I was good friends with my England team-mate Ashley Cole but he wouldn't speak to me when Spurs and Chelsea met on match day.
Best friends off the court, but fierce rivals on it.
It's the classic football dilemma.
And for the former Tottenham and Everton star Aaron LennonThere was one Chelsea friend in particular who always caused huge rows on the pitch.
The winger played more than 400 matches in the Premier Leaguetaking on some of the toughest defenders in the top flight during a professional career that spanned almost two decades.
But one player stood out to him for the sheer challenge he posed on the pitch in his numerous encounters.
Asked to name the player he rated as his toughest opponent, Lennon told talkSPORT it was actually a former international team-mate.
“Overall, I would probably say Ashley Cole“he admitted. “We had some amazing battles.
“We played together for England so it was a lot of fun. I've said it a few times, we were really good friends off the pitch but when we played against each other he wouldn't talk to me at all.
“We'd get to the tunnel and I'd be like, 'Are you okay, Ash? I'm looking forward to today, man.' And he'd just literally blank me out.
“And then, like I said, shortly after the game, he came up to me joking around, but he didn't talk to me during the whole game. I was trying to get into his head a little bit. But it was a good chat.
“But like I said, Ashley Cole was unbelievable. An unbelievable player for club and country. A top player. And a great lad.”
Cole spent eight years as a Chelsea player before finally signing for Roma in 2014.
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But before he could do so, he came across England Lennon was a teammate on many occasions, as the two contested several London derbies.
“I think one of the games we played on Saturday,” he recalled. “We met on Sunday and he was really mad at me. But then on Sunday we were literally best friends again.”
“But he didn't talk to me all day Saturday. Even after the match he didn't want to talk to me.
“I think we (Spurs) won that game. So no wonder he didn't want to talk to me!”
Chelsea and Tottenham They faced each other 20 times during Cole and Lennon's time at the clubs between 2006 and 2014.
Of those matches, Chelsea won eight, Spurs won four and the remaining eight matches ended in draws.
But it is clear that both friends caused each other the same problems on the field.
Lennon's Tottenham vs Cole's Chelsea
November 2006: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Chelsea (Premier League)
March 2007: Chelsea 3-3 Tottenham Hotspur (FA Cup)
March 2007: Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Chelsea (FA Cup)
April 2007: Chelsea 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Premier League)
January 2008: Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Premier League)
February 2008: Chelsea 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur (League Cup)
March 2008: Tottenham Hotspur 4-4 Chelsea (Premier League)
August 2008: Chelsea 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Premier League)
March 2009: Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Chelsea (Premier League)
September 2009: Chelsea 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Premier League)
April 2010: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Chelsea (Premier League)
December 2010: Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Chelsea (Premier League)
April 2011: Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Premier League)
December 2011: Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Chelsea (Premier League)
March 2012: Chelsea 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Premier League)
April 2012: Tottenham Hotspur 1-5 Chelsea (FA Cup)
October 2012: Tottenham Hotspur 2-4 Chelsea (Premier League)
May 2013: Chelsea 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Premier League)
September 2013: Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Chelsea (Premier League)
March 2014: Chelsea 4-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Premier League)
In May, Cole even admitted to having… Goal that Lennon also occupied a prominent place in his own List of toughest opponents.
“I played against some of the best players, you know,” he said. “Aaron Lennon always gave me a hard time, Theo Walcott, Raheem Sterling, but the main one I would say was Cristiano.”
And Cole wasn't the only player to call Lennon a really tough opponent to face.
In fact, the former England defender Wayne Bridge previously He told talkSPORT which ranked Lennon as one of the two toughest opponents he had faced during his career.
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And Lennon was flattered by the recognition, admitting the former Chelsea and Manchester City star had always given him excellent competition.
“Yeah, I'll stick with that,” Lennon said. “I had a good relationship with Bridge, to be fair, because I played with him for England as well. He's a really good lad, we get on really well.”
“As I said, I had some good battles with him on the pitch. So yeah, that's good to hear. And as I said, Bridge was a top player as well.
“He probably didn't get enough credit, but Bridgie was a top-class full-back. So it was difficult for me to play against him as well. So yeah, that's good to hear.”
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