Top 10 Underrated Premiership Players

Here are my top 10 underrated players in the Premiership. Let me know what your list is.

10. Mikel Arteta - It is hardly a secret that the Spaniard is Everton's talisman. Sky Sports and Match of the Day regularly tell us how clever and subtle his play is. So why underrated? Because few people, besides Everton fans, realise quite how good he is. A metronomic passer of the ball with very quick feet, dangerous set pieces and an eye for goal. Man Utd and Liverpool are crying out for a midfielder of his quality. Next season he will probably continue to be the best midfielder outside the top four. Oh, and do you know how much he cost? £2 million.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zjC0raztco

9. Paul Scholes - A contentious inclusion this one. For 15 years he has been a regular for Man Utd and is rightly regarded as a fabulous midfielder. But, like Arteta, few regard him as highly as they should. Scholes is the most naturally gifted midfielder in Premiership history. Giggs may have the edge in trophies and longevity, but it is not for nothing that Zinedine Zidane, Brian Kidd, Xavi and Darren Fletcher say he is the most talented footballer they have seen. He has long since lost any semblance of pace which he might have had. But the result has been a deep lying playmaker whose range of passing and ability to retain possession can match that of Xavi and Pirlo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjnQad_ulgQ

8. Jamie O'Hara - With just four games to go, Spurs are in prime position to capture football's "holy grail" - fourth spot. If they hadn't loaned O'Hara to Portsmouth, perhaps they could be all but guaranteed Champions League football next season. Despite Portsmouth's dismal form and embarassing financial problems, O'Hara has been their best player by a wide margin. A combination of good vision and an underrated ability to support both defence and attack has caught the eye of Giovanni Trapattoni. The 23-year-old is torn between declaring for the Republic of Ireland and waiting for an England call up. There is one certainty, he will be putting serious pressure on Tom Huddlestone and Wilson Palacios for a starting spot next season.
Not strictly a video of his elegant passing, but: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gyd1SV2fXFc

7. Scott Parker - It is very easy to overlook Scott Parker given West Ham's dismal season and his relative failure at Chelsea. But the former Charlton man has demonstrated over the past two years the qualities which led Claudio Ranieri to shell out £10 million for him. He is an excellent tackler (Martin Keown and Stan Collymore called him the best in the Premiership) and provides an excellent screen for his defence with his positional awareness and neat passing. It's a shame that the rest of Gianfranco Zola's side don't perform with the same quiet efficiency.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1NIbVYVzMohttp:// and Parker demonstrating his tidy approach to winning the ball http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_tdBdoCA5s&feature=related

6. Kevin Doyle - So non-descript are Mick McCarthy's Wolves side, that I would forgive anyone for understimating them. However, this season Doyle has quietly and doggedly reminded the Premiership of his debut top flight season with Reading. The Irish striker has few notable weaknesses: he is fairly quick and strong and blends a decent ability in the air with a natural striker's instinct. His tally of seven goals this season is underwhelming, but he has selflessly lead the line and his performances have helped propel Wolves clear of relegation trouble.
Worth watching for a hilarious aside from the journalist about Liam Hunt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezIti82nLKA&feature=related

5. David Dunn- Does anybody remember how good David Dunn was supposed to be? Around 11 years ago he was touted as the future of England's midfield alongside the prodigiously talented Joe Cole. Of the two "New Gazza's", it is Cole who has since done most to deserve the moniker. Dunn has always been a decent midfielder but nothing more. This season though, Dunn's memorable goals and technical ability have been at the fore during Blackburn's impressive season. He might not be the answer to the Gerrard-Lampard "equation", but he is finally delivering on his rich promise.
Look how much he's improved http://www.blogger.com/www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4fsLeCjB4s&feature=fvsr

4. Aaron Ramsey - If you cast your mind back to the pre-season forecasts for the Premiershipseason, you will well remember the hype that surrounded Jack Wilshere - "The heir apparent to Paul Gascoigne", "the best English player since Rooney". Funny then that it is the Welsh teenager Ramsey who seems to be Arsenal's most promising youngster. In the injury-enforced absence of Cesc Fabregas, Ramsey seamlessly filled the midfield playmaker's position and turned in a string of eye-catching performances. No doubt Wilshere is a fantastic prospect, but Ramsey is better. When he returns from his broken leg he will surprise everybody all over again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuzbOpgiJ7c


3. Damien Duff - Surplus to requirements in his final year at Chelsea, part of Newcastle's "would have challenged for the title five years ago" side, Duff's star had fallen since his memorable time at Blackburn. However, the man who was arguably the best left-sided midfield player in the world in 2002 (Pires and Giggs may disagree) has been back to his best at Fulham. Injuries have sapped his once blinding pace and the plaudits don't come as often as they did during his 2002 World Cup campaign ( watch those Youtube videos). But nine goals this season and an innate ability to beat a full back mean the winger is once more a force to be reckoned with. N.B. Has anybody else noticed how Duff always looks so out of breath he could keel over at any moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYogG8x_im0&feature=related

2. Lee Bowyer - While he was at West Ham, I had more than one conversation which started with "remember when Bowyer used to be good". At Leeds he was an angry, aggressive but deeply talented footballer. But he was so spectacularly rubbish at West Ham that he makes Kieron Dyer look like a decent signing. So imagine our surprise when he strolls back into the Premiership with Birmingham City. Surely they'd be going straight back down if they relied on duds like Bowyer. Wouldn't they? But, whisper it, he's actually good - really good in fact. Five goals, four assists and numerous "Leeds-like" performances.
What a nice guy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFLeTm46CqQ

1. Rory Delap - He is number one on the list due to his actual abilities as a footballer being completely ignored. Yes, we all know Rory Delap has a long throw in. It has regularly been compared to "a howitzer", "a missile" etc. So prodigious a skill is Delap's, that he could carry on until his mid-40s and still be a considerable weapon for Stoke. Did you know he has 20 assists from throw in's over his last two Premiership seasons. But the former Southampton man is actually a decent midfielder. He's no Lampard or Fabregas, but nor is he just a "throw-in merchant". 73 appearances in the last two years for a gradually improving Stoke side is testament to that.
Oh all right here's his monster throw in against Man City http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFGgeor351g