Top 10 Divisive Players

jonjoward1998
35 minutes ago
6 min read

Divisive players are players who divide opinion and the Premier League has seen many of them over the years.

There are a number of reasons why a player divides opinion including not delivering for their side week in week out, committing unnecessary fouls and even doing things that are seen as controversial.

The players in the list are a mixture of all of them with one or two of the players in it being divisive due to reasons that are different to the ones I mentioned earlier.

I could've had players like Paolo Di Canio, Roy Keane and Luis Suarez on this list because they were all players who divided opinion as they had a controversial side to them.

But I've not included them because they still did a job for their team despite them being players that divided opinion.

Now here is the list:

Marouane Fellaini

Mesut Ozil

David Luiz

Granit Xhaka

Paul Pogba

Vinnie Jones

Dejan Lovren

Joey Barton

Anthony Martial

Darwin Nunez

Vinnie Jones

Vinnie Jones was a horrible player to play against on his day as he would always go in hard on players when tackling and did things to players that were not nice to see.

He was of course a competitive and determined individual because he was always looking to win the ball back for his team.

But what made him a divisive player was that he was maybe too determined to win the ball back for his team as he picked up a lot of cards and especially red ones.

I had to have him in at no.10 because he wasn't as divisive as the other players on the list. He was probably more controversial than divisive.

Joey Barton

Barton is one of my least favourite footballers ever and especially my least favourite to play in the Premier League because he always fouled players and loved getting in the face of the referee.

He did have some good aspects to his game and he showed particularly at Burnley where his influence played massive part in them getting promoted under Sean Dyche the second time round.

But he also had moments where he would lose his cool and get sent off and a lot of them because of his fiery personality.

His fiery personality is what made him a divisive player because he was a good player technically, but could easily let his emotions get the better of him.

Marouane Fellaini

Fellaini certainly divided opinion when he was at Man United because he would concede silly fouls and didn't make a huge difference in the way they played.

He was an effective player for United during his time there by chipping in with crucial goals and putting in some decent performances in midfield.

But the United fans didn't always appreciate him because of the needless fouls he conceded and they didn't see him as a Man United quality player.

Granit Xhaka

Xhaka was certainly a divisive player when he was at Arsenal as he didn't make much of a difference for them and he always seemed to commit needless fouls and get himself carded.

He was a player who cared in that he was determined to win the ball back for his team and was one of the few leaders Arsenal had in their team at the time.

But the Arsenal fans maybe didn't see it that way because of the amount of times he needlessly got himself sent off and he even came close to leaving the Gunners after he was booed off the pitch by the fans in that game against Crystal Palace, during which he swore to the fans and later lost the captaincy.

He's not as divisive a player now as he was back then because he's made such a difference to Sunderland this season with his leadership and experience on the pitch.

Darwin Nunez

Nunez is one of the most frustrating players I have ever watched because he would always work hard for his team and get himself in the right positions to score goals only for him to constantly miss the target.

A section of the Liverpool fans loved him because of his work rate and determination both of which he was praised for.

But his poor finishing was criticised a lot and no doubt frustrated the Liverpool fans despite the hard work he put in on the pitch.

He would cause teams problems with his work rate and pace out of possession but in the penalty area he just wasn't clinical enough.

Dejan Lovren

Lovren was undoubtedly a divisive player when he was at Liverpool as he would have one or two good games followed by one or two bad ones.

HIs first season at Liverpool was a disaster as he constantly made mistakes and didn't look like a player who was good enough to play for the reds.

He did begin to improve when Jurgen Klopp arrived as he put in some good performances towards the back end of that season when Klopp arrived.

But the mistakes soon crept back in and led to inconsistent performances for the remainder of his time at Liverpool.

David Luiz

David Luiz was one of those players who throughout his career was known to be a very good footballer but not a good defender.

He was very good technically as he was comfortable in possession, a brilliant passer of the ball, could carry the ball out of defence and also strike the ball from distance.

But defensively he was known for making too many mistakes and him making those mistakes was what made him a divisive player.

He was a central defender who was more suited to playing in a back three than a back four as he showed during Chelsea's title winning season under Antonio Conte, where he played in the middle of a back three which enabled him to carry the ball out of defence.

Anthony Martial

Martial was one of the most exciting young players around when he came to Man United as he had the ability and potential to be one of the best players in Europe.

But he didn't always show it as he was at times frustrating to watch due to a lack of consistency in both his performances and end product.

He was a brilliant player to watch on his day as he showed during his first season and also during the 2019/20 season which was his best season in front of goal.

But he struggled to repeat that form in the other seasons he spent at United as he was criticised for a lack of effort and even poor attitude.

Mesut Ozil

Ozil was a delightful player to watch on his day because of how creative a player he was due to his vision and ability to pick out any kind of pass.

But he didn't always show it at Arsenal and especially in the big games as he received a lot of criticism for not turning up against the big teams.

He would have games where he would be absolutely brilliant but also games where he would not deliver with the ones against the big teams being among them.

He was one of those players who played better with better players around him which he had with both Germany and Real Madrid.

Most of his teammates he played with at Arsenal were not on his level and this was probably what prevented him from thriving on a consistent basis.

Paul Pogba

Pogba was in some way like Ozil in that he had games where he was brilliant but also games where he would not deliver.

He was as good as anyone on his day as he could pick out any kind of pass from anywhere on the pitch and was a brilliant carrier of the ball also.

But he didn't always show it at Man United and there are a number of reasons why that was including a lack of freedom on the pitch and maybe a lack of quality around him.

Exactly like Ozil again, he was one of those players who played better with better players around him and he didn't have that at United because his teammates were not on the same level as him.

He had that with both France and Juventus as he was playing with the likes of Kante, Griezmann and Mbappe with France, and Pirlo and Juventus.

He had to be my no.1 because of the big name he was when he arrived and the expectation on him to perform which he never lived up to.

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