The Top Five Most Underrated Central Midfielders Of The Premier League Era

David Tully

4 years ago

Categories: Galleries, West Ham United News

Tags: Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Sheffield United, Southampton, Spurs, West Ham, Wolves

Following our look at the most underrated centre-halves in Premier League history last time out, this week it is the turn of the midfielders.

You get a mixture of different players in the middle of the park. Some have to do the dirty work and their efforts are not always appreciated by pundits and fans alike, while others are simply never recognised despite their consistent performances.

Every player we have put on this list has performed at the highest level for a number of seasons but, for some reason, they are not as widely heralded as others who have played in similar positions.

Press the next page as we countdown our most underrated central midfielders of the Premier League era.

5) Michael Carrick

The midfielder won five Premier League titles, as well as a Champions League, during his time at Manchester United so it wouldn’t be right to say he wasn’t praised by pundits and fans for his ability.

However, outside of Manchester, it must be said his ability to dictate play with his passing range was underrated, and his lack of England caps show he wasn’t always valued at international level either.

4) Kevin Nolan

A dependable goalscoring midfielder, Nolan’s association with Sam Allardyce may have played a role in him not being praised as much as he should have been for his performances.

Nolan always popped up with important goals during his time at Bolton, Newcastle and West Ham but, having played most of his career under Allardyce, it meant he was tarnished with the same brush in terms of his style of play.

3) Gilberto Silva

While everyone was hailing Claude Makelele for introducing the holding midfield role to the Premier League, the Brazilian had already been playing in England for a year, playing in a similar position for Arsenal.

Gilberto was an integral player in the Gunners’ ‘Invincibles’ season in 2003/04 but he wasn’t just a solid, dependable midfielder, he was decent in front of goal too. In 2006/07, he surprisingly hit double figures in the league.

2) Mark Noble

You don’t get a nickname like “Mr West Ham” for nothing. Since making his first-team debut back in 2004, the midfielder has racked up over 500 appearances for the Hammers over 16 seasons.

It has always been a major bone of contention that Noble has never won an England cap but he will certainly go down as one of the best midfielders in the London club’s history.

1) Gareth Barry

The midfielder holds the record for the most appearances in the Premier League, having played for Aston Villa, Manchester City, Everton and West Bromwich Albion in the top flight.

Barry was an excellent passer of the ball and equally capable defensively but he wasn’t eulogised to the same level as the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard or even Michael Carrick, mainly due to the fact he only won two major trophies in his career, whilst at City.