Liverpool FC Forum

by **Liverpool_In_My_Blood** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 12:27 am

My personal one was always Didi Hamann. Despite the job he done for us, paticuarlly in Istanbul, he wasn't really credited by many people. The Liverpool fans adored him and praised him, but other fans and footy pundits didn't notice it.

Sorry to see you leave Kaiser. Hope you get a good recpetion when you come back with City, I for one will be clapping you when your name is announced over the tannoy.

by **Bad Bob** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 12:56 am

Finnan's the obvious choice from last season's starting 11 but more and more people are taking notice so maybe not as much any more.

As such, I've got two unusual candidates to suggest:

1) Sami Hyypia
2) Luis Garcia

Strange as it sounds, I think Sami is growing more "unsung" every day as all manner of people seem willing to look only at his birth certificate to decide if he's still worthy of a place in the starting 11. Just watch him play FFS! Consistently excellent for us last season and a vital cog in the meanest defense in the league. :bowdown

As for Garcia, a lot of people seem to focus too much on the moments of madness and not give the kid enough credit for the moments of brilliance. That'd be fine if his moments of brilliance only came against the likes of West Brom or Portsmouth. As we all know, though, Luis saves his best stuff for the biggest stages: CL knock-out legs, FA Cup semis, league tilts against Arsenal...! He's been immense for us and the lad deserves the credit! :buttrock

by **woof woof !** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 1:11 am

I think Sammi restored a lot of peoples faith with his performances last season , many (myself included) were beginning to question him after the 2004-2005 campaign , but he stepped up his game and more than merits an automatic inclusion in the first 11.

As for Lil Luis , for me the jury is still out . His moments of brilliance just about outweigh his moments of incompetence ? (maybe to harsh a word) ,he is our most frustrating player but I don't think he's unappreciated , I for one would hate to see him go .

Fully agree with Finnan as the unsung hero . Never spectacular but hardly ever puts a foot wrong . IMO he is all round a better RB than Carra ever was , don't see anyone in the current squad who can seriously challenge for his place , having said that , he's not getting any younger

by **skipper** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 1:33 am

Finnan's been very solid and consistent and Hamman was really a game changer, especially in those big matches. Those are two players that have been solid for us, but don't get as much credit.

by **Espionage** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:09 am

At the moment I think that the most under-rated player in terms of other fans perspective would have to be Sissoko. I think that this coming season, all of a sudden all of the footy commentators will finally give him the recognition that he honestly deserves. Then other fans will wonder how he grew up so fast.
How many player in the EPL would you feel confident enough to play Gerrard on the right for baically the whole knowing that this player would have to fill Gerrard's shoes? Not too many, and I think that he won over all the Liverpool faithful within the first few games!
I just cant wait to see this how this guy progresses in seasons to come, this guy IS a gem!

by **azriahmad** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:33 am

The greatest unsung hero of them all...Ronnie Whelan. A Bob Paisley babe who started as a right footed left sided midfielder with a very keen eye for goals, most notably in League Cup final matches in 1982 and 1983 and ended up as the protector of the back four who gave cover for Alan Hansen and company by the time Kenny Dalglish was the manager. Won the English League winners' medal on 6 occassions, 1 European Cup winners' medal, 3 FA Cup winners' medals (I think he was in the 1992 squad, not sure if he played in the final but was instrumental in the first semi against a Darren Anderton inspired Portsmouth, scoring the tie-saving equaliser from a John Barnes free-kick rebound to spare a poorly playing Liverpool from an embarassing defeat), 3 League Cup winners' medal...and I can't remember how many Charity Shields he won because the Charity Shield is an insignificant cup/trophy/honour (not according to Gerrard Houllier!).

To the younger fans here who did not witness Liverpool during the 80s, John Barnes paid the ultimate compliment to Ronnie Whelan when he described him as "the most intelligent player I ever played with, he doesn't have Steven Gerrard's energy or explosive ability yet so effective with an economy of effort".

Carra used to be an unsing hero until Benitez played him in central defence and keeps highlighting his contributions. Last season it was between Finnan and Hyppia.

by **Liverpool_In_My_Blood** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 1:08 pm

John Walk. He didn't spend a long time with us, but during his time he was one of better players. Coasting into the box from centre mid and scoring plenty of goals. Not the biggest of names but still extremely useful.

Sammy Lee was another unsung hero. Not the best footballer but certainly one of our most comitted players. Ask him to do something and Sammy will do it. One of our biggest unsung heroes ever.

by **Billy_5_Times** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 2:42 pm

Finnan is our unsung hero. Doesn't do anything flash, but is as solid as a rock.

by **flipmode** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 3:52 pm

woof woof ! wrote:I think Sammi restored a lot of peoples faith with his performances last season , many (myself included) were beginning to question him after the 2004-2005 campaign , but he stepped up his game and more than merits an automatic inclusion in the first 11.

As for Lil Luis , for me the jury is still out . His moments of brilliance just about outweigh his moments of incompetence ? (maybe to harsh a word) ,he is our most frustrating player but I don't think he's unappreciated , I for one would hate to see him go .

Fully agree with Finnan as the unsung hero . Never spectacular but hardly ever puts a foot wrong . IMO he is all round a better RB than Carra ever was , don't see anyone in the current squad who can seriously challenge for his place , having said that , he's not getting any younger

I agree with these, but also Finnan in there for me....

by **AwiLas** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 5:36 pm

Yeah.. Finnan and Hyppia are the un-sung heroes.. They are Liverpool's solid as rock back 4.. Tell me, how to keep the goals conceded to the minimum.?. Cheers..

by **Billy_5_Times** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 9:12 pm

I think Pako is one of our biggest unsung heroes. A lot of our young talents are down to him because he was brining them to the club, he also helped in the youth set-up last year. Pako is the reason Robbie Fowler has lost the weight.

by **J*o*n*D*o*e** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 9:56 pm

in think you`ll find the unsung heroes are nearly always found in the defence and yet its the most important part of any team.

Finnan it is for me aswell, solid reliable and happy to let others take the acclaim, cant forget hyppia either

by **Bad Bob** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 9:59 pm

Billy_5_Times wrote:I think Pako is one of our biggest unsung heroes. A lot of our young talents are down to him because he was brining them to the club, he also helped in the youth set-up last year. Pako is the reason Robbie Fowler has lost the weight.

Your conflating two different people, lad: Paco H. and Pako A.! (Or is it the other way round?...help, Sabre!)

by **JC_81** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 10:14 pm

Bad Bob wrote:
Billy_5_Times wrote:I think Pako is one of our biggest unsung heroes. A lot of our young talents are down to him because he was brining them to the club, he also helped in the youth set-up last year. Pako is the reason Robbie Fowler has lost the weight.

Your conflating two different people, lad: Paco H. and Pako A.! (Or is it the other way round?...help, Sabre!)

Yeah.

Paco Herrera has left - he recommended and helped develop several of the youth players and coached the reserves.

Pako Ayesteran is the baldy fitness coach and assistant manager who's still with us.

As for unsung heroes - Hyypia without a shadow of a doubt. So many people have said Finnan is underrated or an unsung hero over the last year or so that it's clear almost everyone rates him highly. Hyypia on the other hand gets unfair criticism from some of our age-ist supporters. I don't give a feck what age he is, he's still our best defender imo and I include Carra in that. Still the most aerially dominant centre half in the premiership and also one of the best at tackling and reading the game :bowdown

by **Bad Bob** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 10:27 pm

john craig wrote:
Bad Bob wrote:
Billy_5_Times wrote:I think Pako is one of our biggest unsung heroes. A lot of our young talents are down to him because he was brining them to the club, he also helped in the youth set-up last year. Pako is the reason Robbie Fowler has lost the weight.

Your conflating two different people, lad: Paco H. and Pako A.! (Or is it the other way round?...help, Sabre!)

Yeah.

Paco Herrera has left - he recommended and helped develop several of the youth players and coached the reserves.

Pako Ayesteran is the baldy fitness coach and assistant manager who's still with us.

As for unsung heroes - Hyypia without a shadow of a doubt. So many people have said Finnan is underrated or an unsung hero over the last year or so that it's clear almost everyone rates him highly. Hyypia on the other hand gets unfair criticism from some of our age-ist supporters. I don't give a feck what age he is, he's still our best defender imo and I include Carra in that. Still the most aerially dominant centre half in the premiership and also one of the best at tackling and reading the game

Cheers, John...I knew someone would clear up the Paco/Pako question.

As for Hyppia, I obviously agree (said as much earlier in the thread) and it really frustrates me when people fixate on his age. No one questions the ability of Cannevaro, Staam, Nesta, Maldini or Cafu. All are well on the wrong side of 30 but all still do the business (well, Maldini aside I suppose now...but his longevity has been amazing). I know the Prem's different than Serie A (where most of these guys play) but the point is that Sami is not near past it yet. Anyone that thinks so either hasn't seen him play enough or is so fixated on pace that they fail to recognize that:

1) defending is about so much more than pace
2) Sami makes up for his lack of pace better than any CB in the league with intelligent positioning and unparalled anticipation
3) Sami never had pace to begin with so why is this an issue now!

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