Ultimate XI - Chelsea and Liverpool

Ahead of Saturday’s big clash, we pick Jose Mourinho’s best Chelsea XI v Liverpool players who’ve played against them.

Chelsea and Liverpool meet at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Saturday. Jose Mourinho remains in charge, but how would a best XI of his Chelsea players do against a best XI of Liverpool players who’ve played against his side during two spells in west London?

Let’s take a look. Feel free to agree or disagree.

Mourinho’s Chelsea XI

GK

Petr Cech

The Czech was only 22 when he arrived to give Carlo Cudicini competition. When the popular Italian was injured, Cech came in and kept 21 clean sheets, conceding just 15 goals as Chelsea won the league for the first time in 50 years in 2005. Cudicini was adept at saving penalties; Cech would take that art to another level, helping Chelsea become the first London club to win the Champions League in 2012.

Defence

William Gallas

The right-footed left-back who could also play in the centre or even right-back, was exceptional in Mourinho’s Chelsea which won the league in 2005 and 2006. Along with Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka, Gallas was a student of Clairefontaine. He’d join Arsenal, where Henry and Anelka had thrived, in 2006, but he successfully adapted in five seasons at Chelsea as they transformed following Roman Abramovich’s takeover.

John Terry

Mourinho’s key lieutenant, the defender has been the rock in Chelsea’s defence for over a decade, usually a close ally of his boss and a huge presence on the field. Though he could rightly attract tabloid ire, Terry is a superb motivator and leader. “I played against him many times and he was a tough opponent,” recalled Andy Cole. “He’s an old fashioned centre half like Nemanja Vidic. He likes to play physical and push you about and he’s very good at that.” ‘JT: Captain, Leader, Legend’. So says the banner at Stamford Bridge, where he is loved.

Ricardo Carvalho

“Ricardo Carvalho was an exceptional footballer, calm in any situation,” remembers his former Porto teammate Benni McCarthy. While Mourinho tried to get the South African McCarthy to Stamford Bridge, Porto refused to sell him. He managed to tempt Carvalho away and he proved the perfect partner for Terry as they provided a platform for three Premiership titles and shaped Chelsea into one of Europe’s strongest outfits. Carvalho was tough – sneaky even – but Mourinho needed this warrior on the field.

Ashley Cole

Though the former Arsenal man was mercilessly pilloried by the press, his form remained formidably consistent. Cole proved reliable at the back and skillful and energetic going forward. He arrived at Chelsea when Mourinho was in his first spell and was still playing at the start of Mourinho’s second period. He played his best football when Mourinho wasn’t boss, but Cole was the outstanding English left-back of his generation.

Midfield

Claude Makelele

Sir Alex Ferguson wanted to know who Jordi Cruyff’s best team-mates were when he was on loan at Celta Vigo. “He knew that Celta were a great team and said, ‘If you could take two players from Celta, who would it be’?’’ recalled Cruyff. “I told him that Makelele was the best, but also recommended Salgado and Mostovoi, explaining that he was a little older. I was pleased that Sir Alex respected my football opinion. United did nothing, but Makelele and Salgado moved to Madrid that summer.” It was United’s loss. Defensive midfielder Makelele went to Madrid, where he did well for Real, before doing the same at Chelsea under Mourinho by allowing the likes of Frank Lampard to break forward. Considered undroppable when Chelsea won successive titles, he defined a new role as a holding midfielder.

Michael Essien

Mourinho signed Essien for £20 million in 2005 after he’d won his first Chelsea title. Man United wanted him and Essien wanted to join, but Chelsea blew United out of the water with their pay offer. “If we had got him we could have won the Champions League three or four times,” said then United director Jim O’Neill early this year. “He was that good. Imagine Essien next to Scholes with Giggs and Ronaldo on the wings. Mourinho would go onto to call him his ‘soldier’ as the Ghanian spent the best part of a decade at Stamford Bridge. A tough tackling midfielder Essien had boundless energy. His absence has left a heart-shaped hole in the centre of their side.

Frank Lampard

“England has exceptional players like Rooney, Lampard and Gerrard,” opined Xavi ahead of the 2010 World Cup. “I’m surprised England doesn’t do well in tournaments.” Maybe, but Lampard did well for Chelsea, where he won the lot. Mourinho transformed Lampard after he arrived in 2004 from a highly rated Premier League midfielder to one of the best midfielders in football – he was voted the second best player in the world in 2005. Lampard was consistent, he galvanised those around him and he scored plenty, too. He was top scorer when Chelsea won the 2006 title.

Forwards

Eden Hazard

“Quick, brilliant and capable of something special,” reckons Andy Cole. The Belgian attacker was expensive at £32million when he arrived from Lille in 2012, but he knitted in immediately with Juan Mata, Frank Lampard and fellow new arrival Oscar. The fleet-heeled Hazard was the best player in the Premier League last season.

Didier Drogba

“It was 5am when Drogba called me over for a chat,” recalled Roberto di Matteo of a conversation in a Munich hotel in May 2012. “I thought it would be about his future, but he picked me up and threw me in.” Winning the European Cup was a highpoint for Drogba, but he was Mourinho’s man more than any other Chelsea manager. He’d tried to sign him for Porto, he got him at Chelsea because they could afford him.

Diego Costa or Arjen Robben

In March 2014, the former Manchester United coach Carlos Queiroz was asked which player in world football he would sign. “Diego Costa. Two years ago,” came his straight reply. Queiroz knows that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were unobtainable, so went for the best player in the class below, a player who was sandwiched between the world’s best two players in Spain’s top scorers’ chart that season. Costa was signed by Chelsea months later. It’s a controversial choice putting him in Mourinho’s best Chelsea team given the Brazilian-born Spain international has only been at the club just over a season, but Costa was immense in his first season and while he may look older, he’s still only 27.

A completely different type of player, Robben was a key factor in Chelsea’s title successes of 2005 and 2006. While he complimented his former boss for his ability to work with big stars and claims that he “had the respect of every single player”, Robben took issue with Mourinho’s altered strategy at Stamford Bridge. “We started to play more in this diamond without wingers, which is not good for me,” said the Dutchman, “The system changed a bit so I made my decision and left.” He did, to Madrid, where he would be their best player in 2008-09

Liverpool’s XI

GK

Pepe Reina

“He’s not even the first choice goalkeeper but Pepe Reina is the main joker in the Spanish national team,” said teammate Xavi. “He’s usually the first choice for starting the party. He started the songs on the plane and when we got home from Austria (2008) and from South Africa (2010). He’s a joker and even the quietest players come alive when Pepe. He even made the Queen (of Spain) laugh.” Reina could raise a smile alright, but he was a fine goalkeeper who excelled under the Spaniard Rafa Benitez alongside compatriots including Xabi Alonso, Luis Garcia and Fernando Torres.

Defence

Steve Finnan

Finnan enjoyed a successful time on Merseyside, and was part of the team that secured the 2005 Champions League and 2006 FA Cup. After warding off the challenge of fellow right-back Alvaro Arbeloa in 2007, Finnan signed a new contract. However, his form dipped and Espanyol recruited the Irishman on the last day of the summer 2008 transfer window. Still, he has a European Cup to his name.

Fabio Aurelio

“He may not be physically strong, but he has great qualities and I’m sure he will fit in well with the philosophy of Liverpool and Benitez,” opined Valencia’s Super Deporte ahead of Aurelio’s move to Anfield. “They had some great times together and I’m sure there will be more…” There were, though they didn’t reach the Champions League winning highs. “Fabio is a great, great player with a superb left-foot,” said Patrick Kluivert, his Valencia teammate. Liverpool’s first Brazilian lasted six years, but while he was often excellent when fit, his time at Anfield was often hampered by injury.

Jamie Carragher

Along with Gerard, a local-born lad who was the heart of Liverpool’s team for a generation. “I’d leave the pitch thinking: ‘I really enjoyed that. I’ve had a proper game there, a proper battle,” said Andy Cole of games against Carragher. “Carragher was a man of action, a winner. He was a body on the line defender who read the game well. He was versatile and I can remember him playing in several different positions, at one stage as a holding midfielder.” He didn’t win the league, but summed up his career as: “Had you said to me at 18 that I’d play for Liverpool and win the European Cup, plus a load of other trophies and play in some great games, I would have taken that.” Carragher is a huge football fan, one who even buys rival fanzines. “Jamie is more into football than anyone I know,” said Steven Gerrard. “He thinks that Sky Plus is the best invention ever. He tapes every single sports show and watches them continuously. He’s obsessed!”

Sami Hyppia

The central defensive axis of Henchoz and Hyppia were the strongest part of the Liverpool team in the early noughties. He won everything at Liverpool…apart from the league. After signing from little known Willem II, the Finn spent a decade at Anfield and became a fans favourite before moving to Bayer Leverkusen, a team he’d later manage. Then at Brighton. He’s still a manager, now at FC Zurich.

Midfield

Xabi Alonso

The best passer of a football that many Liverpool fans, even those who saw the team win European Cups in the 1970s and 80s, have seen. Basque midfielder Alonso won the Big Cup himself with Liverpool after a mesmerising 2005 encounter in Istanbul. He was a star alongside Gerrard until he returned to Spain after five years to join Real Madrid.

Steven Gerrard

In 2009, Zinedine Zidane said that Steven Gerrard was the best player in the world. “He has great passing ability, can tackle and scores goals, but most importantly he gives the players around him confidence and belief. You can’t learn that – players like him are just born with that presence,” said the French legend. Even Sir Alex Ferguson admitted that the one player he’d love to sign was Gerrard, but he knew that he’d never join United, even if it would have meant him winning a league title. Probably Liverpool’s greatest ever player, Gerrard was the talismanic figure at the heart of the team he grew up supporting. His highlight was that night in Istanbul when his club won a fifth European Cup against AC Milan.

Midfield/Forward

Dirk Kuyt

Dutch forward Kuyt is playing so well at Feyenoord this season that Barcelona are looking at signing him. Yes, you read that right. They want experienced back-up and the 35-year-old fits the bill. Kuyt tended to play on the right for Liverpool’s attack and was seldom prolific, but he’d score in big games including in the 2007-08 Champions League semi-final against Chelsea. He did his Anfield popularity no harm with a 2011 hat-trick against Manchester United, while he scored the winner in the 2012 League Cup final, his only Anfield trophy.

Forward

Raheem Sterling

His name provokes anger among fans for the way he moved to Manchester City in the summer, with Carragher saying of the contract negotiations: “That wouldn’t happen if he was a local lad but he’s not. He doesn’t get it the same. I loved the fact I was playing for my local club after coming through the ranks, but he doesn’t feel the same way.” But Sterling had three largely excellent seasons at Anfield. Had City not come into Emirati money, he’d likely still be there.

Luis Suarez

The Premier League’s best player in 2013-14 when he pushed Liverpool closer to a title than at any time since 1990. The Uruguayan was happy at Anfield, but wanted to leave for Barça a) because it’s Barcelona and his in-laws live there b) he felt hounded by the British media. In mitigation, he didn’t always help himself with his actions and was rightly pilloried. Now one of the best players in the world.

Fernando Torres

Before it became open season on Fernando Torres, Britain’s most expensive footballer for a while after costing Chelsea £50 million, it’s worth remembering why he cost so much in the first place. Torres joined Liverpool for a club record £21.5million in 2007 and made a mockery of Manchester United’s assessment that he wasn’t cut out to play Premiership football by scoring 24 league goals in his first season in the top flight, eclipsing Ruud van Nistlerooy’s record for the most goals scored by a foreign striker. Torres was equally lethal in his second season when he was named in the PFA Team of the Year. His goal at Old Trafford in a 4-1 win emphasised the point that he was a world-class striker. Rafa Benitez described him as “the best player in the best league in the world”. For a while, he had a point.