Rio Ferdinand reached great heights as a footballer, winning six Premier League titles and one Champions League trophy during his time at Manchester United. With 81 caps for the Three Lions too, he will be remembered as one of England's greatest ever defenders.
Naturally, as he played to such a high level, the centre-back came up against many brilliant footballers over the course of his career. When discussing the four toughest players he ever had to share the pitch with, he mentioned some surprising names.
Indeed, he gave a knowing nod to legendary forwards Ronaldo Nazario and Raul of Real Madrid, plus iconic former Arsenal frontman Dennis Bergkamp. However, he then picked a surprise one-cap English striker as the other forward who gave him a tough time.
Ferdinand Listed Kevin Davies Among His Toughest Opponents
"He’d give you a difficult afternoon"
Speaking on the BROADTALKS podcast in 2022, Ferdinand was reflecting on his career when he recalled the quality of Kevin Davies. He called the former Bolton man 'nasty', explaining:
“He was hard to play against. Before the ball was even coming, he’s grabbing and scratching. Horrible to play against, nasty, he’d give you a difficult afternoon.”
In his prime, Davies was a pretty impressive Premier League striker. Playing for Blackburn Rovers, Southampton and most notably Bolton Wanderers, he made 488 top-flight appearances, scoring 88 goals and picking up 44 assists in this period.
However, the one statistic that best illustrates Ferdinand's point is his yellow card record. The Englishman was booked 99 times in his career, only two players, Gareth Barry (123) and Wayne Rooney (102) picked up more cautions in Premier League history. Davies averaged a yellow card every four league games, which is a higher rate than anyone in the top five.
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Ferdinand Usually Got the Better of Davies When They Met
Lost just four times vs the English striker
The former Manchester United defender has been consistent with his view, too. In 2016, he told the Daily Mail that the ex-Bolton man was one of his toughest Premier League opponents, once more noting his physicality:
"In the Premier League, I'd say people like Kevin Davies. I was tall and lean, but physically, if it came down to a wrestling match and one of those guys pinned me, they had the advantage. So I had to work out ways around it, how to get to the ball first. If you're playing against someone quicker or more skilful, you're just thinking about where to be on the pitch."
Although Ferdinand spoke about how difficult Davies was to play, the English centre-back came out on top on a pretty regular basis. They met 19 times in total, with the striker only winning four times, and losing the remaining 15 matches.
What's more, in this period, he only found the back of the net twice. In a way, that illustrates just how unpleasant Davies would make the game for opposition defenders, regardless of whether or not he got on the scoresheet or saw his team pick up all three points.
For all his efforts, Davies would earn just one cap for England, playing 20 minutes off the bench in a 0-0 draw with Montenegro in 2010. And yes, he did pick up a yellow card.
Stats via Transfermarkt