Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford has named the defender he has hated playing against during his career.
As one of the most seasoned strikers in all four of the English football league’s top divisions, Bamford has faced a wide variety of defenders throughout his career.
Given the subsequent injury concerns, the 30-year-old stated earlier this week that he is happy at Leeds for the first time in a long time—possibly even since his first season back in the Premier League.
And the player he has listed here is a former Premier League defender, even though he has only faced him directly twice. Yerry Mina, an ex-Everton footballer, is that man.
Speaking on the latest episode of the ‘My Mate’s a Footballer Podcast’, Bamford says he would come off the field after facing him with all kinds of bruises and scratches on his body.
Bamford says Mina the worst to play against
He said: “I know someone I hated playing against, he was a good defender but not the hardest I’ve played against but it was horrible. I think Man City and Haaland played against him and there was a picture after the game, I am pretty sure he scored and he had his top off.
“You could see the scratches and marks in certain places and I knew. It’s Yerry Mina who used to be at Everton. Every time I played against him he tries to give you some verbals but I quite enjoyed it, but then off the ball you know like a chicken nip on the back of the arm?
“He’d do that but hard and twist, the whole game. You’d come off and you’d be scratched all over your back and chest, arms bruised. Like you’ve been wrestling with a cat.”
It’s possible that this shouldn’t be too shocking considering Mina’s career-long reputation for causing inconvenience to attackers, even Lionel Messi, one of the best players of all time.
In his remarks on Mina, Bamford also made reference to a game between Haaland and himself. This was the same game in which Pep Guardiola chastised the Colombian player for some of the strategies he used to halt his players after the game.
In light of this, it is not shocking to hear Bamford describe Mina as the worst opponent to face, yet he was an excellent player for Everton.