Players you admired in rival teams

[Vault Dweller]

Bergkamp for me. Even when the United / Arsenal rivalry was at it's zenith, he was a player I liked watching play football. Some of the goals and assists he would come up with were outstanding, and even though he played for them I could never quite bring myself to dislike him. Always quite liked Lampard too, while hating the rest of the Chelsea side when they were mint

So come on, give me some players that played for a team that was your rivals, but you had a begrudging respect or admiration for...

 

[Lash]

Torres at Pool, a lot of Arsenals side when they were a force. Henry, Pires, Vieira, etc.

Torres was one of my favourite players as a kid, so it really pained me when he went to Liverpool and proceeded to be absolutely electric.

 

[balaks]

I absolutely loved watching Ruud Gullit and Henry back in the day. Both played for my most hated clubs.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Bergkamp, Torres
Xabi Alonso
Drogba
David Silva

 

[Pav1878]

I have admired many players but the ones that stick out are:

Andrea Pirlo: the most graceful player I've seen, absolute genius

Robin Van Persie: after that volley against Charlton, just loved the way he struck a ball. Then over the moon when we got him!

Rui costa: my favourite player of all time, made it look so effortless.

 

[BarstoolProphet]

Thierry Henry and Steven Gerrrard the two obvious ones. Especially the former. Was a huge fan of both Berbatov and van Persie before we signed them. David Silva and Fernando Torres also springs to mind.

Loads from foreign clubs also.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Torres at Pool, a lot of Arsenals side when they were a force. Henry, Pires, Vieira, etc.

Torres was one of my favourite players as a kid, so it really pained me when he went to Liverpool and proceeded to be absolutely electric.

That's a shout, despite scoring so many goals against us with pool he was brilliant to watch.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I absolutely loved watching Ruud Gullit and Henry back in the day. Both played for my most hated clubs.

I didn't mention Henry in the OP but the more I'm thinking about it I should have. He was an absolute monster of a player.

 

[balaks]

I didn't mention Henry in the OP but the more I'm thinking about it I should have. He was an absolute monster of a player.

He was absolutely majestic.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Hazard. Hated Chelsea but what a player.

 

[Vault Dweller]

He was absolutely majestic.

Aye, the definition of a beautiful player.

 

[Rooney24]

Bergkamp. Just sublime. I think he would have been an absolute Superstar at United.

Matt LeTissier is another one.

 

[balaks]

Bergkamp. Just sublime. I think he would have been an absolute Superstar at United.

Matt LeTissier is another one.

Great shout on LeTissier - only reason I didnt mention him was that he didnt play for a direct rival to my team but my god what a talent he was.

 

[jackal&hyde]

Henry and Lampard.

 

[FrankDrebin]

Pires

 

[Rooney24]

Great shout on LeTissier - only reason I didnt mention him was that he didnt play for a direct rival to my team but my god what a talent he was.

Yeah. Henry and Gerrard and the like I appreciate were very good Footballers. I just fecking hate them too much as People to pick them

 

[harms]

Henry & Bergkamp from Arsenal, the pizza boy was fantastic for a time as well. Xabi Alonso from Liverpool, he's such a class act. David Silva & De Bruyne from City. Iniesta from Barca, when we've regularly faced them in Europe. Bale at his best was a marvel to watch, such a mix of pace and power.

 

[11101]

Under SAF I never looked at other teams and thought they had massively better than us in any position but there were still some i loved to watch.


Ian Wright - hated that Arsenal team including Henry when he joined with his smug face, but Wright always played with a big smile.

Sol Campbell - he's nuts now and i think that might be why hes been a bit forgotten as one of the best defenders the league has seen.

Gianfranco Zola - could always pulls something spectacular out of nothing.

Drogba - not a great goalscorer and a horrible cheat but you had to admire how he made that Chelsea team work.

Aguero - for me the best striker the league has seen.


There were plenty in Europe, mostly pretty obvious names. Messi, Iniesta, Ronaldo, Del Piero, Ronaldinho, Carlos etc etc.

 

[groovyalbert]

Henry
Bergkamp
Pires
Makelele
Zidane (although feel like outside of EPL doesn't really count)
Kanye
Hazard
Mane

 

[Dozer]

That's a shout, despite scoring so many goals against us with pool he was brilliant to watch.

He only scored 3 in 15 games against us.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Henry, Sanchez at his best at Arsenal, and currently KDB.

 

[BeforeKeanetherewasRobson]

Bergkamp. Just sublime. I think he would have been an absolute Superstar at United.

Matt LeTissier is another one.

Was just about to post Le Tissier.

I watched some of his goals and they used to make me laugh. They were so unbelievable but it looked like he was strolling around and playing with his mates in a kickabout.

Anyone who hasn't seen his top 100 goals, well worth a look.


Two Liverpool players - Peter Beardsley and Jan Molby at Liverpool. Class

 

[FrankDrebin]

I really enjoyed watching Newcastle's French winger Robert in his time in the PL.
Think he had it all,technical wise, to be one of the best wingers in Europe apart from absolute dedication and consistency.

 

[Nickelodeon]

Aguero. He is the type of striker I can see thriving and scoring goals in any kind of setup. The levels of consistency he has shown are exactly what you need from your main striker. 20+ goals in all but one of his 9 seasons, 30 or more in 5, usually scores in big games, reliable penalty taker (barring this season) and of course, painfully for us, creator of the most historic moment for City as well. He's as close to a perfect striker as they come.

 

[Vault Dweller]

He only scored 3 in 15 games against us.

Seriously? That's mental, I thought he had at least double that. He always seemed to terrorise us.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

City have had some annoyingly good players in the last decade, a lot of which didn't tend to come with the baggage of the footballer lifestyle (mouthy agents, contract standoffs etc) which makes them easier to admire for me. You don't tend to hear much about De Bruyne, Silva and Aguero in the press. Kompany was also in that bracket, who came across as a great guy generally. There's never been a whiff of them leaving at their peaks.

Separate from the above (because his agent was a total boob and he was kicking up a stink to leave every summer) Yaya Toure was stupidly good in 2011/2012. At his peak in those first few years at City, he looked like he could have played anywhere on the pitch. His stats weren't anything to shout about, but he was such a huge presence on the pitch.

 

[Old Ma Crow]

Shearer at Blackburn
Henry at Arsenal
Bale when he was tearing it up at Spurs
Modric at Spurs
Ronaldinho

 

[Spaghetti]

Seriously? That's mental, I thought he had at least double that. He always seemed to terrorise us.

Vidic got a few reds from him!

 

[Vault Dweller]

Vidic got a few reds from him!

 

[Jim Beam]

Hazard, DeBruyne, David Silva.

Also, lately I found a strange appreciation for James Milner despite playing for both City & Liverpool. Versatile, hard-working, "whatever you want from me" type of player and damn useful at it. The type Fergie would actually often go for.

 

[GuybrushThreepwood]

For Burnley Brian 'the beast' Jensen, Glen Little and Kieran Trippier.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Just rival teams.

Admire can also still have hate. But what is 'admire' ?

So these are PL rival players whom I admire and only like:

​

Newcastle - Solano​

City - David Silva and Aguero​

Pool - Xabi Alonso and Coutinho​

Arsenal - Henry and Gilberto Silva​

Chelsea - Drogba, Makelele and Cech​

Spurs - Son and Lloris​

 

[Carl]

Shearer
Gerrard
Vieira
Campbell
Okocha (granted not a rival team)
Drogba

 

[Rooney24]

He only scored 3 in 15 games against us.

I think it might be 4. He got one for Chelsea I recall.

 

[Carl]

Seriously? That's mental, I thought he had at least double that. He always seemed to terrorise us.

The myth Torres always terrorised us is based purely on about 2 games where Vidic had a nightmare. He was usually contained him really well.

 

[FrankDrebin]

Mane. Technically excellent plus his work-rate is mental.

 

[Carl]

I think it might be 4. He got one for Chelsea I recall.

He also missed at least one open goal at Chelsea, which should count as minus.

 

[RobinLFC]

Surprised to see people mention Gerrard to be honest.

For me, definitely Henry. Other than that, loved watching Ronaldinho, Xavi and Iniesta although Barca is not really a rival.

Scholes and Pirlo as well, to a lesser extent.

 

[Rooney24]

The myth Torres always terrorised us is based purely on about 2 games where Vidic had a nightmare. He was usually contained him really well.

Yeah, it is blown out of proportion especially cos of that one game at OT. BUt Overall he was fairly average against us.

I remember one game in particular at Anfield he hardly got a sniff against us. The one where Rio is telling him to get up.

 

[Nickosaur]

Henry.