Name your team of favourite Chelsea players

[geezer]

We've often had surveys asking everyone to name the 'best' Chelsea team but I'd like to do a different take on that. I am going to name a team of my all time favourite players - one for each shirt number 1-11 and explain why I've selected them. The team may not be world beaters and may not have the ideal balance but they would give 11 fantastic reasons why I support our club.

I have gone for a 4-3-3 line up

1 - Peter Bonetti. Yes Petr Cech is better but being a keeper myself in my younger days I had nothing but the utmost respect for Cat. Used to love wearing his green cotton gloves when I played in goal too even though they were crap.

2 - Gary Locke. Loved his overlapping runs. Shame he was so one footed and very seldom cut insuide as this made him somewhat predictable but I loved his energy pushing forward.

3 - Eddie Mac. Loved him from the moment he patted me on the head and chastised my old man for taking me to watch Arsenal one week and Spurs the next. Threatened to report him to the authorities!!

4 - Maka. His holding role is not exactly new (remember the toothless wonder in '66?) and it is a very unglamorous role but I love the way he constantly looks for space so he can make himself available for the pass. I also love the way he gives his innocent smile whenever he's knowingly taken someone out.

5 - Has to be JT. Passion, Chelseaa through and through. Would die for the club.

6 - Chopper. Could play anywhere across the back 4. Christ he would have been useful to have in the squad this season (even though he probably would have been suspended most of the time!). I always felt Chopper was very under rated as a player becasue he was always looked upon for his ferocity. Very rarely gave the ball away.

7 - Charlie Cooke - My all time football hero. This man was a god to me. Let the ball do the work and would hit sublime passes.

8 - Gianfranco - Can't imagine the genius not being in anyone's Chelsea team. PLayed with a smile on his face yet always had a passion for the game. A nicer person you couldn't meet

9 - Ossie. Legend. Fantastic touch on the ground, strong in the air, the complete centre forward. Made Norman Hunter run a mile when he squared up to him.

10 - Ian Hutchinson. One of the bravest footballers I ever saw. Lionheart who was cursed with seemingly permanent injury. Long throws to end all long throws to win the FA cup in 1970

11 - Luca Vialli. Great person, fantastic footballer who loved Chelsea and still does.

OK I'll allow myself 5 subs because that is the game of today:

David Webb - Hard as nails. Could play anywhere, even in goal

David Speedie - loved his passion. Niggly sort that the other supporters all love to hate

Kerry Dixon - maybe not the most skilful but boy could he find the net. Helped pull us out of the dark years

Kenny Swain - wouldn't be on many people's list but I loved watching him and still remember him running at full pelt before wrapping one foot behind the other (the trick that made David Dunn fall arse over tit) and hitting a 30 yard pass into the path of Jock Finnieston. I'd not seen such a trick before (very common now of course) and held the guy in awe on the back of that moment.

Micky Thomas - saw him play recently in a charity match and he still plays a mean game. Wasn't with us long but what animpact he made

Manager - John Neal. I still feel we could have won either the FA or league cup had illness not shortened his managerial career with us.

Over to you................................................

[Elliott]

I can only go by the players that i have seen:

GK - Pete Cech (Quite possibly the best keeper ever).

CB - The Rock (Need i say more?)

CB - JT (Legend in the making)

RB - Dan Petrescu (SUUUUUPER, SUPER DAN!)

LB - Wayne Bridge (Well i could'nt stick Baba in could i?)

MF - Maka (Made the position his own).

MF - Wise (The little cheeky cockney. Taxi driver's beware!)

MF - Zola (A given for anybodys Chelsea team).

MF - Gullit (A joy to watch. Grace, elegance, he just ooozed class. A world superstar when we signed him. He was head and shoulders better than nearly anyone he came up against. It was really hard to leave out Robbie Di Matteo ).

ST - Sparky (Mark Hughes may have been a United Legend, but he always gave his all for us. I loved his never say die attitude. Always fighting for the cause. Scored some breathtaking goals).

ST - Greaves (Here is the only exception to my rule. I never saw him play, but my dad says he was the best ).

[loz]

Like Elliott I will restrict it to players I have seen play in the flesh rather than via video footage.

Also I am trying to keep to Geezer's theme of favourites rather than best (i.e. I don't believe any keeper we have ever had has been as good as Cech)

GK - Steady Eddie N (mainly because I was a keeper and has Chelsea's keeper when I came back from living abroad - and also because he was a Welshman with a name that Welsh people couldn't pronounce. Now you know what we feel like when we try and drive around your towns)

CB - Erland Johnsen (remember this is favourite, not best!)

CB - JT (nothing really needs to be said - he is going to be with us for a long long time and you know he will never let us down)

RB - Stevie Clarke (This is the hardest shout of them all as I was torn between three, Clarke, Chappie and Dan the Man - Clarke got the nod because he is as blue as you could ever hope for a player to be)

LB - Soxy (more so from his second stint with the club than his first, blotted his copybook a bit by gobbing off but then again maybe certain people at Chelsea needed to be told)

MF - Joe Cole - (Joe gives the balance on the left hand side to complete the midfield four - a joy to watch and surely will be with us for man many seasons )

MF - Maka (I though long and hard about including Maka purely on the grounds that he spent most of his career elsewhere and would never have signed for us if we weren't loaded however since he came he has givenus nothing but 100% and never looked like he was coasting on his career to date. On top of that he is one fo the finest players we have seen in a blue shirt)

MF - Wise - (one of those players you love if he plays for you and hate if he doesn't - Dennis played for us for years and years when his career would have been better off if he had left - bless his low down head)

MF - Nevin - (He was a joy to watch in an era when we often weren't!)

ST - Zola - Wasn't sure whether I should cheat and put Franco as a midielder and thus free up space for another striker (which would probably have been Speedie) )

ST - Dixon - (Anyone who grew up as a kid in the era that the likes of Mod, BJD and I (and more of us) did must have worshipped the ground King Kerry walked on)

SO completes my 11

..........................Eddie N..........................

Clarke............Johnsen.......JT...............Soxy

.............................Maka...........................

Nevin...................Wise.....................Cole

................Zola......................................

..............................Dixon.....................

On the bench

Carlo (yes Cech is better but Carlo has earned his stripes in my heart!)

Marcel

Gullit

Hughes

Speedie

Petrescu

Chappie

(we are playing in Europe so 7 subs!)

[Barn]

This is tough but I just can't resist;

Steady Eddie Nid.......

RB - Steve Clarke

CB - Paul Elliott

CB - JT

LB - Andy Myers (no idea why I liked him I just did)

RM - Nevin

CM - Wise

CM - Rudd

LM - Zola (might not be his best posn granted)

CF - Dixon

CF - Hughes

Subs:

Hitchcock

Dooooobs

Cundy

Lamps

Rougvie

Speedie

Newton (Maka before Maka even knew the role existed!!!!)

[loz]

Newton (Maka before Maka even knew the role existed!!!!)

ALthough in all seriousness if anyone ever disputes Gullit's ability to spot a player's potential and make them better then point them toward what he did for Newton.

[bjd]

good thread. favorite chelsea players as opposed to 'best' chelsea players, like it.

GK - Steady Eddie

DF - Super Dan

DF - JT

DF - Big Joe

DF - Chapi

MF - Wisey

MF - 43 Seconds

MF - Wee Pat

MF - Mickey Hazard

ST - King Kerry

ST - Franco

Subs

Carlo

Paulo

Luca

Lamps

Joey Cole

[bjd]

Newton (Maka before Maka even knew the role existed!!!!)

ALthough in all seriousness if anyone ever disputes Gullit's ability to spot a player's potential and make them better then point them toward what he did for Newton.

Spot on. Newton was a really important player for us. Before Gullit, Hoddle used to admit the team was built around him and you susepct at the time was the only player Glenn had in his squad who had a technical type of mind Glenda was looking for, and before he broke his leg Venables has admitted he was looking at him for a defensive midfielder role for England.

What happened to him after leaving was really sad actually - i thought he would do a really good job for someone but it seems he just lost the plot completely.

Never had the best idea when it came to haircuts though.

[g3.7]

going with players I've seen, like elliot.

.........................................carlo

petrescu...............desailly...............terry...............bridge

.........................................wise

...........................lamps................gullit

.........................................zola

...........................sparky...............eidur

now, that is what a diamond should look like.

subs:

cech

le saux

vialli

duffer

di matteo

maka

ferrer

[loz]

Bjd cheats!!! Two right backs in his back four - who do you think you are The SPecial One?

[bjd]

Bjd cheats!!! Two right backs in his back four - who do you think you are The SPecial One?

I reckon Super Dan couldve done a decent job at left back.

Im sure he'd be better than Cashley anyway!

[loz]

I reckon Super Dan couldve done a decent job at left back.

Im sure he'd be better than Cashley anyway!

Case dismissed - carry on son!

[Maksimov]

-------------------------------Cudicini--------------------------------

----Petrescu-------Desailly----------Terry------Le Saux-----------

----Gr?nkj?r--------Wise----------Lampard-----Duff---------------

------------------------Flo-----------Zola-----------------------------

Subs: Cech, Makelele, Gudjohnsen, Vialli, Ferrer, Di Matteo, De Goey

---

As you can see by my choices that I haven't been a fan for that long and some players are not in the lineup because they are the best.

Couldn't really decide between Vialli and Flo...I've always liked them both and even though Vialli is the better player, I'll have Flo in the starting lineup. Vialli can be the player-manager.

Gr?nkj?r was such a frustrating player to watch, but for some reason I always liked the fella. I still can't believe he managed to get a good cross at such a crucial time for Desailly to nod the ball in against Liverpool in that famous final match of the season...and ofcourse that cracker of a goal next season against ManU to secure second place in the Premiership and an automatic place in next season's UCL. And ofcourse the second goal against Liverpool in the match mentioned above...even if it wasn't really crucial for the place in next season's UCL, but we didn't know that at the time, did we? I remember being the only Chelsea fan(well at least the only one with a Chelsea shirt) watching that match in a pub full of red shirts(mostly ones with Hyypi?'s name and number on them) and if looks could kill, the bartender would've had to get a shovel to gather my remains after I celebrated the second goal.

I was very impressed by Cech already during his time at Sparta Praha and I was very excited about him joining Chelsea, but still Carlo is the #1 in this lineup. I always liked De Goey for some reason, so I had to include him on the bench...just in case both Carlo and Cech get injured in the same match again.

[loz]

I thought I would save Just some time by filling in some of his entries for him - now he just needs to fill in the gaps.

......................................GK........................

SHARON...............RICKY......NUTTON..............LB

RW.............GUS...............TOWNSEND..................ROBBEN

..........................JFH.......DURIE..................

[g3.7]

hilario, baba, jesper and robben, surely!

[loz]

Aargh yes I forgot Robben - he has been added.

I don't recall Just being especially 'fond' of Hilario, Baba and Gronks (at least not to the extent that they would get in this team.

Anyway I need to leave him some space to fill!!

[bjd]

Gr?nkj?r was such a frustrating player to watch, but for some reason I always liked the fella.

Yeah, i know what you mean. Always seemed a decent bloke did Gronks.

His crosses nearly drove me to act like Michael Douglas in 'Falling Down' though.

[mad_mac]

man this is a great idea, favourites as opposed to best, and this is quite challenging also with so many players that have come thru who have "touched" us all

GK. Carlo, been with us for ages, never getting a champion's medal was hard for me to take

RB. Steve Clarke CHappie and Petrescu, hmmmm CLarke coz he's Scottish and our #2 right now

CB. Desailly. Legend and we had him at his peak

CB. Terry. The man Bleeds Chelsea

RB. Le Suax. Even if he did transfer out, he came back, and I loved him for the feud with Fowler (or do a BJD and stick Clarke over here and then cHappie at RB)

RM. DI matteo. Cup final, 97. Enough said. Tragic end to his career (and I never saw Pat Nevin or Charlie Cooke play)

CM. Gullit. One of the main reasons I followed Chelsea more and more closely

CM. Wise. Same reason as JT. Plus he was a vicious wee F*cker. Sir rednose saying he could start a fight in an empty house was classic

RM. Zola. The best buy for Chelsea, and a joy on and off the field

ST. Guddy. I just think the guy had vision and touch like no other. His little chip against Man U. His Spectacular against Leeds

Vialli. Just though he was great, and he brought us Zola

Bench

de Goey (pornstar goodlooks)

Bridge (Goal against Arse, CL and Rannieri's subsequent reaction)

Gronks (for the goal against Liverpool, end of the season before Roman took over, and then after he was subbed he sat on the grass at the edge of the pitch)

Sparky (tough call to put him on the bench, but I just liked Guddy and Vialli better, slightly)

Gallas. He was a class player, until the arsenal thing

Deschamps. Like him or not he was a great player

Steady Eddie Newton. Name says it all, and the fact that Hoddle admitted he built his game around him!!

LOZ, great call on Johnsen. We had a few CBs that were steady and he was one of them...forget the name of the other...think he went to Bolton (the player I can't think of right now....was a big fella, think he had a De-something name) had facial fair/goatee...someone help

Scott

[g3.7]

interesting 441 formation there scott.

[mad_mac]

interesting 441 formation there scott.

got Vialli in there too, just didn't put the ST infront of his name

[Maksimov]

Gr?nkj?r was such a frustrating player to watch, but for some reason I always liked the fella.

Yeah, i know what you mean. Always seemed a decent bloke did Gronks.

His crosses nearly drove me to act like Michael Douglas in 'Falling Down' though.

For some reason he seemed to cross the ball better when he played for Denmark.

[g3.7]

interesting 441 formation there scott.

got Vialli in there too, just didn't put the ST infront of his name

taxi for g4!

[Mike O]

....................................Carlo.......................................

..

Clarke...............JT...................Erland.....................Bridge

....................................Ruud........................................

..

..............Super Dan........Wise............Peacock..................

....................Zola.......................Hughes..........................

What I wouldn't give to see Gav's goals vs Manure in 93/94, or watch Dan scream down the right again. I'd buy every one of these boys several pints if ever I met them - but it's only Sparky I'd call 'sir'.

Mike

[Butch]

Favorite team does not mean best team. Players can be fans favorites for differing reasons. Of my "favorite" team, I would only consider Cech, Chappie, JT, Lampard and Zola as definitely being in my "best" team.

			  Cech
Chappie  Elliott  Terry  LeSaux
 JCole  Gullit  Lampard  Nevin
	   Dixon Zola

Cheers,

Butch

[High Street Ken]

Pete Bonetti

Gary Locke/Ron Harris

David Hay

John Terry/Mickey Droy

Graeme Le Saux

Dennis Wise/Ian Britton

Ray Wilkins/Garry Stanley

Joe Cole

Clive Walker/Pat Nevin

Peter Osgood

Gianfranco Zola

[Nibs]

Favorite team does not mean best team. Players can be fans favorites for differing reasons. Of my "favorite" team, I would only consider Cech, Chappie, JT, Lampard and Zola as definitely being in my "best" team.

			  Cech
Chappie  Elliott  Terry  LeSaux
 JCole  Gullit  Lampard  Nevin
	   Dixon Zola

Cheers,

Butch

That's pretty much what I had down Butch - great team. I would swap Ellott for Gallas as the Gallas / JT partnership is legendary (but Elliott was brilliant). Striker would be between Kerry, Drogba & Ossie - but as Ossie was really prior to my era, I'd go for one of the other two.

But a team with Nevin, Cole, Gullit & Zola - how great would that be to watch