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Chelsea fans pick their best and worst XIs of the Roman Abramovich era

Chelsea fans have been spoiled with success in the period since being taken over by Roman Abramovich in 2003.

The Blues have won five Premier League titles, the Champions League and 12 more domestic and European trophies in that time while being blessed by a myriad of superb footballers.

And supporters have had their say on which players make up their best and worst XIs of the previous 17 years on Reddit.

Worst XIs

In the Reddit thread started by Cocobon95 this weekend, Chelsea fans were asked to pick their worst XIs of the Abramovich era, but were restricted to players who made a minimum of 10 first-team appearances “so we don’t fill teams with legends like [Papy] Djilibodji”.

Some names are consistent throughout, although there was a cheeky shout for Mo Salah in the comments as “his touch was massive and couldn’t shoot for sh*t”.

RemembrandtVanBrine (4-1-2-1-2): Ross Turnbull; Khalid Boulahrouz, Tal Ben Haim, Robert Huth, Asier Del Horno; Lassana Diarra; Jiri Jarosik, Alexei Smertin; Yossi Benayoun; Claudio Pizarro, Mateja Kezman.

antong1 (4-3-3): Ross Turnbull; Glen Johnson, Khalid Boulahrouz, Tal Ben Haim, Baba Rahman; Steve Sidwell, Danny Drinkwater, Tiemoue Bakayoko; Mateja Kezman, Radamel Falcao, Juan Cuadrado.

whiterush17 (3-5-2): Ross Turnbull; Khalid Boulahrouz, Tal Ben Haim, Asier Del Horno; Marko Marin, Danny Drinkwater, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Steve Sidwell, Yossi Benayoun; Claudio Pizarro, Michy Batshuayi.

dudesjustwantnudes (a virgin, judging by that username, and that’s without getting into this formation): Ross Turnbull; Khalid Boulahrouz, Tal Ben Haim, Asier Del Horno; Yossi Benayoun, Steve Sidwell, Danny Drinkwater, Tiemoue Bakayoko; Mateja Kezman, Radamel Falcao, Claudio Pizarro.

READ: Ranking Chelsea’s 25 weirdest signings of the Premier League era

Best XIs

There are a number of threads discussing the best XI of the Abramovich era, the most recent of which we could find dates back to 2016.

A consensus is agreed in certain positions, but there are decisions to be made at right-back, on the wings and in central midfield.

darkerebus (4-3-3): Peter Cech; Cesar Azpilicueta, John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Ashley Cole; Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, Michael Ballack; Arjen Robben, Didier Drogba, Eden Hazard.

bluechef79 (4-3-3): Petr Cech; Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Ashley Cole; Frank Lamaprd, Claude Makelele, Michael Ballack; Joe Cole, Didier Drogba, Eden Hazard.

kierdoyle (4-1-3-2): Petr Cech; Cesar Azpilicueta, John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Ashley Cole; Claude Makelele; Michael Ballack, Michael Essien, Frank Lampard; Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka.

markyosullivan (4-3-3): Petr Cech; Cesar Azpilicueta; John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Ashley Cole; Frank Lampard, Claude Makelele, Michael Essien; Damien Duff, Didier Drogba, Eden Hazard.

JamesIgnatius27 (4-2-3-1): Petr Cech; Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Ashley Cole; Frank Lampard, Claude Makelele; Juan Mata, Michael Ballack, Eden Hazard; Didier Drogba.

DrinkTheSchoolAid (4-3-3): Petr Cech; Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Ashley Cole; Frank Lampard, Claude Makelele, Michael Essien; Joe Cole, Didier Drogba, Eden Hazard.


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