First off, i'll say that i'm a Man Utd fan.

Anyway, I just wanted know who Chelsea fans think is their most important player. Myself and many Man Utd fans alike can never get our heads round Chelsea fans' obsession with John Terry. He's a good player an all, but I think if you put Alex alonside Carvalho you wouldnt have any problems, although it would probably be an inferior partnership to Terry and Carvalho. If you asked me, I always thought your most important players were Lampard, closely followed by Essien and then Terry. I also think Lampard's a better captain too. Leads by example and has been your most consistent player for God knows how long. Cech probably deserves a mention, but I personally dont think he's as good as was a couple of years ago.

So yeah, fill me in guys!

Our most important player hasn't signed for us yet.......................

First off, i'll say that i'm a Man Utd fan.

Anyway, I just wanted know who Chelsea fans think is their most important player. Myself and many Man Utd fans alike can never get our heads round Chelsea fans' obsession with John Terry. He's a good player an all, but I think if you put Alex alonside Carvalho you wouldnt have any problems, although it would probably be an inferior partnership to Terry and Carvalho. If you asked me, I always thought your most important players were Lampard, closely followed by Essien and then Terry. I also think Lampard's a better captain too. Leads by example and has been your most consistent player for God knows how long. Cech probably deserves a mention, but I personally dont think he's as good as was a couple of years ago.

So yeah, fill me in guys!

Gael Kakuta apparently, judging by FIFA's sentencing.

Last season, I'd have said Frank Lampard, hands down.

But on this year's performances so far, it seems to be Didier Drogba.

First of all welcome, and second let me tackle the John Terry thing. (no pun intended)

You Mancs all seem to believe Chelsea fans believe him a god among men for his play on the field. We all recognize that he has limitations as a defender, and is slowing down (certainly not up to par from the standard he set 3-4 years ago) but Terry's presence is about his intagibles. I know you all joke with the "Englands Lion TM" thing, but at this club at least he is the leader on and off the pitch. We fare worse when he is out, and Lampard never looks at ease with the armband. Until JT's play becomes a liability, he will always be out there because of the lift and direction he gives the squad. And none of us honestly believe he is our best player. Most important, perhaps, but not best.

Anyway, as for this year, I think PK has got it dead on. Drogba looks to be on a mission so far, and if he can stay healthy all season he could do some serious damage.

Another player who hasnt looked as good, but who would get my most important vote is Essien. He hasnt quite settled back into the first team this year, but as im sure you know every now and then he is capable of a dominating performance. We will lose him in January, but with a 4 man midfield, he should see plenty of playing time until then.

Lampard, Essien, Terry, Drogba - all the main spine of the side but who would I hate to see out for a long spell this season????

Petr Cech - no question

Every other player has some sort of cover - Ross Turnbull has not been convincing for the reserves and was dropped for the last game, Hilario well......is Hilario

lampard or terry.

then cech and drogba I guess.

that's the spine really.

p.s. totally disagree that terry "has his limitations as a defender", or is on the decline- is often repeated, under informed nonsense IMO. guy is hugely underrated as a footballer- no one who goes to the bridge every other week would suggest the above.

Edited September 3, 200916 yr by gullit4

to go further, I'd say that ideas suggesting he's a poor passer don't add up with the fact that he made more passes than any other defender last season (I think), and had a 90%+ accuracy with them.

to suggest he's in decline doesn't add up either- look at chelsea 4 liverpool 4 (which he missed) and compare it with the barcelona games (in which he didn't even commit one foul in either game). also having played more than in the previous two seasons and started this season without any sign of a limp in his movement suggests he's getting close to his best.

lampard had one of his best seasons last year, but he's had (relatively) more poor seasons than terry despite being at the club a shorter time. everything goes through him sure, but because people absolutely despise terry, they do whatever they can to ignore his merits. he's a substantially better defender than carvalho, who himself is a very, very good player.

terry's form never drops below "good"- he'll never have the nightmares gallas has had at arsenal, or carvalho and in his later years desailly had with us. in the seasons where he was injured he stopped being able to dominate players to the point that their threat was completely neutralised, but even so the amount of mistakes he'd make was still less than carvalho (or any of our other players).

p.s. totally disagree that terry "has his limitations as a defender", or is on the decline- is often repeated, under informed nonsense IMO. guy is hugely underrated as a footballer- no one who goes to the bridge every other week would suggest the above.

Absolutely agree with G4. Vastly underrated IMO. Technically very good with the ball at his feet.

I know one thing, I would have John Terry as my centre-half in front of a Ferdinand of the Rio variety any day of the week.

to go further, I'd say that ideas suggesting he's a poor passer don't add up with the fact that he made more passes than any other defender last season (I think), and had a 90%+ accuracy with them.

to suggest he's in decline doesn't add up either- look at chelsea 4 liverpool 4 (which he missed) and compare it with the barcelona games (in which he didn't even commit one foul in either game). also having played more than in the previous two seasons and started this season without any sign of a limp in his movement suggests he's getting close to his best.

lampard had one of his best seasons last year, but he's had (relatively) more poor seasons than terry despite being at the club a shorter time. everything goes through him sure, but because people absolutely despise terry, they do whatever they can to ignore his merits. he's a substantially better defender than carvalho, who himself is a very, very good player.

terry's form never drops below "good"- he'll never have the nightmares gallas has had at arsenal, or carvalho and in his later years desailly had with us. in the seasons where he was injured he stopped being able to dominate players to the point that their threat was completely neutralised, but even so the amount of mistakes he'd make was still less than carvalho (or any of our other players).

Thats an interesting statistic, but i'd like to add that I very rarely see John make a pass through the oppositions midfield into Lampard or Drogba etc. A lot of his passes go to his defensive partner, the left back or the player who protects the midfield, whether its Mikel or Essien, which leaves them to do the rest of the business. Thats a luxury the defenders can afford to have at Chelsea, so this isnt a slight on him or anything, whereas at Man Utd or Arsenal, you've got ball playing center backs, ala Ferdinand and Gallas, who can make the passes through the oppositions midfield. It allows us to play our attacking game and negates the need for a 'defensive' midfielder.

Thats just my opinion, but I personally see that as the reason why Terry has such a high percentage completion rate.

Also, i'd like to add one more thing. What the f**k has happened to Drogba? Why has he stopped diving? I've seen a couple of Chelsea matches this season and I don't recall him diving in any of them. Has someone had a word with him? A changed man indeed, he might get one or two more fans as well if he continues to cut it out. He looked so poor against Hull in the opening game too, but still managed to score 2 goals. Football is strange.

Also, i'd like to add one more thing. What the f**k has happened to Drogba? Why has he stopped diving? I've seen a couple of Chelsea matches this season and I don't recall him diving in any of them. Has someone had a word with him? A changed man indeed, he might get one or two more fans as well if he continues to cut it out. He looked so poor against Hull in the opening game too, but still managed to score 2 goals. Football is strange.

Well he's got no diving competition now Ronaldo's gone.

Thats an interesting statistic, but i'd like to add that I very rarely see John make a pass through the oppositions midfield into Lampard or Drogba etc. A lot of his passes go to his defensive partner, the left back or the player who protects the midfield, whether its Mikel or Essien, which leaves them to do the rest of the business.

I disagree. The number of times I've seen Terry pull off a perfect cross-field pass to one of our forwards or wingers on his left foot is incredible. No one else ever seems to notice it either...

I wouldnt rule out them two having a competition seeing who could dive more in a season, in light of Le Tissier revealing secret bets he used make on himself...

I wouldnt rule out them two having a competition seeing who could dive more in a season, in light of Le Tissier revealing secret bets he used make on himself...

Classic from Matty that wasn't it? And he still managed to f**k it up.

Terry as a leader is irreplacable. And as a player a he is a class act, no doubt about that.

However, the core of the team is formed not only by him but with the likes of Lampard, Essien, Drogba and Cech.

Joe Cole has almost been forgotten due to his recent injuries and he has always provided us with that extra bit of pace, width and flair. He has been missed thoroughly during his absence. Anyhow, I always seem to find a word or two for him as he is my personal favourite.

Also, under Ancelotti's reign, the fullbacks have also become very important players as they are providing most of the width in our new system.

That said, we always start with 11 players on the pitch and every player has an important role to play.

Sorry for not been able to stick to one player. ;)

Thats an interesting statistic, but i'd like to add that I very rarely see John make a pass through the oppositions midfield into Lampard or Drogba etc. A lot of his passes go to his defensive partner, the left back or the player who protects the midfield, whether its Mikel or Essien, which leaves them to do the rest of the business. Thats a luxury the defenders can afford to have at Chelsea, so this isnt a slight on him or anything, whereas at Man Utd or Arsenal, you've got ball playing center backs, ala Ferdinand and Gallas, who can make the passes through the oppositions midfield. It allows us to play our attacking game and negates the need for a 'defensive' midfielder.

Thats just my opinion, but I personally see that as the reason why Terry has such a high percentage completion rate.

that's true- of course it is. and that we play with a lot of the ball in our own half also adds to that.

but remember, we've seen gallas (at his best), desailly, carvalho and lebouef in the last decade or so, and only lebouef was a better or more expansive passer. it's probably going to be hard to find clips to demonstrate it, but terry is always the player who spreads the play from the back out of the two. lampard wrote that when he arrived at the club he realised he was well short of the club's standard as a passer, given that terry was more accurate with either foot.

I don't want to sound like I am someone who blindly thinks all our players are the best... a combination of the media and terry himself have brought this image of him as this kind of tony adams / terry butcher type player who dives into tackles- the reality is he can go games at a time without sliding in (whereas carvalho's style sees him make about five a game!). he struggles against tall strong players rather than pace for example.

for england you see less of him bringing the ball forward (capello is like mourinho- he wants the quicker defender to come forward so he can get back into position), but ancelotti seems to want to take advantage of his passing so he's doing it as much as he ever has post-ranieri.

Honestly, Essien, though I'm sure that won't be a popular answer.

Thanks for coming onto the forum and debating in a positive manner. Another thing I will add, as G4 has pretty much got most of the points out of teh way. But you feel that Lampard is a better captain as he leads by example. I have no doubts that Lampard leads by example, but: did you see our games when Terry was out with a back injury and Lampard was given teh captaincy? his presence was nowhere near that of Terry. And if Terry is such a poor captain, then why is he captain of England too, or is Capello missing something too?

Scott

Terry

Lampard

Drogba

Essien

A Cole

All priceless to Chelsea

I honestly can't believe people who don't see JTs merits,he is an awsome "footballer",the catalyst to our mood shown on the pitch,he plays to his superman standards,the team responds,because of the likes of Ballack and lamps,who are more Eye catching,Terrys attributes are obviously missed,he like some have said loves to hit that "Beckhamesque" 60 yard crossfield ball,and i have over the last few years watched his passing and marvel at his accuracy long and short stuff,.........take of thine blinkers and watch.

Our most important player hasn't signed for us yet.......................

teasing sod...

Terry, Lampard, Drogba, Cech and Essien in that order.

Terry, Lampard, Drogba, Cech and Essien in that order.

And me....

Terry, Lampard, Drogba, Cech, Essien, Bosingwa, A.Cole, Mikel, Carvalho, Anelka, Malouda, Zhirkov, Alex, Ballack, Ivanovic, Joe Cole, Kakuta, Di Santo, Stoch, Deco.

Not only do i feel terry is a very good technical player, he is also one of the best players i feel i have watched positionally, the way he seems to read the game and get in places. Not to mention the amount of times he has cleared the ball off the line. He a fantastic all round defender. Lamps is still the most important however, so consistent with his performances, dosent miss matches and always contributing. He is our teams heartbeat