Your Favorite Rival Player

[Desert Eagle]

Who is the player who played for your clubs most hated rivals but you still can't help but have a soft spot for?

Mine would be John Barnes. Such a classy player and by all accounts a good guy as well. Met him a couple times and was very humble and friendly. The Caribbean accent probably helps too. Too young to have watched him in his prime but caught him at the end of his career at Newcastle etc. He's in that group of greats that played before the premiership and internet so gets less credit by the casual football fan.

 

[DWelbz19]

I don’t think there’s a single Liverpool player I’ve genuinely like[d]. I can appreciate some of their world class players and will acknowledge them as such, but I don’t think I have or had a soft spot for any.

If we extend it to ‘rivals’ in a broader sense — Drogba at Chelsea. Big game man. I really liked Leroy Sane at City that one season City played really nice football too.
EDIT: Forgot Yaya. Love that guy

 

[Cloud7]

Currently De Bruyne at City.

In the last 10-15 years it would have been Fabregas at Arsenal and Lampard at Chelsea

 

[kouroux]

There ain't none, I'm sorry I can appreciate them when they leave those teams but as long as they're there, I cannot appreciate anything about them

 

[USREDEVIL]

Jimenez at Wolves; great player and nice guy.

 

[RedTiger]

John Barnes. Absolutely loved him. This may sound quite soppy but he gave non-white Brits something to aspire to, showed that we can make it.

 

[RedTiger]

Who is the player who played for your clubs most hated rivals but you still can't help but have a soft spot for?

Mine would be John Barnes. Such a classy player and by all accounts a good guy as well. Met him a couple times and was very humble and friendly. The Caribbean accent probably helps too. Too young to have watched him in his prime but caught him at the end of his career at Newcastle etc. He's in that group of greats that played before the premiership and internet so gets less credit by the casual football fan.

Should have read your post first I agree 100%

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Mo Salah.

 

[RedorDead21]

Currently De Bruyne at City.

In the last 10-15 years it would have been Fabregas at Arsenal and Lampard at Chelsea

I think if Fabregas had joined us from Arsenal he would have been thought of in the same bracket as Modric. Real quality player.

 

[AltiUn]

If you do a poll I'm sure de Bruyne will win with 135% of the vote.

 

[Red Shorts]

David Silva for me. Utter class for Citeh and was brilliant that you had to respect.

Never came across like a dick (unless someone digs up an article that proves me wrong...).

 

[Maluco]

Drogba at Chelsea. Really love that type of modern 9. I was such a big fan that I spent a fortune going to see him at a World Cup game!

If we are strictly talking about Liverpool, it would have to be from the era where we were dominating and it wasn’t such a crime to have a soft spot.

I though McManaman was a quality player who remains underrated to this day. I also was able to appreciate what a good player Hyypia was and how they got him to cheap.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Loris Karius

 

[WeePat]

Torres before we signed him.

Henry.

 

[USREDEVIL]

Luis Suarez

i'm fecking kidding

 

[VanHaal'sRedArmy]

Sonny by default because I'm Korean.

 

[AgentSmith]

N’Golo Kante.

 

[ivaldo]

Pascal Cygan. Definitely.

 

[USREDEVIL]

Sonny by default because I'm Korean.

Good call. He's great. Lots of Koreans around these parts.

 

[villain]

Henry, Viera, Yaya Toure, Fabregas

 

[AshRK]

Thiery Henry

 

[Lewnited]

Henry easily, first player I watched as a kid that truly felt like a magician (prior to Ronaldo around 06)

 

[Charrockero]

Matt le Tissier or Alan Shearer.

Not from rival clubs, but would have loved to have them.

 

[432JuanMata]

KDB. Love watching him play and seems like a decent fella

 

[#07]

Tough question.

I think I had a bit of soft spot for Tony Yeboah. Also thought Kinkladze was a decent watch.

Would I have been able to feel that way about them if Leeds and City had been better clubs at the time though? No.

When Leeds got O'Leary and started getting competitive, started going into the Champions League, my ability to feel anything positive about Leeds players dropped off a cliff. Of course it didn't help that many members of that Leeds team were actually dislikeable. Fortunately we baptised Rio and Smudge in the waters of the Irwell and they were washed clean of the foul corruption of Leeds United. Had Kinkladze played in the Mancini era I'd probably have as little time for him as I do for Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany and David Silva.

Like some others, I happen to be non-white and have an extremely similar background to John Barnes. Met him on a plane travelling back from Jamaica. Really nice guy on a personal level. Means nothing in the context of this question though. Liverpool player. Once you pull on that Liverpool shirt everything else is secondary. Can't like Liverpool players. Can't conceive of linking a word like 'favourite' to a player who plays for Liverpool.

That's part of having rivals.

 

[#07]

Loris Karius

 

[caid]

It should be a most hated rival thread tbh. I absolutely hated Henry, Adams, Drogba, Young and Torres for a brief spell.
Xavi and Iniesta were annoying too.

 

[tomaldinho1]

Okocha hands down for me

 

[Desert Eagle]

Loris Karius

Legendary keeper

 

[MichaelRed]

Now - Fabinho & De Bruyne.

00's - Henry & maybe a weird one but Eduardo, thought he was brilliant until his injury.

 

[ForeverRed1]

Grealish.

 

[BuzzKillington]

David Silva for me. Utter class for Citeh and was brilliant that you had to respect.

Never came across like a dick (unless someone digs up an article that proves me wrong...).

Was sat next to him in Albert Schloss in Manchester once on a Thursday afternoon. Ended up having a chat with him whilst he was waiting for his mates to turn up, genuinely nice bloke.

On the flip side, Chris Camara is somebody people seem to love, he came into my local after covering City on a sky super Sunday. He was a massive wanker.

 

[robinrooney]

N’Golo Kante.

Agreed. Such a grounded guy as well

 

[SATA]

I quite liked Henry when he was at Arsenal and wouldn’t mind De Bruyne now as well. But I guess i genuinely wouldn’t like them if they had played for the dippers

 

[Bocca9978]

I really try not to like rivals players.
De Bruyne at City, it’s hard not to like him.
Henry maybe?

 

[Strats]

Dennis Bergkamp, Gianfranco Zola and N'golo Kanté

 

[Lyng]

Robin Van Persie. And then we signed him

 

[AaronRedDevil]

Drogba. Hated him so much but damn he was such a beast of a striker. Aguero aswel. Great player.

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

Kanté is very likeable, there’s no menace in him at all for a player who plays an engine room role, impossible to hate really. Just a fantastic player.

 

[Red_Aaron]

Our most hated rivals are Liverpool and the closest I've ever come to liking any of their players is laughing at how much el hadj diouf actively hates them but that's only with hindsight of course.

Can't think of a single one I'd slow down for were they stood in the road