DAMIEN DUFF

The ex-blackburn, Chelsea, Fulham and Ireland winger selects the best of his former team-mates, including a ‘ridiculous’ goalscorer

JOHN TERRY “He was such an incredible defender for us at Chelsea. He’d always put his body on the line for you, and he’d literally put his head on the line. He was underrated on the ball, too – I remember arriving at the club from Blackburn [in 2003] and being blown away by his quality using left foot and right. He was a massive personality – a good guy and a proper leader on and off the pitch. It was no surprise that he stayed at Chelsea for a very long time.”

ARJEN ROBBEN “I’ve picked myself to play on one flank and Arjen on the other as he got people up off their seats. There’s nothing better than watching a winger take a man on and beat him, and he had that down to a tee. Robben was brilliant and so direct – that style of player is possibly a dying breed now. If someone runs at you with speed, any defender in the world would struggle, especially against him. He was a top pro and didn’t drink a lot, if at all.”

ROBBIE KEANE “Robbie and I have a bond. That’s something that can’t be broken when you grow up with someone. We’ve played together for our country more than 100 times, in the senior side and various age groups. Whenever I see him, we’ll hit it off again immediately. He always maintained an unshakeable belief that when he played, he would score, and to score 68 goals for Ireland was just ridiculous as the record before that was Niall Quinn’s 21. I don’t think Robbie’s total will ever be touched, maybe not even half of that. He doesn’t get enough credit in Ireland in my view.”