Former Chelsea goalkeeper Asmir Begovic has named a one-time Liverpool striker as the toughest opponent he faced in the Premier League.
The Reds have had some truly sublime forwards over the past two decades, such as Mo Salah, Fernando Torres, Luis Suarez, Sadio Mane and Bobby Firmino – but the Bosnian eschewed all of them for a surprising candidate.
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When asked which attackers he hated coming up against, the 37-year-old told talkSPORT: “You’ve got the usual suspects. I’ve played against some of the best strikers, especially in Premier League history. Fernando Torres, Sergio Aguero, Luis Suarez, those sorts of players that can do everything.
“But actually, from a physical point of view, the likes of Andy Carroll…when a high ball comes and you’re challenging with them, no matter if you’ve got your hands there, they are such big guys. A great spring, they were always very difficult and very much a handful – not just for myself, but also for the defenders.”
Liverpool’s then-record signing at £35m in January 2011 (BBC Sport), Carroll was regarded in many quarters as an expensive flop at Anfield, having managed just 11 goals in 58 appearances for the Reds.
However, as Begovic rightly points out, the towering Geordie had many goalkeepers and defences wary of his sheer physical presence and, unsurprisingly, his aerial ability.
Our former no.9 mightn’t have had the best of times on Merseyside, but it’s no mean feat to score 54 goals in the Premier League and command a sizeable fee for a club of LFC’s global stature.
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