Most overrated Arsenal players

[Macho]

Hleb and Eduardo.

Eduardo I understand he dropped off after his leg break, but come on man, some fans think he was the next R9. I never saw that tbh.

I didn’t see this either

At most people suggested it detailed our title charge.

 

[TH14shahriar]

I didn’t see this either

At most people suggested it detailed our title charge.

I've read some delusional things about Eduardo from cringe arsenal fans, it's a minority I hope.

 

[Dokaka]

I've read some delusional things about Eduardo from cringe arsenal fans, it's a minority I hope.

That stuff was very common when I joined this place. Not "new R9" levels but stuff like one of the best finishers in Arsenal history etc. It was almost like his injury was used as some sort of coping mechanism for other failures, ostensibly turning it into "his injury cost us the title", and for that to be true he had to be top class.

Decent player, obviously awful he got injured like he did, but he was never elite.

 

[Macho]

It was almost like his injury was used as some sort of coping mechanism for other failures, ostensibly turning it into "his injury cost us the title", and for that to be true he had to be top class.

I’d say it did. Not the actual title, but it definitely ended the race cold. I still remember Cesc face going pale white.

You could imagine that playing out similarly with this young squad who don’t exactly have one hand on the title themselves.

Decent player, obviously awful he got injured like he did, but he was never elite.

I don’t think we saw enough of him to say he was/was not elite. He was certainly looking good though.

I don’t recall crazy hype with him tbh, we were known for not finishing and he could. Same thing will happen with the next main striker after Jesus.

I remember being very underwhelmed when he was brought in to replace Thierry myself, so this overhype stuff is news to me.

 

[Blood on the Tracks]

Probably Oxlade Chamberlain for me.

Lots of potential but never really did anything meaningful, either here or later at Liverpool.

 

[jones]

Definitely hype among the Croatians I know when we signed him lol, his last season in their league was unreal he got something like 50 goals. Obviously not a top league but some class strikers never got anything close to that there.

He wasn't going to be the next Henry but from all we've seen before the injury we could've had a top striker.

 

[Macho]

Definitely hype among the Croatians I know when we signed him lol, his last season in their league was unreal he got something like 50 goals. Obviously not a top league but some class strikers never got anything close to that there.

He wasn't going to be the next Henry but from all we've seen before the injury we could've had a top striker.

The Croatians I knew were more gassed over Modric though.

Eduardo is a weird one for overrated for me. Tierney is a better example of someone who was overrated, the carry on when he was around is still very fresh in my mind.

Best left back since Cole, better than Robertson, only selling for 100 mil, sell the entire squad except Tierney, Saka and Partey etc. Tierney is up there.

 

[db10_therza]

Most overrated before joining: Walcott

Most overrated during arse days: Oxlade Chamberlain

Most overrated after leaving: Giroud

I’m not including players that were rated but plagued by injuries like Diaby, Rosicky etc

 

[HattoriHanzo]

Definitely hype among the Croatians I know when we signed him lol, his last season in their league was unreal he got something like 50 goals. Obviously not a top league but some class strikers never got anything close to that there.

He wasn't going to be the next Henry but from all we've seen before the injury we could've had a top striker.

34 goals and 7 assists in his last season for Dinamo
I was really excited, as Croat, when he arrived to Arsenal.
He had 4 goals and 6 assists in his 960 minutes in Arsenal before that butcher Taylor massacred him and ruined his career.
Eduardo had 29 goals in 62 matches for our national team.
He never recovered completely, he was half a player he was before after coming back.
Who knows what could have he achieved without this injury?
So, I don't think that he was overrated, he simply couldn't finish his career in normal way.

 

[Dennis_Bergkamp_10]

I love the lad but it has to be someone like Wilshere. Debut at 16, that Barcelona performance, England's prodigy, lauded by other professionals.

Injuries ruined him, never got into his stride. That tackle from McNair on his ankle, I remember it like it was yesterday. Went to Bournemouth when he was what, 25? Left football completely at the age of 30.

Back in 2011 I thought he'd still captain our side now.

 

[jones]

34 goals and 7 assists in his last season for Dinamo
I was really excited, as Croat, when he arrived to Arsenal.
He had 4 goals and 6 assists in his 960 minutes in Arsenal before that butcher Taylor massacred him and ruined his career.
Eduardo had 29 goals in 62 matches for our national team.
He never recovered completely. he was half a player he was before after coming back.
Who knows what could have he achieved without this injury?
So, I don't think that he was overrated, he simply couldn't finish his career in normal way.

Wiki says 47 in 47 all comps. Either way he was class for Croatia and Dinamo and would've been for us as well

 

[Blood on the Tracks]

Hard for me to pick someone like Eduardo. To me he's a 'What if?' type of player.

Overrated players for me are ones who really had a fair go at it, didn't do much but fans still rated.

 

[HattoriHanzo]

Wiki says 47 in 47 all comps. Either way he was class for Croatia and Dinamo and would've been for us as well

34 goals and 7 assists in Croatian league his last season in Dinamo

 

[field442]

The most overrated are usually the ones who had injuries. Diaby was mostly average and had an outstanding performance once every 30 games and people acted like he'd be the second coming of Vieira were it not for the leg break. Whenever people talk about him they reference that Liverpool game but forget all the crap around it.

Eduardo is another one. A tidy player, nothing more but the leg break leads to "what could he have become" discussions with a lot of the fanbase acting like he'd have been scoring 20+ goals every season.

 

[HattoriHanzo]

The Croatians I knew were more gassed over Modric though.

Eduardo is a weird one for overrated for me. Tierney is a better example of someone who was overrated, the carry on when he was around is still very fresh in my mind.

Best left back since Cole, better than Robertson, only selling for 100 mil, sell the entire squad except Tierney, Saka and Partey etc. Tierney is up there.

As a Croat I'm not fully objective regarding Modric, but I rate him higher than Xavi and consider him to be the best midfielder I ever saw.
Due to the his longevity at highest level (12 years in Real Madrid, 90% of this time in first 11), his versatility, the fact that he can play in many different systems (Xavi played only in Barcelona bubble) and the fact that in his youth days he played on some horrible pitches (e.g. when he was on loan in Bosnian league).

 

[Dokaka]

As a Croat I'm not fully objective regarding Modric, but I rate him higher than Xavi and consider him to be the best midfielder I ever saw.
Due to the his longevity at highest level (12 years in Real Madrid, 90% of this time in first 11), his versatility, the fact that he can play in many different systems (Xavi played only in Barcelona bubble) and the fact that in his youth days he played on some horrible pitches (e.g. when he was on loan in Bosnian league).

Not an outrageous take tbh. Modric was world class for a decade, won everything 10000 times and did the business for Croatia as well.

He is definitely in the conversation when talking about the best midfielders ever. If you nail down a spot at Real Madrid for a decade you know you're good, considering how they love buying new shiny toys.

 

[HattoriHanzo]

The most overrated are usually the ones who had injuries. Diaby was mostly average and had an outstanding performance once every 30 games and people acted like he'd be the second coming of Vieira were it not for the leg break. Whenever people talk about him they reference that Liverpool game but forget all the crap around it.

Eduardo is another one. A tidy player, nothing more but the leg break leads to "what could he have become" discussions with a lot of the fanbase acting like he'd have been scoring 20+ goals every season.

Nobody knows what could he have become.
He played only 960 minutes in Prem before injury, and in that short period he had 4 goals and 6 assists.
I don't know what did you expect from him to do in that period not to call him overrated?

I just checked on Transfermarkt, Henry in his first 960 minutes in Prem for Arsenal had 4 goals and 0 assists.

I repeat, nobody knows what could Eduardo have become.

 

[field442]

Nobody knows what could he have become.
He played only 960 minutes in Prem before injury, and in that short period he had 4 goals and 6 assists.
I don't know what did you expect from him to do in that period not to call him overrated?

I just checked on Transfermarkt, Henry in his first 960 minutes in Prem for Arsenal had 4 goals and 0 assists.

I repeat, nobody knows what could Eduardo have become.

That's my point. He was a tidy player from what we saw before the leg break. He wasn't great and he wasn't bad. He was good/ok but gets overrated by fans because they imagine he'd have gone on to be great, which is overrating him based on what we saw of him.

 

[Rex Stone]

I’d say it did. Not the actual title, but it definitely ended the race cold. I still remember Cesc face going pale white.

You could imagine that playing out similarly with this young squad who don’t exactly have one hand on the title themselves.

My hot take is that whilst it was this game that killed us off it wasn’t the Eduardo injury.

It was this from Clichy…


Still one of the worst things I’ve ever seen on a football pitch. What the actual f*ck was he doing?

Our “captain” then loses his head and storms off to sit on the halfway line which must have been incredible for morale. From there it seemed to snowball.

 

[HattoriHanzo]

That's my point. He was a tidy player from what we saw before the leg break. He wasn't great and he wasn't bad. He was good/ok but gets overrated by fans because they imagine he'd have gone on to be great, which is overrating him based on what we saw of him.

Players can improve with time, and Eduardo didn't have time to improve.
He had to adapt to new environment at high level.
By the same logic he can be also underrated, because you imagine he wouldn't improve.

This is exactly why you can't overrate (or underrate) players whose careers have been destroyed by such horrible injuries after short time at highest level (6 months in Eduardo's case).

As somebody already said, they are "what if" players because nobody knows how they would develop.
And Eduardo is one of them.