at right-back as well. Not only that, he has a knack of finding himself in scoring areas, though he could improve a lot on his finishing.
#9 Charles Aranguiz
When Chile’s victorious Copa America campaign will be talked of, the names that will be murmured the most would be that of Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal. Indeed, the aforementioned two were rock solid for their team and the latter was the best player on the pitch in the final.
However, Charles Aranguiz was equally important for the champions of South America.
While Arturo Vidal proved quintessential power in a box-to-box role, it was Charles Aranguiz fluid and clever passing that kept the flow of Chile. In fact, if one watches some Internacional games with a carefully transfixed eye, his importance to the team can be seen.
The reason for his under-appreciation is that he is a simple footballer; he does the simple things, that is so hard to do, best. He doesn’t play many Hollywood passes, rather executes short passes at a very brisk rate – something that would help Leverkusen once he returns from injury.
#10 Granit Xhaka
He won’t be at Gladbach for a long time if his performance graph rises the way it is now. The mastermind midfield general is perhaps the best player from the Swiss country and will definitely go down as its greatest by the time he retires.
Plucking strings for Gladbach, he possesses exceptional passing range that has made him one of the most dangerous and consistent player in the Bundesliga over the last 3 years.
His ability to shatter defenses from piercing passes is a grand sight to behold. And, like every other player in this list, he has good ball-winning and retention skills that are necessary for a modern-day central midfielder.
How he is still not playing for a Champions League regular club is almost an inscrutable question, which, as written earlier, won’t be pending for long. It is for this reason that not many people rate him, admire him, as much as he deserves.
#11 Blaise Matuidi
He is so underrated that even I couldn’t remember to add him to the list until the very last moment. The French are going through somewhat of a golden period. They have some of the finest young players in the world and look set for sheer domination for the next decade or so.
One of the most coveted and revered among the youngsters is Paul Pogba. For many, he is already France’s best midfielder and not anyone comes close to him. However, if one watches Blaise Matuidi play week-in and week-out, that person will know that he is on par with the Juventus star.
Gifted and tenacious, he is, like Morgan Schneiderlin recently claimed, PSG’s most important player and there can’t be any arguments about that. He is quick, can head, can score, can pass, can defend... he can do almost anything. He is the type of player who could make a superb last-ditch tackle to save his team and then be found in scoring position in the very next moment.
Without a doubt, he is best midfielder on this list to be so highly underrated.
