The Greatest Chelsea 11 of the Premier League Era

The Results are out!

The SPTC community has finished picking their greatest Chelsea 11 of the Premier League Era ahead of tonight’s game featuring the Chelsea legends take on the Bayern legends. Many notable names in the modern history of Chelsea Football Club have made the list with some taking their place with an overwhelmingly massive margin in the voting which should come as no surprise at all. Lets have look at The Greatest Chelsea 11 of the Premier League era and also a short note on why they deserve to be on this list.

Goalkeeper

Petr Cech (1)

The legendary Czech Republic shot stopper won the voting by a 98% margin from 127 votes. Petr Cech has made 494 appearances for Chelsea in his legendary 11 year career racking up a total of 228 clean sheets. Petr Cech also holds the league record for most minutes played without conceding a goal (1025 minutes) in the 04-05 season, a league record which is yet to be broken. Petr Cech’s legendary goalkeeping at the Allianz Arena in 2011 will always be etched in the memories of Chelsea fans for many years to come.

Defence

Right back - Cesar Azpilicueta (28)

‘We will just call him Dave’ - No Chelsea based Premier league list will be complete without Cesar Azpilicueta, one of the best defenders the club has ever seen. The former Chelsea defender was signed for a fee of 7million pounds in the Summer of 2012 and since then has gone on to made 508 appearances for the club and is the only player on this list who has won everything at club level with Chelsea. Currently playing for Atletico Madrid, the former Chelsea captain won the voting with 55% from 127 votes followed by another legendary Chelsea right back in Branislav Ivanovic who wasn’t far off in the voting with 41%.

Centrebacks - John Terry (26) and Ricardo Carvalho (6)

I believe I should let the image above do the talking. From the 2004 season to the 2009 season, the duo of John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho formed one of the most formidable partnerships in both Chelsea and Premier league history. In the 5 seasons the partnership had only conceded 111 goals total in all competitions while managing to keep 110 clean sheets in a combined total of 417 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea. During that time period when John Terry (236) Ricardo Carvalho (181) played together, the 04-05 season was when they set a lot of records, some yet to be broken even today. The duo also made appearances in the top 10 Balon D’or Ranking and were also named UEFA Defender of the year a combined 4 times.

John Terry went to cement his status as ‘Captain, Leader and Legend’ at his boyhood club going on to make an astounding 717 appearances in a 19 year long career which stated back in 1998. His partner Ricardo Carvalho went on to make 210 appearances. The duo won the voting with a 98% and 60% majority respectively. Ricardo Carvalho is one among two UEFA Euro winners in our list of Chelsea’s greatest Premier league 11.

Left back - Ashley Cole (3)

A name familiar to everyone and one of the greatest left backs of his generation, Ashley Cole made 338 appearances for the blues in his 8 year career and was part of a Chelsea team which won the Champions League, The Europa League, The Premier League and multiple FA cups. The defender moved to the Blue side of London in 2006 and has since then cemented his legacy as one of the greatest left backs to have ever played for Chelsea winning the voting with a 99% majority.

Midfield

Defensive Midfield - Claude Makelele (4)

A defensive midfielder so good in his peak, he had an entire role and position named after him. Claude Makelele is arguably one of the greatest defensive midfielders to play for Chelsea. Picked by 86% of all voters, The former French International went onto make 217 appearances for Chelsea in his career spanning from 2003 to 2008. Makelele went onto win every major domestic honour at Chelsea and formed a very formidable partnership with another legendary Chelsea midfielder in the picture below, who then went on to become one of the greatest midfielders in the world.

Attacking Midfield - Frank Lampard (8)

Chelsea’s legendary number 8 went down in history as one of the greatest goal scoring midfielders of his generation. ‘Super’ Frank Lampard as he is fondly known by the Chelsea faithful across the world made 648 appearances for Chelsea scoring 211 goals and assisting 145 others in his legendary 13 year long Chelsea career. The legendary attacking midfielder won multiple domestic honours at Chelsea while capping off his career by winning both the Champions league and Europa league at the twilight of his Chelsea career. Frank Lampard was the runner up in the inaugural Balon D’or Awards finishing behind legendary Brazilian left winger Ronaldinho. The legendary midfielder won the voting with an astounding 98%.

Box to Box Midfield - N’Golo Kante (7)

Another Frenchman, joins this list and The community picked quite possibly the greatest box to box midfielders of his generation to complete Chelsea’s greatest midfield of the Premier League era. A modern day Chelsea legend, N’Golo Kante will go down as one of the greatest signings ever made in Chelsea history. Following his success with Leicester City in the Premier League, the midfielder made the move to Stamford Bridge for a reported 32million pounds. Since then, the midfielder has won everything at Chelsea bar the Carabao/EFL cup making 269 appearances in a glorious career spanning 7 years at Chelsea. Currently playing for Al- Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League, he is also the only World Cup winner in this list of Chelsea legends.

Attack

Left Wing - Eden Hazard (10)

Affectionately called ‘The Prince of Stamford Bridge’, the Belgian wizard is deservedly part of our list with over 90% of the community making the decision. Eden Hazard announced his arrival at Chelsea with an iconic tweet on May 29,2012 days after Chelsea’s maiden Champions league victory at Munich. The Belgian wizard set the Bridge on fire every time he took to the pitch making 352 appearances for club while scoring 110 goals and assisting 92 others. The Belgian enjoyed a successful 7 year career at Chelsea winning The Europa league twice and also winning every major domestic honour at the club.

Right Wing - Nicolas Anelka (39)

Picking Chelsea’s greatest right winger wasn’t easy. The list had some incredible names in Juan Mata (22%), Arjen Robben (28%), Willian (18%) but the winner was none other than Nicolas Anelka (30%). The former French International was a hit at Stamford Bridge in his 4 years spent at the club. The versatile forward/striker made 184 appearances for the Blues scoring 58 goals. Nicolas Anelka also won the Euro’s with France in 2000 like his former team mate in Ricardo Carvalho who won it in 2016 with Portugal, the only EURO winners on this list. He formed a formidable partnership in attack with another Chelsea legend below with whom he enjoyed domestic success winning every major domestic honour at Chelsea.

Striker - Didier Drogba (11)

Arguably one of the greatest strikers in Chelsea history alongside Bobby Tambling (370 Apps, 202 Goals), Didier Drogba completes ‘Chelsea greatest Premier League 11’ with a landslide 98% voting from our readers. Signing for Chelsea from Marseille in the year 2004, Didier Drogba went onto score 164 Goals and assist 88 goals for the club in an astounding 9 year career. The Ivory coast forward, the only African international on this list went onto win every major Domestic honour at Chelsea with his crowning moment coming at the 2012 Champions league final where Didier scored the winning penalty in the shootout.

The Team

There you have it, The greatest Premier league 11 as assembled by you. These names will go down in Chelsea history in the generations to come and their praises will be sung by the faithful for many more years. The list however is not complete without our manager and first assistant. Let me know how you think this team will fare in 2023 with everyone in their primes in the comment section below.

The Managers

Manager - Mr. Gianluca Vialli

The late Mr. Vialli will manage our Premier league 11. I consider him as one of the most important managers in modern Chelsea history. In his rather short yet highly impactful career as both player/manager and manager, Mr Vialli has won 4 trophies which also includes defeating Real Madrid to secure the UEFA Super Cup in 1998. He will be terribly missed and my thoughts will go with his family and friends tonight ahead of the game

Assistant Manager - Mr. Jose Mourinho

I believe the community couldn’t have picked any one better here. The Special one as he was fondly known won the voting to be part of Mr Vialli’s staff with 78% of the votes. Arguably one of the greatest Chelsea managers in the clubs modern history, the Portuguese manager went onto achieve incredible domestic success with Chelsea winning The Premier league thrice, The FA Cup once and the League cup Thrice during his time at Chelsea.

That concludes our Greatest ever Premier League 11 with some incredible players and managers all contributing to Chelsea’s rise to the top. May new legends and new success be forged with our current crop of players. I would like to thank everyone who voted and I had a great time writing and reminiscing on some glorious memories both past and present. Up the Blues!

- Vivek