Sunday 24 May 2015 20:24, UK
Jamie Carragher admits Chelsea striker Didier Drogba was “unplayable” on his day after the Ivorian striker said farewell to the club.
Drogba announced before Chelsea’s 3-1 win over Sunderland on Sunday that it would be his last game for the club shirt after 104 goals in 254 league appearances.
And Carragher, who played against the striker while at Liverpool on dozens of occasions, said the 37-year-old is up there with one of the best strikers the Premier League has seen.
He told Sky Sports: “I think he's right up there in terms of Premier League history. I'd always go with Thierry Henry as the best striker we've seen, but I think he could run him a very close second.
“I played against him more than any other striker. We played against Chelsea up to seven or eight times a season and it got to a stage where I felt like I was playing against one of my team-mates, and I loved the battles against him.
“You'd come from a game sometimes and you may not have put a foot wrong, but he'd still be getting talked about, what a great game he'd had, because he was unplayable."
Carragher also said Drogba epitomised the spine of Chelsea’s side after joining in 2004, one which gave them such big success under Jose Mourinho during his first stint at the club between then and 2007.
He added: “When he came in and joined the club, that's the spine of that team, John Terry, Petr Cech, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba at the front.
“Petr Cech would smash the ball to him and he'd bring it down on his chest. I remember a goal he got at Stamford Bridge, on his chest, swivel, left foot and in the goal. I'm marking him, and there's nothing you can do. When he was in his pomp, he was unplayable.”
Graeme Sounness echoed Carragher’s praise of Drogba, saying the English game will miss the striker’s presence.
He said: “I think he was as good as there's been around for a good five years. And I think he will be sorely missed. He's had a great career in English football.”