Peter Crouch has revealed why he called Cesc Fabregas after a game following an 'out of character' moment that left him feeling awful. Crouch is one of the most beloved figures in English football, with his self-deprecating sense of humour endearing him to the public both as a player and now as a pundit and media personality.
While he was often all smiles on the pitch and was willing to crack a joke with teammates and opponents, Crouch was still a man who wanted to win and felt slighted when he wasn't picked to play. That is exactly what happened while at Stoke City when Chelsea came to town, where being left out of the squad led to the striker committing an uncharacteristic act.
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Crouch Reveals Guilt Over Horror Tackle on Cesc Fabregas
The Spaniard was lucky not to sustain a serious injury
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Speaking on an edition of That Peter Crouch Podcast, the three hosts were discussing whether or not players contact each other after matches to apologise for any wrongdoings or bad tackles. The former Liverpool and Tottenham target man explained that he had done that very same thing to Fabregas.
Although he claimed not to be the type of person to hurt someone on the pitch - despite the fact he has committed the eighth most fouls in Premier League history - Crouch revealed he was furious about not being chosen in the starting XI for the game in question, and he clearly took that anger onto the pitch. While he did want to go in hard on the Spanish international, he didn't mean to risk any injury and detailed just how guilty he felt in the aftermath:
"I spoke to Cesc Fabregas after a game. I was at Stoke and I was fuming I was on the bench. I've come off the bench and I've done this tackle and it was awful. It kind of went over the top of the ball on his leg and I felt awful after.
"Everyone came up to me and was like 'woah, that was out of character for you. What were you doing?' Asmir [Begovic] was at Chelsea at the time and I text him and was like 'oh my God I'm so sorry.'
Luckily, there was no bad blood between the two players, as Crouch explained that Fabregas appreciated the apology and also understood that was an out of character moment from the rangy number nine.
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All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt - accurate as of 09/03/2025.