Before we start an argument, let's get this out of the way – the 5 best players in the world currently are Gareth Bale, Neymar, Luis Suarez and two kids named Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Are we done with that?
Now, whenever we talk about these guys there is always something special that we point out – Messi's dribbling, Ronaldo's heading, Suarez's finishing and... you get the drift.
But in the process are we looking past some of their other key qualities? We try and identify the most underrated qualities of each of these players
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#5. Gareth Bale – Passing
The Welshman is well known for his speed, and for good reason. The man can outrace almost any professional footballer out there – Marc Batra probably still wakes up in cold sweats due to nightmares from that night in the Copa del Rey.
When he combines that pace with a jackhammer of a shot, incredible heading ability and the ability to control the ball while going at high speed you get a great football player.
But all this we know... what we do miss out on, though, is his incredible ability to pick a pass, and execute it. Outside of the boot, toe poke, you name it and Bale would have done it. With that excellent footballing brain that helped him transition from back-up left back to one of the best attacking players in the world, he can pass his way through the eye of a needle.
His crossing just accentuates his ability - in an era of wingers who almost all cut in to shoot (hello, Cristiano), Bale can often be a throwback – bombing down the wings and crossing to great effect.
Whoever says crossing isn't passing, or isn't a good enough skill, please have a good hard look at yourself
#4. Neymar – Footballing intelligence
The Brazilian superstar is the perfect 2010-era, social-media friendly, footballer. With his box full of tricks, flicks, and insane skills, Neymar Jr. is quite a sight in full flow. His pace, balance, silky dribbling and superb finishing make him a deadly striker – but it's his underrated footballing intelligence that marks him apart as the natural heir to the crown that will one day or the other be vacated by Messrs. Ronaldo and Messi
His uncanny ability to pick the right pass, take the correct amount of stepovers, or time his run exactly isn't all down to instinct or his 'natural' gifts. It's because his footballing supercomputer of a brain is constantly calculating angles, shooting opportunities and carving the pitch open mentally.
Without the blueprint that this footballing intelligence allows him to create in his mind, he would only be half the player he is!
#3. Luis Suarez – Creativity
When you are playing with Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr many of your best qualities get buried under the avalanche of genius that naturally ensues around you. For most people that is. Luis Suarez isn't most people. The Uruguayan master is a finisher-par-extraordinaire, a man who can turn nothing into half-chances and half-chances into gilt-edged ones. He has all the ingredients necessary for a fox-in-the-box – magnetic close control, dribbling, balance, and that uncanny knack to accelerate from standstill faster than anyone else on the pitch.
But what often goes overlooked with Suarez is his creativity. A striker with a playmakers brain, his creativity is often overshadowed by the overwhelming genius of Leo Messi, and it doesn't help that he usually has the likes of Andres Iniesta and Ivan Rakitic behind him – pass masters who can pass their way around a maze.
With his ability to pick a pass and create space, Suarez is an excellent creator and you can easily see him get himself into the role of trequartista, or the no. 10 role as we know it today.
Honourable mention: Thomas Muller – Everything
He doesn't beat people with pace. He doesn't beat them with control. He doesn't beat them with athleticism. He doesn't beat them with his heading. He doesn't beat them with his vision.
He just beats them.
The commonly used explanation for Thomas Muller's ability to be better than everybody else without ever being noticeably better than them in anything is exactly why he is the single most underrated footballer on the planet. Every quality he possesses is underrated; mostly to the detriment of the one underrating it.
P.S. I know he isn't in the top 10 players of the world right now on form, but he surely is up there with the best in terms of pure class.
#2. Lionel Messi – Heading
Leo Messi can do anything that he wants to do. We all know that. He can dribble his way around an army, he can hit whichever corner of the net he picks, and he can control the football better than anyone kicking it today.
But the one thing that the 5'6” Argentine magician can't do is head the ball. Or so goes popular wisdom. Not the most athletic -looking of footballers most people associate his looks with his physical abilities, and that's where they make a key mistake.
With a very good leap in that stocky little legs of his, Messi can head the ball with great power, and most importantly, immaculate direction. With his superbly timed runs he can get into the box unnoticed and most times he rises above unopposed as many a defender quite simply wouldn’t have expected the little man to be able to do this!
Besides, if you can win a Champions League with a superb fall-away header, you can head a gosh darn football!
#1. Cristiano Ronaldo – Off the Ball movement
Ronaldo is a complete package as a modern footballer. He has the sprinting ability of an Olympic athlete, the finishing of a poacher, a great passing range (when he chooses to pass. Yes he does, ok!) and there is no one on the planet who can head a football better – that leap itself is a phenomenon of physics.
What we all overlook is his off-the-ball movement.
Using his incredible pace to run into areas that oft go overlooked by defenders, Ronaldo is the ultimate counter-attacking footballer and that is all due to his ability to pick a path which he knows will take him to where the ball will come. The mere ability to judge the fact that the ball will come to a particular place makes him extra special, but combine that with the ability to get there from wherever he is, and you soon see why keeps scoring bucketloads of goals every season.
And if defenders stick to him, well then they quite simply allow other players to run into the vaccum that Ronaldo has created by dragging them towards him. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
