Rio Ferdinand has had the misfortune of playing against some of the very best strikers in Premier League history.
From Sergio Aguero to Alan Shearer, Rio Ferdinand has faced off against the best of the best in English football throughout his career.
Now, speaking on his YouTube channel, Ferdinand has been debating who are the best strikers in the history of the league.
Inevitably, Thierry Henry’s name cropped up in this conversation.
Henry is an all-time great, but according to Ferdinand, Arsenal once had a young striker who was even more difficult to defend against.
Nicolas Anelka, Emmanuel Petit and Dennis Bergkamp celebrate for Arsenal
Photo by Mark Leech/Offside via Getty Images
Rio Ferdinand says Nicolas Anelka was impossible to play against
Ferdinand spoke about Thierry Henry before being drawn into a conversation about Nicolas Anelka.
The pundit says that Anelka was actually more difficult to play against than Henry when he was at Arsenal.
The Frenchman left Arsenal at the age of just 20, but Anelka was an incredible striker for the Gunners.
“I don’t think there’s a better striker who played through the middle who did as much as he (Henry) did on the football pitch,” Ferdinand said.
“Do you know what is funny, he’ll tell you that when he was young the better striker was Nicolas Anelka,” Ferdinand’s co-host said.
“I would say that as well. Not the better striker, but the harder one to play against, Arsenal Anelka vs Arsenal Thierry Henry. Anelka vs my skillset was harder to play against, that was the best version of Anelka,” Ferdinand said.
“He was quicker than me, and he knew how to run and make decisions perfectly, Anelka was madness, but that patch didn’t last long enough.”
Nicolas Anelka’s record vs Rio Ferdinand
Ferdinand says that Anelka was very difficult to play against, but the striker didn’t have that brilliant a record against the Manchester United legend.
Indeed, Anelka’s stats against Ferdinand were modest to say the least.
Nicolas Anelka’s record vs Rio Ferdinand
Games 21
Goals 6
Six goals in 21 matches isn’t a terrible return, but it’s hardly a record that would have a defender quaking in their boots.
Interestingly, Henry didn’t have a great record against Ferdinand either, netting just four goals in 16 matches against the centre-half.
Thierry Henry’s record vs Rio Ferdinand
Games 16
Goals 4
These two players’ records here are simply a testament to how good of a defender Ferdinand truly was.
The former England captain could even keep his toughest of opponents quiet most of the time.