Is Walter Samuel really so underrated ?

Maybe it is just my impression but I think he had never proper consideration outside Italy (in Italy it's different of course , not only victories with  Inter but if you win  Scudetto even with Roma you are legend ,first season in Serie A he was the defensive leader to 22 years , comparable with Nesta for Lazio just year before ) .

Probably that season with Real Madrid didn't help in this but Real Madrid '03-'04 thought to break the opponent's game with Beckham , an unbalanced formation who failed for this reason .

Anyway when I read about the defensive greats of the last 20 years, he rarely gets mentioned. I always get Nesta ( ) , Cannavaro, Vidic, Terry , Thuram etc etc etc...

But to be fair I consider him in top 5 defenders last 20 years . Old-style defender, not as defenders of new generation  so good to play the ball , they seem so complete but indeed so deficient in marking Samuel hasn't so good feet but a  defender must be able to  mark adversaries, and he was /is truly unsurpassed as a marker (perhaps I should talk in past,probably he will retire this year but he is capable to play still very good matches.)   Named The Wall , on the other hand . Legendary in Nou Camp 2010 against the Barcellona of Guardiola despite outnumbered, although he could miss the Champions League final with a simply yellow card  he had not even a smear, a perfect match that touched the icy heights of perfection.  No, he can't be underrated for me .

Therefore it s just my impression?
How highly do you rate him ?

He was very highly regarded in 2009/10 but then injuries took their toll and he fell off the spectrum.

I can think of two reasons that he doesn't get as much attention. One of the main problems with his style is that he's one of those defenders that only works well with a deep line (Terry is the same way but captains his NT). So he only works within a constrained tactical environment. In today's football defenders are expected to be better overall players, hence why 'old school' defenders have fallen out of favor. The second is that he has a reputation as a thug. Whereas when people think of Maldini and Nesta they think of skill, with Samuel it was his ability to outmuscle opponents and pull dirty tricks. Obviously, the more skillful ones are remembered more.