Former Liverpool captain Jamie Carragher has opened up on how he felt while facing Chelsea legend Didier Drogba during the mid to late 2000’s.
It was and still is arguably one of the greatest rivalries in the Premier League when Liverpool takes on Chelsea. The two English giants often produce some fantastic matches between them especially in the mid to late 2000’s when they competed for glory in the English and continental stage.
Rafael Benitez and Jose Mourinho were the two managers of Liverpool and Chelsea respectively and while the Merseyside club usually got the better of the West London club in Cup competitions two Champions League semi-finals and one FA Cup semi-final, it was Chelsea generally ruled the roost winning the Premier League in Mourinho’s first two seasons in England’s top flight.
One key and eye catching battle that always took place was the tussle between Chelsea forward Didier Drogba and Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher. The Ivorian named the Liverpool legend as his toughest opponent back in 2014 when asked about the most difficult defender to play against,” It’s difficult but I would say Jamie Carragher was the most difficult one in terms of aggression, but he was always fair,”
And now Carragher has opened up on the rule that all fellow defenders needed to follow when coming up against Drogba. While writing on his column on the Daily Telegraph the 40 year old Englishman said, “In my playing days when Liverpool were up against Chelsea so often, for so many of the big prizes, there was an old rule about how you dealt with Didier Drogba – in my view the striker who changed the way we think about that position, The rule was: don’t rile Didier. When he was angry he seemed to play even better. If his temper was up he was like the Hulk, plowing through everything in his path, impossible to knock off the ball, a real force of nature.”
It’s great to know the insights of these great footballers and what they went through during their time of playing at their peaks. There was so much of intensity in those Liverpool and Chelsea games and now there is so much of respect for the former opponents.
