“That’s the sign of a top centre half” – Two Premier League strikers explains Antonio Rudiger’s biggest strength | OneFootball

Antonio Rudiger is a cult hero at Chelsea because of his crazy behaviour on the pitch, and it’s hilarious to hear about it from the point of view of some of the strikers he’s come up against.

Callum Wilson and Michael Antonio are two of the division’s most fearsome athletes, and both have had some great battles with Chelsea’s German centre half.

On their podcast together this week they talked about the toughest defenders they’ve come up against in the Premier League, and both had some pretty funny things to note about Rudi’s style.

Wilson was focused on his opponent’s physical strengths:

“He’s one player who loves to wrestle with you and fight with you on the pitch,” he said in quotes picked up by Newcastle World.

“Then you think, ‘oh, I’ve met my match here today’. He’ll give you one, then you’ll give him one. He’s a good player to have battles against.”

Meanwhile Antonio was more focused on the gamesmanship and psychological warfare that Rudi loves to engage in:

“He’s my boy. Such a cool guy. He will literally talk to me during the game. He’ll go, ‘don’t try that, not with me’.

“I knocked it down the line for him, and man is quick, then I’ve gone to shoulder barge him. It was evens, no one lost. He was like, ‘not with me, not with me Mikey!’.”

Wilson had had his own experiences with former Roma defender Rudiger’s chatty nature:

“Everyone I’ve spoken to says he’s such a nice guy off the pitch… then on the pitch he’s someone who you hate – so annoying and frustrating. But that’s the sign of a top centre-half.”

Please Antonio, don’t leave us. We love you too much.