Luis Suarez struck fear into myriad defenders during his time with Liverpool, but it seems that Joleon Lescott wasn’t one of them.
The former Everton and Manchester City centre-back appeared on Football’s Greatest with Jeff Stelling as he discussed some of the best strikers that he faced during his Premier League career.
When the former Soccer Saturday host mentioned the Uruguayan’s name, the 41-year-old came out with a grandiose claim which’ll have Reds fans scoffing.
Lescott stated: “Nah, I didn’t get the Luis Suarez…”, briefly trailing off before resuming: “As good as he is and as good as he’s been, I never got nervous playing against Luis Suarez.
“I think he was great for Liverpool, but I think he was greater for Barcelona, and I think that kind of gives him a bigger platform. Doing what he did for Barcelona was pretty impressive.”
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Admittedly the Man City side for whom Lescott played weren’t one of Suarez’s favourite opponents – he scored just once against them in six matches during his time at Liverpool – but the Englishman’s comments on our former number 7 are head-scratching.
‘El Pistolero’ was simply unplayable in his Anfield prime, scoring a series of jaw-dropping goals and producing instinctive moments of genius which made him such a joy to watch.
Maybe Lescott still has the hump about LFC from his disasterclass in Aston Villa’s 6-0 defeat to the Reds in 2016, as well as his Everton and Man City leanings.
You can view Lescott’s comments on Suarez below (from 8:06), via Football’s Greatest with Jeff Stelling on YouTube:
Ssshhh star trek head is talking