Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel was brutal in his disdain for one of his most influential former Blues team-mates when naming the Premier League’s best XI of all time.
Football FanCast is currently ranking the greatest players in Premier League history, and there is certainly no shortage of Chelsea players among them, with former captain John Terry named the best centre-back to have played in the top flight.
Petr Cech also tops the list of goalkeepers, while Didier Drogba maintained an excellent record in front of goal throughout his time at Stamford Bridge, culminating in the Blues winning the 2012 Champions League final, and is considered the ninth best striker in Premier League history.
season | Drogba’s PL appearance | Contribution to goal |
2004-05 | 26 | 15 |
2005-06 | 29 | 26 |
2006-07 | 36 | twenty four |
2007-08 | 19 | 14 |
2008-09 | twenty four | 9 |
2009-10 | 32 | 40 |
2010-11 | 36 | twenty four |
2011-12 | twenty four | 6 |
So it comes as no surprise to learn that Terry, Cech and Drogba have all featured in Obi Mikel’s 11 Premier League games, but the former central midfielder was brutally dismissive of one of his former team-mates.
As reported by talkSPORT, the Nigerian left out Frank Lampard and named N’Golo Kante and Paul Scholes as his two central midfielders, while also clarifying that the former England international would not have been used in a three-man midfield either.
The former Chelsea player said: “I’ll tell you, if I was going to go with a 4-3-3, my three players would be Roy Keane, Patrick Vieira and Steven Gerrard. I think they’re all very similar.”
Lampard is undoubtedly one of the greatest midfielders in the Premier League
It’s a little strange that the 38-year-old Englishman chose to leave out his former teammate, given that he is arguably one of the best midfielders in Premier League history and is especially impressive on the front foot.
The Coventry City manager made 648 professional appearances for Chelsea, scoring an astonishing 211 goals and providing 149 assists, cementing his place in the Premier League Hall of Fame in the process.
However, Kante is also a great choice from a more defensive perspective, given the Frenchman’s track record with Leicester City and Stamford Bridge, winning two Premier League titles, the FA Cup, the 2020/21 Champions League and the 2018/19 Europa League title.
Lampard played during the golden age of midfielders and shared the stage with many other former Chelsea stars, including Scholes and Gerrard, who also feature on lists of the best midfielders in Premier League history.