Players will fake injuries to avoid playing big clubs, says Watford goalkeeper Foster
Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster has revealed that his former teammates always like to fake injuries in order to duck games against big clubs.
The 38-year-old has represented four different sides in the Premier League and made the claim when discussing playing at Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.
“It is beautiful,” he said on the Ben Foster Podcast regarding Liverpool’s anthem.
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“I remember playing at Anfield when that comes on [You’ll Never Walk Alone], you’re walking out and it’s on just before the game is about to start. I am in my goal, the whole stadium is singing, and I find myself singing it. It is so iconic and it’s like, ‘wow, this means something’.
“The Liverpool fans are really decent. I do love those old-school stadiums.
“Do you know what makes it really special when you play away at Anfield? When you’re on the coach, some of the players you get coming over from Spain and Italy see Anfield and think, ‘this is beautiful and incredible’. But I guarantee you when they’re on the coach, arriving at the stadium and driving through the streets where the fans are just fanatical about it, it must get under their skin a little bit.”
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Asked to clarify if he has come across professional footballers who have avoided away meetings with the big-hitters of the division out of sheer panic, Foster continued: “100 per cent. I cannot name names but, for a fact, I know that if we’ve got Man City on Saturday certain players would have got a little niggle.
“I would be joking with other players going, ‘guaranteed he will get a niggle this week’. He might have come off the back of a bad performance and is then playing Liverpool, Man City or Man United. I know for a fact they will get a little niggle on Wednesday or Thursday. It has happened so many times.”