11 midfield generals who don't get the credit they deserve

There is a famous scene from the popular Bollywood hit Munna Bhai where the protagonist, a goon studying MBBS, expresses his gratitude to the sweeper of the hospital for selfless dedication to make sure that the place stays clean. Doctors treat the patients and, indeed, save lives, but it is the cleaners that clean the place and kill the chance of deadly viruses spreading due to unhygienic environments even before they arise.Limelight is not for everyone. We see the leaves and the fruits of the tree, but we don’t see the roots of it. In every football team, the midfield general could be considered as the root of the team’s attack – and they are perhaps among the most underrated members of the team.One of the best examples would be Claude Makelele. The Frenchman was the crux of Real Madrid’s best team in the modern era, but was sold by Florentino Perez who thought that he couldn’t pass forward. Each and every of his team-mates were against the decision. For Zinedane Zidane, he was the engine of the team; for Perez, he was a nobody.Even now we can find a number of midfield generals not getting the credit that they deserve and here are some of them.

#1 Claudio Marchisio

Only Marchisio remains among the midfield trio of Pirlo and Vidal at Juventus

In a team that had Paul Pogba, Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal, it is quite natural that the recognition that he gets is not up to what he deserves. However, he is worthy of fandom just like his counterparts.

There are some staunch lovers of this Italian midfield engine, but it isn’t as many as someone of his ability deserves.

The Juventus man is one of the most loyal players around. His ability to turn defense to attack is commendable as he possesses great on-the-ball driving skill and off-the-ball defensive awareness. An all-action midfielder, it is his consistency that is one of the reasons for Juventus becoming the best team in Italy.

While he might not have earned the deserved plaudits with the aforementioned three around, his importance will now fall more on people’s eyes with the departures of Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal.