Workrate is often used to compliment a player who offers little else. It's why Lallana, Henderson, Kuyt are so highly thought of - because it's hard to see what else they offer.
That's not to discredit those playerrs - they are solid options but they will never be top class. In order to succeed, these players have to play with top quality players. Look at Milner - he's a workhorse. A very good workhorse who is underrated. But he would not succeed in our team because there are no top class players around him.
There were many workhorses in Ferguson's teams, cogs in a wheel rather than world class, those players have medals that show their worth whereas the likes of Ronaldo, Cantona, Rooney etc claim the plaudits.



