Best Chelsea XI signed after 2006

[PloKoon13]

Neil Barnett posted this on Twitter:


This led me to wonder two things:

1) Who, out of players we signed after 2006, would get into the Chelsea XI of the 21st century?

2) What is the best Chelsea XI out of players signed after 2006?

 

[Coxy15]

Answer to Q1) Azpilicueta might challenge Ferreira and Ivanovic for the Right back spot. Not sure who I would pick out of thsoe 3 though. Brana probably. Just. Other than that I can't think of anyone.

Juan Mata was good and would make the post-2006 best XI but not better than those in the squad in 04/05/06.

Really struggling to think of anyone who would beat their counterpart from that 04-06 squad.
 

 

[Jezz]

1). Azpilicueta, Costa and Mata would be potential options breaking into the best 21st century XI. Matic alongside Makelele would be a formidable partnership as well.

2). Best first XI post-2006 signings

                        Courtois

      Ivanovic - Luiz - Cahill - Azpilicueta

                    Kante - Matic

            Willian - Mata - Hazard

                          Costa

Wasn't sure whether to include Ashley Cole at left back as he signed in mid-2006. Does that count?

If it counts, then Luiz goes out for Ashley, and Ivanovic can switch to CB with Azpi on the right.

 

[EdinburghBlue]

1). Azpilicueta, Costa and Mata would be potential options breaking into the best 21st century XI. Matic alongside Makelele would be a formidable partnership as well.

2). Best first XI post-2006 signings

                        Courtois

      Ivanovic - Luiz - Cahill - Azpilicueta

                    Kante - Matic

            Willian - Mata - Hazard

                          Costa

Wasn't sure whether to include Ashley Cole at left back as he signed in mid-2006. Does that count?

If it counts, then Luiz goes out for Ashley, and Ivanovic can switch to CB with Azpi on the right.

Personally would swap Matic for Fàbregas but both big players for us when they were here but Fàbregas eye for a pass was out of this world. The CB’s post 2006 is the scariest thing for me. Luiz making our best post 2006 team is frightening.

 

[enigma]

Didn't we sign Ashley Cole after 2006? Ivanovic too? I'd argue both would get in our best all time first 11 imo. Also, Kevin De Bruyne and Salah have got to have mentions here, depending on if we are going on their forms after leaving Chelsea. He is generally correct though. As I've previously mentioned, our recruitment has been pretty poor tbh. We last had a real arguably world class team in 2009/2010 period, but even that side could have been strenthened even further if we are honest.

We were close to signing Aguero in 2011, but I believe we didn't cough up enough money despite the fee being around £40m, to then go and buy a more expensive Torres who would ultimately be a failure. Imagine if we had Aguero in our team since 2010/11. We also could have gotten Pirlo and Gerrard. More recently we had the chance of getting Van Dijk, Koulibaly, Alex Sandro. We were also linked to David Silva back in the day too, around 2010. Just a few names we've missed out on which could have gone on to make us a seriously dominant force in English football. 

 

[PloKoon13]

For reference the list of eligible players is:

GK

Ross Turnbull (02/07/2009)

Thibaut Courtois (26/07/2011)

Mark Schwarzer (09/07/2013)

Asmir Begovi? (13/07/2015)

Willy Caballero (01/07/2017)

Kepa Arrizabalaga (08/08/2018)

FB

Juliano Belletti (23/08/2007)

Branislav Ivanovic (16/01/2008)

José Bosingwa (12/05/2008)

Yuri Zhirkov (07/07/2009)

Cesar Azpilicueta (24/07/2012)

Filipe Luís (16/07/2014)

Baba Rahman (17/08/2015)

Kenedy (23/08/2015)

Marcos Alonso (31/08/2016)

Davide Zappacosta (31/08/2017)

Emerson (30/01/2018)

CB

Tal Ben Haim (14/06/2007)

Tomas Kalas (07/07/2010)

David Luiz (31/01/2011 and 31/08/2016)

Gary Cahill (16/01/2012)

Andreas Christensen (01/07/2012)

Kurt Zouma (31/01/2014)

Papy Djilobodji (01/09/2015)

Matt Miazga (30/01/2016)

Antonio Rüdiger (09/07/2017)

CM

Steve Sidwell (01/07/2007)

Mineiro (24/09/2008)

Nemanja Matic (18/08/2009 and 15/01/2014)

Ramires (13/08/2010)

Oriol Romeu (04/08/2011)

Raul Meireles (31/08/2011)

Marco van Ginkel (05/07/2013)

Cesc Fàbregas (13/06/2014)

N'Golo Kanté (16/07/2016)

Billy Gilmour (01/07/2017)

Ethan Ampadu (01/07/2017)

Tiémoué Bakayoko (15/07/2017)

Danny Drinkwater (31/08/2017)

Ross Barkley (05/01/2018)

Jorginho (14/07/2018)

Mateo Kova?i? (01/07/2019)

WF/AM

Florent Malouda (10/07/2007)

Deco (30/06/2008)

Ricardo Quaresma (02/02/2009)

Yossi Benayoun (02/07/2010)

Juan Mata (22/08/2011)

Lucas Piazon (20/01/2012)

Kevin De Bruyne (31/01/2012)

Marko Marin (01/07/2012)

Eden Hazard (01/07/2012)

Oscar (25/07/2012)

Victor Moses (24/08/2012)

André Schürrle (01/07/2013)

Willian (28/08/2013)

Bertrand Traoré (01/01/2014)

Mohamed Salah (26/01/2014)

Juan Cuadrado (02/02/2015)

Pedro (20/08/2015)

Christian Pulisic (02/01/2019)

CF

Claudio Pizarro (01/06/2007)

Fabio Borini (31/07/2007)

Nicolas Anelka (11/01/2008)

Franco Di Santo (25/01/2008)

Daniel Sturridge (03/07/2009)

Fernando Torres (31/01/2011)

Romelu Lukaku (18/08/2011)

Demba Ba (04/01/2013)

Samuel Eto'o (01/09/2013)

Diego Costa (15/07/2014)

Didier Drogba (25/07/2014)

Loïc Rémy (31/08/2014)

Radamel Falcao (03/07/2015)

Alexandre Pato (29/01/2016)

Michy Batshuayi (03/07/2016)

Álvaro Morata (21/07/2017)

Olivier Giroud (31/01/2018)

Gonzalo Higuain (23/01/2019)

 

[Jezz]

Personally would swap Matic for Fàbregas but both big players for us when they were here but Fàbregas eye for a pass was out of this world. The CB’s post 2006 is the scariest thing for me. Luiz making our best post 2006 team is frightening.

For his all flaws, I think Luiz was too hard to overlook especially when he played nearly 250 games for the club. He played in our Champions League winning team and was a pivotal member of the 2016/2017 title winning team.

The other centre back options are scarce when you look at the alternatives:

• Alex
  
• Antonio Rudiger
  
• Kurt Zouma
  
• Andreas Christiensen
  
• Tal Ben Haim
  
• Fikayo Tomori
  

We really did take for granted what we had when Terry, Carvalho and Gallas were all in the same squad.

 

[PloKoon13]

For his all flaws, I think Luiz was too hard to overlook especially when he played nearly 250 games for the club. He played in our Champions League winning team and was a pivotal member of the 2016/2017 title winning team.

The other centre back options are scarce when you look at the alternatives:

• Alex
  
• Antonio Rudiger
  
• Kurt Zouma
  
• Andreas Christiensen
  
• Tal Ben Haim
  
• Fikayo Tomori
  

We really did take for granted what we had when Terry, Carvalho and Gallas were all in the same squad.

And Alex technically doesn't even count as we initially signed him in 2004!

 

[Jezz]

And Alex technically doesn't even count as we initially signed him in 2004!

You're right, I totally forgot about that. I automatically assumed we signed him in the summer of 2007.

I just remembered he was on loan at PSV for a few years.

 

[Jezz]

Also, Kevin De Bruyne and Salah have got to have mentions here, depending on if we are going on their forms after leaving Chelsea.

I assume it's based on players who had a tangible impact at the club, rather than what they did elsewhere.

They played a combined total of 28 games for the club (Salah = 19, KDB = 9).

 

[coco]

Elephants are in the room

KDB and Salah.

 

[Jackson27]

So Basically Our Best Team Since 2006 Is

GK - Turnbull

RB - Zappacosta

CB- Ben Haim & Djilobodji

LB - Baba Rahman

CM's - Sidwell, Mineiro & Bakayoko

Wingers - Benayoun & Marin

CF - Borini

??????

 

[DukesOfHazard]

For reference the list of eligible players is:

GK

Ross Turnbull (02/07/2009)

Thibaut Courtois (26/07/2011)

Mark Schwarzer (09/07/2013)

Asmir Begovi? (13/07/2015)

Willy Caballero (01/07/2017)

Kepa Arrizabalaga (08/08/2018)

FB

Juliano Belletti (23/08/2007)

Branislav Ivanovic (16/01/2008)

José Bosingwa (12/05/2008)

Yuri Zhirkov (07/07/2009)

Cesar Azpilicueta (24/07/2012)

Filipe Luís (16/07/2014)

Baba Rahman (17/08/2015)

Kenedy (23/08/2015)

Marcos Alonso (31/08/2016)

Davide Zappacosta (31/08/2017)

Emerson (30/01/2018)

CB

Tal Ben Haim (14/06/2007)

Tomas Kalas (07/07/2010)

David Luiz (31/01/2011 and 31/08/2016)

Gary Cahill (16/01/2012)

Andreas Christensen (01/07/2012)

Kurt Zouma (31/01/2014)

Papy Djilobodji (01/09/2015)

Matt Miazga (30/01/2016)

Antonio Rüdiger (09/07/2017)

CM

Steve Sidwell (01/07/2007)

Mineiro (24/09/2008)

Nemanja Matic (18/08/2009 and 15/01/2014)

Ramires (13/08/2010)

Oriol Romeu (04/08/2011)

Raul Meireles (31/08/2011)

Marco van Ginkel (05/07/2013)

Cesc Fàbregas (13/06/2014)

N'Golo Kanté (16/07/2016)

Billy Gilmour (01/07/2017)

Ethan Ampadu (01/07/2017)

Tiémoué Bakayoko (15/07/2017)

Danny Drinkwater (31/08/2017)

Ross Barkley (05/01/2018)

Jorginho (14/07/2018)

Mateo Kova?i? (01/07/2019)

WF/AM

Florent Malouda (10/07/2007)

Deco (30/06/2008)

Ricardo Quaresma (02/02/2009)

Yossi Benayoun (02/07/2010)

Juan Mata (22/08/2011)

Lucas Piazon (20/01/2012)

Kevin De Bruyne (31/01/2012)

Marko Marin (01/07/2012)

Eden Hazard (01/07/2012)

Oscar (25/07/2012)

Victor Moses (24/08/2012)

André Schürrle (01/07/2013)

Willian (28/08/2013)

Bertrand Traoré (01/01/2014)

Mohamed Salah (26/01/2014)

Juan Cuadrado (02/02/2015)

Pedro (20/08/2015)

Christian Pulisic (02/01/2019)

CF

Claudio Pizarro (01/06/2007)

Fabio Borini (31/07/2007)

Nicolas Anelka (11/01/2008)

Franco Di Santo (25/01/2008)

Daniel Sturridge (03/07/2009)

Fernando Torres (31/01/2011)

Romelu Lukaku (18/08/2011)

Demba Ba (04/01/2013)

Samuel Eto'o (01/09/2013)

Diego Costa (15/07/2014)

Didier Drogba (25/07/2014)

Loïc Rémy (31/08/2014)

Radamel Falcao (03/07/2015)

Alexandre Pato (29/01/2016)

Michy Batshuayi (03/07/2016)

Álvaro Morata (21/07/2017)

Olivier Giroud (31/01/2018)

Gonzalo Higuain (23/01/2019)

When you can see it written out like that it doesn’t make pleasant reading.

 

[Gol15]

Realistically Juan Mata was really good I mean he was signed for less than 25m and he was multiple times our player of the year.

I also think that Ramires is underrated.

 

[driller97]

For reference the list of eligible players is:

GK

Ross Turnbull (02/07/2009)

Thibaut Courtois (26/07/2011)

Mark Schwarzer (09/07/2013)

Asmir Begovi? (13/07/2015)

Willy Caballero (01/07/2017)

Kepa Arrizabalaga (08/08/2018)

FB

Juliano Belletti (23/08/2007)

Branislav Ivanovic (16/01/2008)

José Bosingwa (12/05/2008)

Yuri Zhirkov (07/07/2009)

Cesar Azpilicueta (24/07/2012)

Filipe Luís (16/07/2014)

Baba Rahman (17/08/2015)

Kenedy (23/08/2015)

Marcos Alonso (31/08/2016)

Davide Zappacosta (31/08/2017)

Emerson (30/01/2018)

CB

Tal Ben Haim (14/06/2007)

Tomas Kalas (07/07/2010)

David Luiz (31/01/2011 and 31/08/2016)

Gary Cahill (16/01/2012)

Andreas Christensen (01/07/2012)

Kurt Zouma (31/01/2014)

Papy Djilobodji (01/09/2015)

Matt Miazga (30/01/2016)

Antonio Rüdiger (09/07/2017)

CM

Steve Sidwell (01/07/2007)

Mineiro (24/09/2008)

Nemanja Matic (18/08/2009 and 15/01/2014)

Ramires (13/08/2010)

Oriol Romeu (04/08/2011)

Raul Meireles (31/08/2011)

Marco van Ginkel (05/07/2013)

Cesc Fàbregas (13/06/2014)

N'Golo Kanté (16/07/2016)

Billy Gilmour (01/07/2017)

Ethan Ampadu (01/07/2017)

Tiémoué Bakayoko (15/07/2017)

Danny Drinkwater (31/08/2017)

Ross Barkley (05/01/2018)

Jorginho (14/07/2018)

Mateo Kova?i? (01/07/2019)

WF/AM

Florent Malouda (10/07/2007)

Deco (30/06/2008)

Ricardo Quaresma (02/02/2009)

Yossi Benayoun (02/07/2010)

Juan Mata (22/08/2011)

Lucas Piazon (20/01/2012)

Kevin De Bruyne (31/01/2012)

Marko Marin (01/07/2012)

Eden Hazard (01/07/2012)

Oscar (25/07/2012)

Victor Moses (24/08/2012)

André Schürrle (01/07/2013)

Willian (28/08/2013)

Bertrand Traoré (01/01/2014)

Mohamed Salah (26/01/2014)

Juan Cuadrado (02/02/2015)

Pedro (20/08/2015)

Christian Pulisic (02/01/2019)

CF

Claudio Pizarro (01/06/2007)

Fabio Borini (31/07/2007)

Nicolas Anelka (11/01/2008)

Franco Di Santo (25/01/2008)

Daniel Sturridge (03/07/2009)

Fernando Torres (31/01/2011)

Romelu Lukaku (18/08/2011)

Demba Ba (04/01/2013)

Samuel Eto'o (01/09/2013)

Diego Costa (15/07/2014)

Didier Drogba (25/07/2014)

Loïc Rémy (31/08/2014)

Radamel Falcao (03/07/2015)

Alexandre Pato (29/01/2016)

Michy Batshuayi (03/07/2016)

Álvaro Morata (21/07/2017)

Olivier Giroud (31/01/2018)

Gonzalo Higuain (23/01/2019)

Reading this list almost makes me sick. My god how bad the majority of our transfers were.

 

[Ballack & Blu]

Wheres Ballack?

 

[PloKoon13]

Wheres Ballack?

I didn't include anyone signed in 2006, so no Cole, Mikel, Kalou, etc.

From what Neil said in the comments for that tweet I think his intention with the chosen cutoff date was to exclude Cole from selection.

 

[PloKoon13]

Reading this list almost makes me sick. My god how bad the majority of our transfers were.

The list of centre forwards is particularly bad. It's really quite telling that you could make a genuine argument for Giroud being the third best.

 

[driller97]

The list of centre forwards is particularly bad. It's really quite telling that you could make a genuine argument for Giroud being the third best.

Its just that our policy for so long was buying strikers that were either unknown or way past their prime.

I think the only strikers in the past 10 years we've bought that don't fall into that criteria are Werner and Costa