Chelsea have found the best Premier League defender only one year after signing the central defender from AS Roma according to club legend Pat Nevin.
In Nevin’s weekly column following the FA Cup final, where Chelsea won against Manchester United, he described Antonio Rudiger as one of the most improved players in the Blues squad and at the moment the ‘best proponent of the art of pure defending’ in the top flight.
It is a remarkable turnaround for the Germany international who was finding it tough to settle in at the club following his arrival from the Serie A last summer.
Rudiger put in a superb performance against Man United, winning the man of the match award, a follow up to his amazing display against Mohamed Salah in Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Liverpool a fortnight ago.
Nevin points the 23-year old as one of the players that would be sure starters next season, and maintains it would be ‘unthinkable’ if that’s not the case under any manager next season.
Antonio Rudiger has managed to stay under the radar of many Premier League watchers outside of Stamford Bridge. I was beginning to get fed up with the sneering looks I was getting from some when I said he was probably the best proponent of the art of pure defending in the Premier League at the moment. That has now changed.
The secret is now out. In short, if Rudiger is marking you then you might as well pass the ball because neither you nor anyone else is going to get past him in a one-on-one battle.
It doesn’t seem to matter if they try to outpace him or use outrageous skills, one after the other the top players have found out pretty quickly that it’s a bit pointless even trying. This game provided the final evidence if any was needed, Antonio Rudiger is now a cult figure with the Chelsea fans and it is almost unthinkable not starting him in any game that has meaning at all.
Pat Nevin, Chelsea FC
