Chelsea's (All-time) Historic XI and Subs

[worldfootballhere]

Peter Bonetti-the cat played for England in the World Cup, weeks after lifting the FA Cup fo the blues,

John Terry-Captained the club to 2 Premiership trophies, throwing his body in for the cause; a great defender and captain.

Marcel Desailly-Chelsea's first ever player to win a World Cup final and a world class defensive demon.

Ron "Chopper" Harris- the epitomy of Chelsea's tough style of defence in the last 60's. FA Cup winning captain. All time appearance record holder.

John Hollins-Over 400 games, one-time captain, another great Chelsea defender of the 60s who featured in the two FA Cup wins.

Michael Essien-Greatest defensive midfield in the world currently, and can still score goals like the worldie against Barca

Ray Wilkins-Another great captain, midfield quality pushing Chelsea onwards

Frank Lampard-Scored over 100 goals for Chelsea in all competitions and is the club's highest scoring midfielder.

Joe Cole-a huge star of the Mourinho era, helping to bring the clubs first league in 50 years

Gianfranco Zola-Class in all-senses, the little Italian played for his team-mates, but still got his share of goals.

Peter Osgood- The epitomy of Chelsea's attacking flair, the southern George Best.

Subs

Petr Cech

Mickey Droy

David Webb

Charlie Cooke

Pat Nevin

Kerry Dixon-Chelsea's all-time top goals scorer but never won a trophy

Didier Drogba

[coco]

Drop Wilkins and play Dixon. :angry:

[BlueBeard]

How you can choose Joey Cole over both Charlie Cooke and Pat Nevin is totally beyond me. And to leave Alan Hudson out completely....words fail me!

My team (just off the top of my head, and please bear in mind I've only just woken up :angry: ): -

Bonetti

Ferrer Desailly Terry McCreadie

Hudson Harris Cooke

Zola

Osgood Dixon

Subs: -

Cech

Locke

Elliott

Lampard

Nevin

Speedie

Hutchinson

[just]

Everytime I do this I pick a different team:

.....................Cech

......Desailly....Terry......Dorigo

.................Makelele

......Hudson....Lampard....Gullit.....Nevin

..................Zola....Dixon

Subs:

Bonetti

Harris

Cooke

Webb

Wise

Drogba

Tambling

[moi]

Bonetti a SUB????????? :o

and Chopper Harris a SUB??? :) :angry:

You will self-ignite in 30 seconds!

Edited June 7, 2009 by moi

[just]

Looking forward to seeing your team Moi, based on your long history of supporting Chelsea.

[moi]

Don't be silly, Just - I'm an old old woman who can only remember the good old days with Tommy Docherty. Anything after the sixties is very hazy. Wouldn't have a clue how to pick a team.

[loz]

I would take Cech over Bonetti as well - with these things there is always a degree of sentimentality involved in the decision making however purely on the basis of ability think Cech is comfortably our best ever.

[blizeH]

I'm only a (fairly) young 'un, but I find it quite surprising to see people placing Lampard on the bench!

[BlueBeard]

I would take Cech over Bonetti as well - with these things there is always a degree of sentimentality involved in the decision making however purely on the basis of ability think Cech is comfortably our best ever.

I can't agree with that, though it's very difficult to compare the two owing to the changes in the game. Bonetti only played in cotton gloves, whereas keepers today have gloves the size of small houses on their hands. It's not sentimentality on my part - I saw Bonetti play regularly for about 15 years, and also saw his biggest rivals - Bonetti was one of the best. That's not taking anything away from Petr Cech, I love the guy, he's one of the top two keepers in the world and has been for some time.

Peter Bonetti was only a small keeper, less than 6ft and quite skinny, but he had balls of steel. He'd come out for every cross and corner, and 99% of the time he'd catch the ball - not punch it out like keepers do today. He'd also catch shots and headers, which keepers today pathetically try to parry away from the goal. To this day I've never seen a keeper with the agility of Bonetti - a brilliant keeper, if it hadn't been for Gordon Banks he'd have been Englands No.1 for years. And let's not forget that Peter Bonetti made 729 first team appearances for Chelsea!

[BlueBeard]

I'm only a (fairly) young 'un, but I find it quite surprising to see people placing Lampard on the bench!

That's possibly because you never saw Alan Hudson play :angry:

[BlueBeard]

Everytime I do this I pick a different team:

Me too - It's only been an hour since picking my side, and already I want to make changes :angry:

Too many good players to pick from!

[coco]

Kerry Dixon is my all time fav player, but if you had to pick a team solely on ability at the time they played for us, he wouldnt make my team.

---------------------Cech

Petrescu----Desailly---Terry-----A.Cole

-------------------Makelele

------Gullit------Lampard------Nevin

------------------Zola

-------------------------Drogba

[geezer]

Can't we pick a squad rather than a team? Let's say 18 players maximum?

[moi]

Shouln't we (or YOU rather, because as Just so accurately points out, I know nothing) be nominating an all-time historic manager to lead this team?

[BlueBeard]

Manager for me would have to be Tommy Docherty

[BlueBeard]

Can't we pick a squad rather than a team? Let's say 18 players maximum?

I was thinking something similar, maybe have three players for each position - it would make it a lot easier, it's so difficult to leave players out

[moi]

Manager for me would have to be Tommy Docherty

;) You're my hero, BlueBeard!

[BlueBeard]

Just tried my idea of three players in each position - it's still bloody difficult!

GK - Bonetti, Cech, Niedzwiecki

RB - Harris, Ferrer, Clarke

CB - Desailly, Carvalho, Webb

CB - Terry, Elliott, Leboeuf

LB - McCreadie, A.Cole, Le Saux

RM - Cooke, Petrescu, Nevin

CM - Hudson, Wilkins, Lampard

CM - Wise, Hollins, Essien

LM - Robben, Thomas, Houseman

S - Osgood, Dixon, Vialli

S - Zola, Tambling, Hutchinson

[geezer]

GK - Bonetti; Cech; Niedzwiecki

RB - Ferrer; Clarke; Locke

CB - Desailly; Harris; Webb

CB - Terry; Lebouef; Dempsey

LB - Le Saux; McCreadie; Cole

RM - Cooke; Nevin; Petrescu

CM - Lampard; Gullitt; Hudson

CM - Wise; Essien; Di Matteo

LM - Robben; Houseman; Duff

S - Osgood; Greaves; Bentley

S - Hutchinson; Zola; Dixon

But then again.................

[coco]

You have 6 places for strikers, but both of you failed to select the striker who has heavily influenced the winning of 2 League titles and 2 FA cups. Putting aside hes a prize twat, he should be 1 of the 6 imo.

[geezer]

Which is why I put "on the other hand" as I could easily have changed 12 or so names.

[coco]

Which is why I put "on the other hand" as I could easily have changed 12 or so names.

Yeah I know mate, he is an easy name to miss out, considering the other greats we have had over the years, but credit where credit is due, he brought home the bacon.

[geezer]

So did Roy Bentley but noone else has named him

[BlueBeard]

I only included players that I've seen perform for Chelsea, so Greaves & Bentley both missed out. If I included all players (as the thread title suggests), I'd probably have put Frank Blunstone on the left wing, and Ken Armstrong as a midfield sub - and Jimmy Greaves would have been a definite starter! Probably have had to find room for Hughie Gallacher too.