What a time it is to be alive for Chelsea fans. They have just secured their first league title for five years under Jose Mourinho and in rather Millwall-like fashion (Blues fans won’t appreciate that reference), if nobody likes them, they don’t care!
Having been defeated just twice in the Premier League this season, it has been an imperious season for the Blues who since day one haven’t looked back.
Criticised by some for their lack of flair and defensive style of play in the second half of the campaign, our resident Blues fans are quick to point out the stats from the first half of the season where new boys Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa were giving defenders up and down the land an absolute nightmare.
With Jose Mourinho having proved he can win league titles here, there and everywhere, his next task will be to establish a lasting legacy with the Blues where he will hope to dominate the English football landscape in Sir Alex Ferguson fashion while this time, bringing through a few more youngsters to boot.
With the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Dominic Solanke and Jay Dasilva impressing in the Blues’ youth ranks, there will be no excuse for Mourinho this time around.
With the future looking bright, our resident Blues fans are taking a moment to look into yesteryear while establishing what they believe to be the most underrated Chelsea XI of both the present and past.
Do you agree with their selections?
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Click on these Blues fans below to reveal our most underrated Chelsea XI of recent years.
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Carlo Cudicini
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If his recent performance in the Lewis Hamilton vs Thierry Henry Sky Sports kickabout was anything to go by this week, Carlo Cudicini is probably looking for one last contract, such was the quality of his goalkeeping in the charity event!
It is easy to forget that the Italian custodian was once the main man between the sticks at Stamford Bridge given the legacy Petr Cech has gone on to enjoy, not to mention the emergence of Thibaut Courtois this term.
Neverthless, despite the huge frames of the latter mentioned goalkeepers, at 6 ft 1 in, the smaller Cudicini was still a great presence between the sticks.
Geremi
Remember him? The versatile Cameroonian could play in both midfield or defence and it was these skills which meant Geremi was a valued member of the Mourinho regime between 2003 and 2007.
Strong and uncompromising, Geremi eventually lost his place in the Blues team, such as their power in the transfer market during the period, constantly refreshing their ranks with some of the best pros from around the world.
Nevertheless, Geremi won two Premier League titles with the Blues, one FA Cup, two League Cups and one FA Community Shield – not bad going by any stretch of the imagination.
At one stage of his Blues career, Mourinho noted of him: “In my team I love to have Geremi on the bench because he’s a low-profile player who is ready to help, ready to fight for the team, ready to do the job I want him to do.
“If I need him to play right-back, he can play right-back. If I need him to play right-winger, he can play right-winger. If I need him to pick up a man and mark him out of the game, he does it”
Gary Cahill
You think of players who have won it all and the likes of Gerard Pique and Xavi will spring to mind but somebody who isn’t too far off is actually Gary Cahill of all people!
While our resident Blues fans in the tavern aren’t holding out any hope that Cahill will finish off his roll of honour with World Cup and European Championship glory with England any time soon, it’s incredible that the former Aston Villa man has now won the Premier League, Champions League, Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup – all since 2012 to boot!
Thus, it’s rather strange that some Blues fans continue to think of him as something of a weakness alongside John Terry with Chelsea often still linked with the likes of Raphael Varane at Real Madrid.
With Kurt Zouma coming through as well in a Chelsea back line that gives next to nothing away, we think that Cahill is most certainly underrated.
Alex
He wasn’t around for too long but in his time at Stamford Bridge, we grew used to Alex as the defender who boasted lethal ability from free kicks and set pieces.
A giant of a man at 6 ft 2 in, it may be surprising that Alex appeared as many as 86 times in the Premier League during his Blues career given he was often deployed as a utility man.
That said, Chelsea had a different dimension to their play when Alex was on the field and opposition defences will always claim that they lived in fear whenever the Brazilian was standing over a free kick.
Ashley Cole
A controversial choice in our eleven simply because of the glittering playing career he enjoyed in England but Ashley Cole is included at left back simply and strangely because since the 2010/11 season, both pundits and managers started questioning his ability at club and international level.
While he isn’t enjoying the best time at Roma at present, there is absolutely no doubting that Ashley Cole never really lost it up until his Italian transfer last summer, always professional and assured in both attacking opposition full backs as well as keeping the back line tight.
Never able to join the untouchable club that includes John Terry and Frank Lampard (maybe not now) at Stamford Bridge, Cole was a model of consistency and the fact that he missed out on a place in Roy Hodgson’s England World Cup 2014 squad – whereas the likes of Lampard were – shows that he was maybe written off, and thus underrated, far too early.
Willian
Few players sum up the dominating current regime of Jose Mourinho quite like Willian does.
Boasting the speed and ability to be the go-to flair man at rival parishes, there is so much more to the Brazilian international’s game at Stamford Bridge.
Combining swift counter attacking play with scintillating tracking back abilities, when Willian is fit, he is quite simply in Mourinho’s starting eleven.
A vital cog in Chelsea’s domination of the Premier League this term, Willian sometimes gets lamented for his final ball and lack of goals but defensively and in value to the team as a whole, unlike so many other players in his position, you can’t really knock him.
Tiago
He came up against Chelsea last season in that crunch Champions League semi-final where the Blues lost out to Atletico Madrid and it’s fair to say that Tiago has enjoyed a great career since departing Stamford Bridge back in 2005.
Very much a reserve during his time with the Blues and having gone on to play in both Ligue 1 and Serie A for Lyon and Juventus in the years after leaving London, the fact Chelsea were linked with re-signing him last summer shows the vast improvement in his game as he has matured.
Had he re-signed, he may have found himself in the very same position as back in the early naughties given Nemanja Matic’s renaissance but in Tiago’s case, he’s a very good player who may have succeeded at Stamford Bridge had a few more players been unavailable or unsigned.
Eidur Gudjohnsen
Much like Alan Smith (the ex Manchester United, not Arsenal player) in his respective career, Eidur Gudjohnsen is one of the most commonly used examples of a striker who was dropped back into a central attacking midfield position as his career progressed.
Performing alongside the likes of Blues greats Gianfranco Zola and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen’s ability was often overshadowed by the pair but make no mistake, the Icelander was a vital cog of his own accord too.
Helping the Blues towards back-to-back titles during his time at Stamford Bridge, the fact he went on to become good enough to sign for Barcelona just demonstrates the ability of the man who has recently completed a season back at Bolton Wanderers in the Championship.
Damien Duff
One of the first ever big money purchases under the Roman Abramovich regime, given the current riches that Chelsea possess in the likes of Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas, it is easy to forget that players such as Damien Duff played a vital role in the earlier successes enjoyed by the Blues.
Brought in for £17 million (small fry now) from Blackburn Rovers in 2003, Duff was a mainstay in the Blues’ starting eleven in his debut season, instrumental in helping Chelsea towards a runners-up place in the Premier League.
However, it was in the 2004/05 season that Duff really came to the boil, forging a devastating wing partnership with Arjen Robben that saw the Irishman registering 10 goals, notably a strike against Barcelona in that 4-2 game – remember?
Salomon Kalou
Now at Hertha Berlin, Salomon Kalou was one of those players who was often cast in the super sub role such was the consistency in performances from the likes of Ivorian counterpart Didier Drogba during the majority of his Blues career.
To be fair to Kalou, he was a versatile competitor and could be deployed on the flanks too so a goal haul of 36 strikes in 156 appearances isn’t that bad going for essentially a bit-part player.
Winning one Premier League, four FA Cup’s, one League Cup, one Community Shield and one Champions League title during his six-year stint with the Blues, Kalou was an often unsung member of the squad as a whole.
And given the Blues’ history of signing striking flops down the years such as Andriy Shevchenko, Mateja Kezman and Fernando Torres more recently, Kalou didn’t really do too bad at all, did he?
Tore Andre Flo
Remember the lanky Scandinavian guy who came before the likes of Didier Drogba and Diego Costa?
The Norwegian forward was brought to Chelsea for an incredibly modest fee of £300,000 – yes, just £300,000 – back in 1997 ahead of going on to bag 34 Premier League goals for the Blues in 112 appearances.
Much like Gudjohnsen mentioned previously, Flo’s ability was often overshadowed by the likes of Gianfranco Zola and the Norwegian was actually trumped by Pierluigi Casiraghi on many occasions under the stewardship of Gianluca Vialli.
Nevertheless, Flo was a cult hero back in the day and established a different dimension to the Blues’ attacking play.