The unsung heroes of football

Michael Carrick

Football is a game that is played the world over and has a bevy of superstars that adorn it. Everybody knows a Messi, a Ronaldo, a Neymar, a Ribery. But there are a few players who do very consistent and important work for their teams but dont get the plaudits they deserve. But if you are someone who loves the game, you know that every position has its importance and every player has a job to do. And whether the job gets done well or not could decide whether you win a match or lose it. Here are a few players who I feel fall into this category and should sooner than later get their due.

1. Sylvain Distin: Everton has always been a team that shows the truest display of premier league football. They have more grit than talent and have more work ethic than flair in their game. While there are quite a few players who can epitomize this style of play among the evertonians, Distin is one who embodies this in the most effective yet unheralded manner. He is your typical burly no-nonsense defender who defends hard and does his bit when the team is attacking on a corner. He is hardly injured, he is hardly carded, he is hardly substituted and yet does his job wisely and quietly. An invaluable part of the defensive setup at Everton.
2. Michael Carrick: To get noticed in a Man U team is very difficult. You had, for over 25 years, to contend with the larger than life figure of Fergie. And if any player does try to get the spotlight its usually the ones that do the scoring, like Rooney, van Persie etc or the ones that are socially active, like Ferdinand, Evra etc. or the controversial ones like Nani, Young or even Zaha. But the bane of Man U, quite evident in this season and the last 2 seasons, has been the lack of solidity in its midfield. Here is where Carrick comes in. He is not the fastest or strongest, but is always there where you need him, be it defence or attack. He is among the players with the highest pass percentages in the premier league, again rarely gets substituted and is quite frankly irreplacable. He deserves his time in the sun before and after Man U quite inevitably buys a quality creative midfielder.
3. Pablo Zabaleta: Man city is among the highest spending clubs in the world. They have huge squad depth and do a lot of chopping and swapping around in almost every position. There are very few players who can claim a place in the Man city side week in week out, and Zabaleta happens to be one of them. Micah Richards is a crowd favorite, being from the local academy. But when someone is as consistent as Zabaleta, no one can complain. He is rarely injured, substituted only when they want to change formation and have an extra attacking option, has very impressive workrate going up and down the flank and quite a few times scores important goals. Though it is difficult to get limelight in a team like Man city as a defender, he deserves his fair share of claps.
4. Laurent Koscielny: Arsenal is a team that is very pleasing to the eyes. They play a rare style of football for the premier league and thank god for that. Like Man U, the coach, Arsene Wenger takes most of the limelight and then come the stars who decide to leave the silverware starved club and then come the current crop of attacking talent of the club. But for a team whose beautiful game is praised, it needs someone to do the hardwork at the back. Over this calendar year, the most consistent performer in the defence department for Arsenal has been Koscielny. He is invariably the guy who makes those tough tackles, make those long runs back on counter attacks and maybe knick a goal or two during attacking corners. He has had his share of injuries in the past, but seems to now manage to keep himself fit. He is by far the fastest defender in the premier league and I haven’t seen anyone get the better of him in a foot race. He has improved his positional play this season and hence gives up lesser fouls and takes lesser cards. Inspite of the flying start to this season, in my opinion,Arsenals chances of doing well this season will depend on its defence and more so on the shoulders of Koscielny. The French international deserves every bit of credit he doesn’t get and more.

I am sure there are many players whom I may have missed writing about, but the very mention of the amount and criticality of work put in by these players is more than what they normally get from a star crazy world of football media.