Desailly

[BlueBeard]

Peter Osgood

Ron Harris

Peter Bonetti

Charlie Cooke

Kerry Dixon

Dennis Wise

Gianfranco Zola

No Bobby Tambling shame on you BB

Well, I originally had him in my list - Bobby Tambling should probably be on there, but I thought I'd better not have too many players from that era. So Ossie, Chopper, Charlie and The Cat got the vote ahead of him.

Must admit, I saw Tambling play many times, but he was never one of my favourite players - maybe that's got something to do with it as well

Can't take away his record though - 202 goals in a Chelsea shirt! Great stuff.

There are so many Chelsea players who I feel came close to being a legend, but just fell short. Loz mentioned Steve Clarke, and I very nearly added him to my list, along with the likes of Jimmy Greaves, Eddie McCreadie, Ian Hutchinson, David Webb, David Speedie, Pat Nevin, Eddie Niedzwieckie.....the list could go on and on. Even the Welsh nutters Joey Jones & Mickey Thomas came close, though they were only at Chelsea a short while

Very nice to look back over the years and remember just how many great players have sported the blue shirt of Chelsea though

 

[mad_mac]

Maybe we as fans can argue the toss, but I think the players who played with Marcel at Chelsea undoubtedly looked up to him and saw him as a legend. An inspiration. A Rock.I hark back to Gelshenkirchen, but imagine yourself as a player that night. 53,000 Turks, German riot police, the hail of missiles. Remember Roman's aides got him out of the stadium early because they couldn't garauntee his safety.

The players walked out onto that pitch and you could sense the tension in them. But throughout the entire pre-match warm up there was Desailly. Walking round talking, cajoling, reassuring the whole team. I had never seen him so animated. But he had been there, done it and brought the t-shirt. He was getting them all in the right frame of mind. Concentrating on the job in hand. Blocking out the atmosphere. And then the way he played on the pitch. He never put one foot wrong all night. It was the perfect Captain's performance.

Ranieri had little to do with our victory that night. It was Marcel Desailly's.

For me he's not just one of Chelsea's greatest ever defenders. IMO he is one the greatest defenders ever to kick a football.

Never a truer word spoken in regards to Desailly's presence in our team. I remember that night so vividly, it wasn't about Chelsea it was about the Turks and the English. Desailly played brilliantly that night, and forever should be remembered as one of the greatest defenders of all time.

I remember when he retired with us, there were people saying that the word "legend" was thrown around too easily, and should Desailly actually be considered in such terms.

My reply was something along the lines of "obso-fecking-lutely"

Scott

 

[Backbiter]

His best game for us was in the CL v AC Milan in the 0-0 at the Bridge. He was so good that night it did make me think he had another level of performance he could hit when he could raise himself, which has led to the widely held view that he didn't always give his all.

He was an incredible defender but he still wouldn't make my all-time Chelsea XI.

 

[TomP]

I think that The Rock was a key player (like Gullit and Hoddle) in the transformation of Chelsea to where they are now.

He was the first player we ever bought who was the "best in the world" at the time. Sure, we got him at the tail-end of his career, but some of those performances he put in in the Champion's League in particular were nothing short of amazing. And I will never forget that goal he scored against Everton to get us into the champion's league (his was the cruical one - not Gronkjaers).

If you look at JT today, it is obvious that he learnt a lot of his defensive technique from Desailly. But what is not so obvious, is that he learnt a huge amount about leadership from the great man.

Whether you want to call him a "great" or a "legend" is up to you, but if you ask me, there is a good chance that without Desailly, we would not be where we are now as a club - and that puts him right up there into the legend category for me.

 

[g3.7]

marcel was fan-f*cking-tastic. a truly exceptional player IMO, and I thought he showed exactly that when he joined us, at his peak... sure, towards the end he was running out a bit, and less able (though not for the lack of effort) to play at a high level consistantly... but there were many highpoints.. he was a player who not only peformed in big games, but one of that rare breed that could up his game even more in those circumstances.

 

[c3blu]

Marcel will go down as one of the worlds all time great players, In years to come people will talk about him much in the same way they talk about Platini now. He was class, and an abselute bargin at ?4.5m. Especially when you consider the week after we paid that for him Blackburn paid ?6m for that other potentiall world eleven allstar Christian Dailly. Perhaps there was a typo or something and the thought they were getting Desially.

Peter Kenyon could learn a few things from the way Colin Hutchinson conducted transfers. Not months of speculation, just a done deal and usually a very good one to.

Hoddle,Gullit,Vialli,Hughes and Laudrup all brought in on free's and players like Desially,Ferrera,Flo,Leboufe,Di Matteo and the legend that is Gianfranco Zola were great bit of business.

Although Hutchinson left a bit sharply,did he have his fingers in the till i wonder? even if he did he probably saved us millions.

 

[loz]

Hutch was very good at keeping things hush hush however I don't think there is any point trying to copare and contrast Kenyon to Hutch as they were doing deals in an entirely different market place. When Hutch wa pulling off deals like Marcel's we were not newspaper fodder number one, it would be impossible for anyone to keep deals hush hush at Chelsea now, the mere suggestion that we are interested in a player (or even lack of suggestion in most cases) makes clubs and agents come out with leaks and announcements.

 

[c3blu]

I know what you mean, i used to scan the back pages for tit-bits on transfers etc, now i cant even be bothered to read about who we are supposedly going to sign for ?50m this week or next

But even though i agree its almost impossible to really compare the 2 because of our change of status, Hutchinson conducted our off field affairs very disscretely and efficiently.

 

[Maksimov]

I will never forget that goal he scored against Everton to get us into the champion's league (his was the cruical one - not Gronkjaers)

"...Liverpool...Liverpool..."

 

[loz]

TomP!!!!!

Somebody give him lines!

 

[Elliott]

I think that The Rock was a key player (like Gullit and Hoddle) in the transformation of Chelsea to where they are now.He was the first player we ever bought who was the "best in the world" at the time. Sure, we got him at the tail-end of his career, but some of those performances he put in in the Champion's League in particular were nothing short of amazing. And I will never forget that goal he scored against Everton to get us into the champion's league (his was the cruical one - not Gronkjaers).

If you look at JT today, it is obvious that he learnt a lot of his defensive technique from Desailly. But what is not so obvious, is that he learnt a huge amount about leadership from the great man.

Whether you want to call him a "great" or a "legend" is up to you, but if you ask me, there is a good chance that without Desailly, we would not be where we are now as a club - and that puts him right up there into the legend category for me.

Ahhh Tom.

And you were doing so well!?

Your first couple of points are correct though. Along with Vialli, Gullit, Zola, etc.. Marcel was one of those 'History Changing' signings for us, and without him joining? Well, who knows?

A fantastic player, and a shame that he went on as long as he did, as i felt that he exposed himself to be a player slightly past his best towards the end, but brilliant nonetheless.

We have him to thank for JT.

Even with John at a young age, Marcel knew he was going to be England's finest modern day defender.

 

[TomP]

I will never forget that goal he scored against Everton to get us into the champion's league (his was the cruical one - not Gronkjaers)

"...Liverpool...Liverpool..."

What was that I said about "never forgetting"?