Over the course of his club and international career, Ashley Williams has faced a who’s who of attacking superstars.
But there’s one name in particular that gave the former Swansea City and Everton centre-back nightmares.
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“I can categorically say that the most difficult was Luis Suarez,” Williams said on eSPORTY’s Kick Off.
“Just in terms of his relentlessness, his aggressiveness, he just didn’t give you a minute.
“There’s no point when you’re playing against him where you’re relaxed. He’s always thinking, he’s always on the move.
“Whether his team’s got the ball or your team’s got the ball, he’s putting himself in positions where, if they win it back, he’s gone. He keeps you occupied for the whole game.”
Silky Suarez couldn’t get past Williams
Despite Williams’ high praise for Suarez, the former Liverpool marksman never scored against the ex-Swans skipper from the six times they faced off at club and international level.
In fact, of the six goals Williams conceded in matches against Suarez, only once did the latter play a contributing role as he assisted a Daniel Sturridge header during Liverpool’s 4-3 win over Swansea in February 2014.
Although Suarez had trouble scoring against Williams, he didn’t have much difficulty against other Premier League backlines.
During his three-and-a-half-year stint at Anfield, Suarez slammed home an impressive 69 goals in 110 Premier League appearances.
A whopping 31 of those came during the 2013/14 campaign, where he scooped up the Premier League Golden Boot award and was named the Premier League Player of the Season.
Despite the individual accolades, the 2013/14 season will forever be tinged with heartbreak for Suarez and his Liverpool teammates as they finished second in the league to Manchester City.
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Don’t mean to be Ruud
Another marquee name that had Williams’ head on a swivel was former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Williams lined up against Van Nistelrooy when Wales played the Netherlands in June 2008.
The final score read 2-0 in favour of the Dutch courtesy of goals from Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder as Van Nistelrooy fired a blank.
However, Williams was left in no uncertain terms how much of a handful Van Nistelrooy would have been for his fellow defenders over the years.
“I remember playing Ruud van Nistelrooy in an international and I had a headache coming off the pitch,” Williams said.
“His movement, he’s always somewhere you can’t see him. He’d stay offside, give you different problems to think about.”
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Like Suarez, Van Nistelrooy made his mark on the Premier League having enjoyed a successful five-season spell at Manchester United between 2001 and 2006.
The 49-year-old scored 150 goals from 219 appearances across all competitions for the Red Devils.
Van Nistelrooy saved his best form for the 2002/03 campaign, where he slammed home 25 league goals.
Like Suarez, the Dutchman’s haul earned him the Premier League’s Golden Boot and Player of the Season awards, but it also fired United to the league title.
Van Nistelrooy has since taken the plunge into management, although he endured a forgettable stint at Leicester City having led them to relegation from the Premier League last term.
