PREMIER LEAGUE UNDERRATED PLAYERS

The premier league is full of world class players, some of which, due to their talent, have become household names across the globe. Examples of these type of players are Sergio Aguero, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney. However, I think there are a lot of players playing in various teams who don't get the recognition they deserve. They are underrated players and here are some examples.

 Ramires 

 Despite playing for Chelsea, a club that attracts a great deal of media attention, Ramires isn't really discussed much. In reality, his magnificent energy levels have been a massive boost to the whole Chelsea team, at points in the season, specifically late in games. Without Ramires Chelsea simply aren't as good.

Youssouf Mulumbu

Despite being a national icon in his native Congo and a hero among baggies fans, Youssouf Mulumbu is far from a recognized name and face when it comes to the average fan. However, when he's not playing west Brom really miss him. His range of passing and versatility have been pivotal for West Brom over the past few years and is the true definition of a bargain buy, having cost just £175,000 from PSG back in 2009.

Danny Graham

Bought by Swansea for just £3 million from Watford last summer, Danny Graham has had a fantastic 2011/12 campaign so far. A highly respectable 10 goals in 23 games has put the Englishman in joint seventh on the premier league's top scorers list. But despite this, there has been no talk of an England call up.

Alex Song

Much like Chelsea's Ramires, Alex song is at a club whose every move is keenly scrutinized, yet still finds himself with few headlines. However, the Cameroonian is a hugely important player for the gunners, due to his magnificent organization skills as he provides a massive help to Arsenal's back four from his position in defensive midfield. Plus, Song chips in with the odd goal every now and again. 

Steven Fletcher 

The wolves striker is the epitome of an underrated player in my opinion. Last season, the scottish striker had the 3rd highest shots to goals ratio in Europe, surpassing the likes of Messi, Rooney, Ibrahimovic to name just a few. He's currently the premier league's seventh highest scorer so far this season with 10 goals so far. A pretty impressive acumen don't you think? Yet, Fletcher still doesn't start for wolves each week. What more must he do?

 Are there any other premier league players out there who you think are underrated? Thanks for reading

TOP 5 PLAYERS OVER 30

When a player reaches the age of 30, he is commonly referred to being "past his peak". The player's supposed "peak" being between 24 and 27 years old. However, some of the world's best players are over 30, proving that age sometimes can have no bearing on your best years playing. Here are the world's top 5 outfield players over 30.

5. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

When he plays, he oozes confidence and makes everything he does look so easy. Despite some saying he hasn't got the energy and speed to be really considered one of the world's best players, his goalscoring record says otherwise. In my opinion, the best Zlatan has been is during his time at AC Milan, where he has scored 39 goals in 48 games since joining them at age 28. He will undoubtedly be Sweden's key player at this summer's European championships.

4. Nemanja Vidic

When he joined Manchester united in January 2006 for just £7 million, very few predicted the 30 year old Serb would have such a colossal impact in English football. At the start of the 2010/11 season, Vidic was awarded the captaincy at the old Trafford club and led them to their historic 19th title. Vidic was also included in the fifpro world team of the year for 2011, highlighting what a magnificent player he is. Despite being currently injured, Vidic will almost certainly be back fighting fit soon enough.

3. Samuel Ett'o

Most people think that when a footballer reaches 30 years old they began to lose their speed. This led some to think Samuel Ett'o would lose one of his main attributes, his speed, as he got older however no such thing has yet happened to the electrifying Cameroonian striker who's currently the world's highest paid player at Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala. So far, Ett'o has impressed at Anzhi with a goalscoring record of 8 in 11 games. Based on current form, this 30 year old, three-time champions league winner at both Barcelona and Inter Milan shows no signs of losing what made him such a world-class player in the first place.

2. David Villa

For years during his time at Valencia CF, David Villa was being linked with big-money moves to some of Europe's finest clubs. Then eventually in 2010 David Villa made the move to Barcelona. Many wondered if due to Villa's high octane style of play, he had left it too late to have five or six years at the very top of world football. However, his form in the 2010/11 season was certainly good enough as he helped Barcelona win both the champions league (scoring in the final) and la liga. An injury suffered in December of 2011 has almost certainly ruled him out of the rest of the 2011/12 season but Spain will be hoping and praying he's fit enough to play for them at euro 2012 this summer, highlighting his major importance to the team.

1. Xavi

If there was ever a player that proved that players 30 years old and over can still be among the best in the world, it's Xavi. With a sublime range of passing, as well as an exceptional ability to make things look easy, Xavi is in my opinion the best midfielder in the world. His club team Barcelona and his national team Spain are the best club and national team in the world today in the majority of people's estimations and the fact that Xavi's light shines brightest in both those teams is a testament to his ability. The fact he is this good yet considered past his "peak" proves that in many cases, age is merely a number.

Who is the world's best goalkeeper?

To many fans, ex players and pundits the goalkeeper is the most important player on the pitch. However which goalkeeper is the world's best? In this article I'll give you my top 5.

5. Hugo Lloris

In terms of physical standing, I simply can not imagine a better physique to have as a goalkeeper than the one Hugo Lloris possesses. With a superb reach and some great reflexes, Lloris has all the tools to become one of the best goalkeepers in the world one day.The Lyon and France number 1 has a magnificent future ahead of him having just turned 25 years old. If I was sir Alex Ferguson, I would have bought Lloris rather than David De Gea to replace Edwin van der sar.

4. Joe Hart

Joe Hart's journey to becoming one of the best goalkeepers in the world has been tough and strenuous. Loans at Blackpool, Tranmere and Birmingham city have meant Hart's had to work immensely hard to get noticed. However after the season on loan at Birmingham ended, Mancini decided to give Joe Hart the honor of being Manchester City's first choice goalkeeper, ahead of the experienced Shay Given. Since then Hart has shone and in the process has become the English national team's undisputed number 1.

3.Petr Cech

As a Chelsea fan throughout Petr Cech's career at the club, I've seen him become the player he is today. In his first season, he produced some magnificent performances and while doing so managed to beat Carlo Cuducini to become chelsea's top goalie during Chelsea's title winning 2004/05 premier league campaign. Despite a horrid injury in late 2006 during a game against Reading, Cech has remained one of the world's best goalkeepers and in my opinion, the £7 million Chelsea spent on him to take him from Rennes was one of the best bargains in recent memory.

2. Iker Casillas

To many fans throughout the globe, Casillas is the best goalkeeper in the world. His magnificent performances for both Spain and Real Madrid are nearly always solid and often spectacular. Many will be surprised to know he's only 30, meaning as a goalkeeper he's still got plenty of time left at the top. When he does eventually retire, real Madrid will have a tough job replacing him.

1. Manuel Neuer

When he joined his boyhood club Schalke 04 at the age of 7 all his coaches knew they had an exciting young goalkeeping prospect on their hands. However, Manuel Neuer's career really took off in 2010 where he was one of Germany's star players in the world cup. He then had a magnificent 2010/11 season, with many mind-blowing performances most notably against Manchester united in the semi final of the champions league at Gelsenkirchen. In the summer of 2011, Neuer left Schalke to join Bayern munich for which made him the 2nd most expensive goalkeeper of all time. So far, he's already broken a record for Bayern Munich: the most consecutive clean sheets. To have done all this at just 25 years old already, the future looks extremely bright for the man who I believe is the world's best goalkeeper.

Honorable mentions

Gigi Buffon

Pepe Reina

Julio Cesar

What did you think of my choices? Was I right to put Neuer ahead of Casillas? Did I miss anyone out? Please leave a comment if so. Thanks for reading.

PREVIEW: TOTTENHAM VS CHELSEA

This Thursday night, Chelsea travel to White Hart lane to take on London rivals Tottenham. However, for the first time in a long time, Tottenham go in to the match above Chelsea as they are currently in third place, while Chelsea are two points behind in fourth.

Since Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003, Chelsea have become one of the premier league’s best teams and therefore they’ve  got used to being in matches against teams who like them, are battling to be considered one of the best. However, it’s only been two seasons since Tottenham first finished in the premier league’s coveted top four so competing in these types of matches is relatively new to them.

Chelsea’s triumph over leaders Manchester City last week, twinned with Tottenham’s loss at Stoke looked to have put Chelsea back into the title race and damaged Tottenham’s chances of being in the top four come May. However, Chelsea lost all the momentum they had after their win over Manchester City, as a late Jordi Gomez goal rescued Wigan a point in a 1-1 draw on Saturday. A day later, a Roman Pavlyuchenko goal was enough to give Tottenham the three points at home to Sunderland.

A thought that deeply worries Chelsea fans is that defeat on Thursday night will leave them five points behind Tottenham, with the north London side having a game in hand. Such a situation could put manager Andre Villas-Boas under serious pressure from both the media and potentially even his own supporters, as many Chelsea fans blame the decision to take off Daniel Sturridge for Florent Malouda as a key factor in the blues dropping two points at Wigan on Saturday.

An interesting feature of this game will be Luka Modric. The 26 year-old Croat was at the centre of one of the summer’s most intriguing transfer sagas, as Chelsea offered Tottenham £22 million, and then £27 million for the midfielder’s services. In the end, Modric stayed at Tottenham and has looked just as good as ever so far this season. Thursday’s game will give Modric the opportunity to show Chelsea what they missed out on.

For Tottenham, there will be no Aaron Lennon in this match after he was injured during the game against Sunderland. Gareth Bale, who didn’t play against Sunderland due to a sprained ankle, is facing a battle to be fit for Thursday night’s game. Manager Harry Redknapp said "Bale has sprained his ankle, he just did it in training. He thought it was okay, then he went home, had a little rest and couldn't put any weight on it”.  Jermaine Defoe however, looks set to return after missing Sunday’s game.

As for Chelsea, John Terry, who had to receive medical treatment during the game against Wigan, is expected to be fit for the match.

Brazilians Ramires and David Luiz who both missed the game against Wigan should both be fit according to manager Andre Villas-Boas.

This game will be massively important for both teams, with a win for either side putting them in third place over Christmas. Although, a loss for either team would surely end their title hopes. For the neutral, this will be a great battle between two London rivals, however for the fans this will be a nerve-wracking match with the result having a huge impact on their respective team’s season.

Alex and Anelka to leave Chelsea

After Chelsea’s 3-0 win away at Newcastle manager Andre Villas-Boas told the media that both central defender Alex and centre forward Nicolas Anelka had handed in transfer requests. The 34 year old manager also said that the duo would be training separately from the rest of the squad until any move was completed.

Villas-Boas said “My conversation with them was fair and direct. They have shown their interest in leaving the club and have had transfer requests in for some time. They are top players. Their professionalism and integrity are not in question. 'But we have decided to assign different training times to them. If their transfers don't happen, the players will return to full training.'

 As a Chelsea fan, I wasn’t surprised by this news but I was slightly concerned. Nicolas Anelka hasn’t done anything particularly impressive since the end of the 2009/10 season, so there’s no need to replace him. However, Alex is a reliable, wise and powerful centre-half who I feel contributes a lot to the Chelsea squad.

David Luiz is often criticized for being too rash and often finding himself out of position, while Alex has no such issues. Now I’m not saying Alex is better than David Luiz, I’m just pointing out that there are parts of Alex’s game which his fellow Brazilian can learn from.

However, despite my disappointment at Alex leaving the club, I can understand why he’d want to leave. Since David Luiz joined in January this year, Alex has been demoted to 4^th choice centre-back behind John Terry, David Luiz and Branislav Ivanovic. For a player attempting to get into Brazil’s 2014 world cup squad, that’s simply not good enough.

As for who Alex will join, there’s a lot of potential options such as Juventus, newly rich clubs Anzhi Makhachkala and PSG or perhaps even a return to Brazil. A move to Arsenal would’ve been considered possible in the summer, but Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker and Thomas Vermaelen have made the gunners’ defence considerably more solid than it was this time last year.

Nicolas Anelka, at 32 is three years older than the 29 year old Alex and has very little to prove. Throughout his career he’s played for the likes of Real Madrid, Arsenal and Liverpool as well as Chelsea. A move to an American side, perhaps L.A galaxy or a move back to France with old club PSG have both been spoke about as possible destinations as has a move to Russia.

To conclude, Chelsea have to sign a replacement in my opinion, with many mentioning Gary Cahill. However, Cahill’s shaky performances for Bolton this season makes me think a £15 million signing of him would be a bad move. I’d personally like to see Mats Hummels join, although Borussia Dortmund wouldn’t let him go cheaply, the same could be said for Hummels’ defensive partner Neven Subotic.

EPL: 5 PLAYERS WHO’VE LIT UP THE LEAGUE

With nine games gone in the premier league now, we can now to start to assess each team’s start. But which players have really stood out? In this article we’ll be looking at the key players who’ve played consistently well throughout the nine games (in Tottenham and Everton’s case eight). Let’s go.

David Silva

The Spaniard was superb in his debut 2010/11 season and he’s been even better so far this season. With his mesmerizing runs, clever passes and confident finishing, it could be argued that Silva is the ultimate creative player. His side, Man City are currently at the top of the premier league, and manager Roberto Mancini described Silva as “one of the best players in Europe and the world”. In this kind of form, it’s very hard to disagree. At this stage, the £24 million Man City paid Valencia last year for Silva’s services looks like a more than reasonable price.

Best performance: Manchester United away in a 6-1 win.

Juan Mata

Last season, the main criticism of Chelsea was their lack of creativity. They needed someone with trickery, ball control and good crossing ability. Like Man City did with David Silva, Chelsea looked at a Valencia player to resolve this issue and Juan Mata was the man they chose. A goal on his debut against Norwich instantly endeared the Spaniard to the Chelsea fans and Mata’s performances have been consistently impressive, form which looks set to continue for the remainder of the season.

Best performance: Sunderland away in a 2-1 win.

Yohan Cabaye

At the start of the season, hardly anybody would’ve thought Yohan Cabaye would be on a list such as this. However the Frenchman has been in inspiring form this season with performances which make Newcastle one of only two unbeaten sides in the premier league so far, along with leaders Manchester City. With a range of passing that would fit into the majority of, if not all premier league teams, Cabaye’s quality should never be underestimated.

Best performance: Aston Villa away in a 1-1 draw.

Wayne Rooney

The man who many consider to be one of the top five players in the world has unsurprisingly had a superb start to the 2011/12 season. With an almost unprecedented two hat-tricks in two games against Arsenal at Old Trafford and then away at Bolton, the man nicknamed “Wazza” has been as determined as ever to give Manchester United at 20^th English league title. Despite not scoring since September 18^th in the league at the time of writing, you have to assume Rooney will get or be very close to the premier league’s “Golden boot” award in May.

Best performance: At home to Arsenal in a 8-2 win

Sergio “Kun” Aguero

When any player comes from a foreign league to the premier league, many people expect the player regardless of the price tag, to take a while to settle in. However, Man City’s Sergio Aguero hasn’t needed any “settling in” time. Two goals in just over thirty minutes on his debut against Swansea, a goal in a 6-1 demolition of Manchester United at Old Trafford and a hat-trick against Wigan are just some of the performances which have put Aguero at the top of the goal scoring chart alongside Wayne Rooney.

Best performance: At home to Wigan at the Etihad stadium in a 3-1 win.

Honourable mentions

-Mario Ballotelli, Daniel Sturridge, Edin Dzeko, Ashley Young, Emmanuel Adebayor, Ro

Who is the world's best striker?

The battle to be the world's best striker.


Few would argue that Lionel Messi is the world's best player, but despite his impeccable goalscoring figures, he isn't really a striker. Neither are any of his competitors for best players in the world. So who is the world's best striker? Lets take a look at the contenders.


Sergio 'Kün' Aguero.
Ever since he made his Independiente at just 15 years of age, Sergio Aguero has been recognized as a potential footballing star. After 5 years of superb form at Atletico Madrid where he scored 74 goals in 175 appearances he joined Manchester City for around €40 million (£38 million). Despite many expecting him to struggle at first, Aguero has taken to the Premier League like a duck to water, scoring an impressive 6 in 5 games. With Argentina he's scored 13 in 30 and won himself a place in a team where competition is rife.


David Villa
After five years of magnificent form for Valencia, during which he scored 108 times in 166 games, Villa finally got his big money move in the summer of 2010 to FC Barcelona. In his first season he scored 9 goals in 23 games, including a goal in the UEFA Champions league final against Manchester United. For Spain, his form has been equally electrifying with his goals helping the Spanish national team win both Euro 2008 and the 2010 World cup. 


Edin Dzeko
When Wolfsburg won the 2008/09 Bundesliga much of the credit went to the league's top scorer, Bosnian Edin Dzeko. A superb champions league campaign the following season only helped his stock rise. In January of 2011, Dzeko joined Manchester City for £27 million. Despite a disappointing start to his City career, Dzeko has started the 2011/12 premier league on fire including a superb four goals against Tottenham.


Luis Suarez
If you're looking for both grit and genuine quality in a player look no further than Luis Súarez. The Uruguayan who joined Ajax from showed some unbelievable form in both the Eredevisie and for Uruguay in the 2010 world cup. Liverpool came knocking in January 2011 and made a £22.5 million bid that Ajax couldn't refuse. So far Suarez has been consistently impressive in a red shirt, form which looks set to continue for the rest of the 2011/12 season.


Samuel Et'to
Few of the strikers on this list are as experienced as Samuel Et'to. After 4 years playing for Real Mallorca, the mighty Barcelona made a move for the Cameroonian in 2004. In a Barca side that included Ronaldinho and Deco, Et'to excelled however an argument with coach Frank Riijkard and later Pep Guardiola , Et'to joined Internazionale in 2009 . At Inter Et'to lived up to his expectations, including being part of an Inter side that won the Champions league, Serie A and coppa Italia in the 2009/10 season. Et'to left in the summer of 2011 though to join newly-rich Anzhi Makhachkala and become the world's highest payed player.


Wayne Rooney
Hailed as "the boy-wonder" from just 16 when he starred for Everton, Wayne Rooney is widely regarded as one of the world's best.  It was summer of 2004 when he joined Manchester United and so far he's more than lived up to the expectation. He was the premier league's player of the season in 2009/10, however after a disappointing 2010 world cup and start to the 2010/11 season, his manager Sir Alex Ferguson decided to play Rooney just in the "hole". In this role, he excelled and even scored while playing there in the champions league final of 2011. He's started the 2011/12 season in wonderful form with two hat-tricks in 4 games.


Mario Gomez

Mario Gomez began his career at Vfb Stuttgart, and made his debut for the senior side at just 18 and by the 2005-06 season when he was just 20, he was a regular in the side. After four more impressive years at Stuttgart, Gomez was soon wanted by the mighty Bayern Munich. Despite a fairly disappointing 1st season in Munich, Gomez scored an impressive 39  goals in 45 games during the 2010/11 season. He's already scored a hat-trick this season, and he's looking sharper than ever.

Javier Hernandez
From virtual obscurity with Chivas de Guadalajara in the Mexican league, the man nick-named "Chicharito" scored an unbelivable 20 goals during his first season for Manchester United. By the end of the season, he was above established premier league stars such as Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen in the Man Utd pecking order. Still only 23, one thing's for sure, Hernandez is a star already.


Zlatan Ibrahimovic
The Swede, who began his career with Malmö FF, probably divides opinion more than anybody on this list. However, the stats speak for themselves. Between his times with huge clubs; Malmö,Ajax,Juventus,Barcelona and now AC Milan Ibrahimovic has scored 199 goals in 534appearances. In the last two seasons, he's been an integral part of both AC Milan and Barcelona's title-winning campaigns. He shows no signs of stopping yet in this, his second season with the Rossoneri.