Wes Brown has Manchester United in his blood.  He grew up in Manchester, played 362 times for United, was a treble winner in his first season and won 14 trophies in total.

In an interview with ESPN he revealed his toughest the player he faced and it was a bit of a surprise.

John Hartson was a bully

You might expect me to say some of the lads from Real Madrid or Barcelona or wherever, but it was John Hartson at Coventry City. I tried to be aggressive and bully him, but he bullied me all over the pitch. I was young, I learned a lot from him. It took me time to learn that you could play opponents in different ways.

There was no point in playing against Zidane

I played against Zinedine Zidane for Real Madrid in the Champions League. I was right-back and he was on the left side of midfield. I couldn’t get near him because I didn’t know what position he was supposed to be in. I’d go to make a challenge and he’d one touch the ball out to Roberto Carlos who’d then run past me. They were so good; there was no point me even playing.

Even with injuries Ronaldo was unbelievable

I marked the Brazilian Ronaldo, too. He’d had his injuries but he was still unbelievable. I marked him in Madrid and again at Old Trafford when he scored a hat trick. Maybe we gave him too much respect in the sense we gave him a lot of time, but when he shot he scored. Our fans cheered him off that night. I could understand why.

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