Callum Wilson has named the toughest defender he has ever faced.
The Newcastle striker was speaking to the BBC about the most difficult centre-backs he’s ever had to come up against, and he mentioned a player Chelsea once had.
Indeed, at the top of Wilson’s list was none other than Antonio Rudiger.
According to Wilson, Rudiger wasn’t a tough opponent because of his quality. Instead, he’s a tough opponent due to how annoying he is to play against.
Wilson says that Rudiger is annoying in that he will never give you a moment’s peace, claiming that the German would often pinch him or stamp on him in order to distract him from his game.
Antonio Rudiger is painful to play against
Wilson spoke about Rudiger, claiming that the £29m man was so hard to play against when he was at Chelsea.
“Number one I would say Rudiger when he was at Chelsea. More because he was annoying and frustrating me. He was pinching, he was standing on my Achilles, kicking me, it just made you not focus as much as you would’ve liked in the game,” Wilson said.
Rudiger’s mind games
Antonio may not be the best pure defender Wilson has ever played against, but sometimes the mental battle is more important than the technical battle.
Could you imagine trying to play a game of Premier League football with a player like Rudiger constantly pinching you or kicking you or stamping on you? You’d get wound up very quickly.
Football is as much a mental game as it is physical, and if Rudiger is winning that mental battle every week, he’s already got a serious headstart.
Rudiger was brilliant for Chelsea, and a large part of his brilliance was his ability to utilise the dark arts to put an opposition striker off and get in their head.