'Tottenham icon tore me apart more than Drogba and Henry - I was in so much trouble'

Clarke Carlisle has revealed that Robbie Keane was the Premier League striker he found most challenging to play against. The former defender described the ex-Tottenham star as "on a different level", even more so than the likes of Didier Drogba and Thierry Henry.

Carlisle, an ex-Leeds United player and now a judge on the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2025 panel, recently singled out Keane as his toughest opponent during his time as a centre-half in the league.

While acknowledging Henry, Drogba and Dennis Bergkamp as formidable opponents, it was the Irish forward who gave the defender the most trouble on the pitch.

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The former PFA chairman said: "I was blessed to come up against some of the best strikers the Premier League has ever seen.

"I defended against the likes of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Didier Drogba who were incredibly difficult, but there's one player that gave me the most trouble.

"That man was Robbie Keane. His footballing intelligence was magnificent. He would drop into places that I couldn't go, but also places that I couldn't leave him. He challenged me as a defender on a different level to anyone else I faced."

Keane had stints at various Premier League clubs, including Liverpool and Leeds United, but it was at Spurs where the Irish striker truly excelled.

He made 306 professional appearances for the Lilywhites, netting 122 goals and providing 43 assists, and clinching the League Cup in 2008.

Highlighting about the former striker's intelligence, Carlisle said: "I knew how to handle players that were particularly quick or strong, but when someone is so clever like Robbie, they're asking cerebral footballing questions, that's not what I was good at.

"If it moved, I kicked it, if it didn't move, I kicked it until it did! He challenged me on a level I hadn't been exposed to before, but that's not to say other Premier League strikers weren't like that.

"Henry used to always drift to the left and come in from my blind side, but that was a standard action that strikers do, which I knew how to manage.

"Keane was so ridiculously clever, he tore me apart."