“I wouldn’t say he was at his best” - Former Premier League star says Cristiano Ronaldo was not his toughest opponent
Former Chelsea and Manchester City full-back Wayne Bridge has claimed he coped well against Cristiano Ronaldo during his playing days. He believes the former Manchester United star was not at his best when the two faced off.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Bridge admitted that although Ronaldo was tricky, he did well against the Portuguese star. However, Bridge was quick to admit that he suffered against Aaron Lennon and Shaun Wright-Phillips.
"Personally, Aaron Lennon and Shaun Wright-Phillips [were my toughest opponents]. They were so quick. Quick off the mark. Such tough games. Where they are so quick over five yards and you give them a kick and they just bounce off of the floor. I had some really good battles with them. They are top players. Aaron Lennon was a great player for Tottenham," he said.
"Whether it was his end product or he didn't get enough goals, maybe some people don't think he was. I played against Cristiano Ronaldo but I wouldn't say he was at his best. He was a winger, he was tricky, you always had to stay switched on. But I always did alright against him. He can make you look stupid maybe with a nutmeg or too many stepovers and you can fall over," Bridge added.
Wayne Bridge faced Cristiano Ronaldo eight times in his career and managed to win thrice while losing twice. The defender also managed three clean sheets, one of which came in the 2006-07 FA Cup final, despite the match going into extra time.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi blamed for lack of English forwards by former Premier League footballer
Les Ferdinand has blamed Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the lack of English forwards.
The former Tottenham Hotspur star claimed that the two forwards made the wing position more desirable, which saw the end of traditional No. 9s.
Ferdinand was talking to Gary Neville on The Overlap podcast when he stated that Messi and Ronaldo were the main reason why England have a few options to replace Harry Kane.
He said in March 2024:
"Ronaldo and Messi. We went through a period of wingers who were scoring goals, scoring 30 goals a season and everyone wanted to be Ronaldo, and everyone wanted to be Messi. The players no longer wanted to be a traditional centre-forward, didn't want to be a number nine. [Thierry] Henry comes onto the scene, they wanna be that person that comes off the wing and scores goals. They were scoring an abundance of goals, so every young player wanted to be that player hence was the demise of the number nine."
While Ronaldo has scored 361 goals from the left-wing position in 226 club football matches, Messi has 336 goals in 236 club games as a right-winger.