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Chelsea FC: Greatest XI from the Roman Abramovich era

By Christopher Godfrey

LONDON - SEPTEMBER 13: Frank Lampard of Chelsea celebrates scoring the first goal with Arjen Robbenduring the UEFA Champions League Group G match between Chelsea and RSC Anderlecht at Stamford Bridge on September 13, 2005 in London, England. (Photo by Ben Radford/Getty Images)
LONDON - SEPTEMBER 13: Frank Lampard of Chelsea celebrates scoring the first goal with Arjen Robbenduring the UEFA Champions League Group G match between Chelsea and RSC Anderlecht at Stamford Bridge on September 13, 2005 in London, England. (Photo by Ben Radford/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – APRIL 27: Claude Makalele of Chelsea runs with the ball during the Champions League Semi-Final match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on April 27, 2005 in London. (Photo by Martin Rose/Bongarts/Getty Images)
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – APRIL 27: Claude Makalele of Chelsea runs with the ball during the Champions League Semi-Final match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on April 27, 2005 in London. (Photo by Martin Rose/Bongarts/Getty Images) /

Central midfield: Claude Makalele- 2003-2008

“The Makalele role”. The man was so good they named a position after him. His positioning and defensive tactical awareness was out of this world. The only player to have ever come close to him is current Chelsea player N’Golo Kante.

Makalele was responsible for Real Madrid’s early 00’s European domination. He was superb but for some reason the president Perez let him go saying he was too small and ineffective. That proved to be the beginning of Real Madrid’s downfall and Barcelona’s rise to Europes elite.

Former Real Madrid captain Fernando Hierro criticized Pérez for Makalele’s departure and attributed Chelsea’s rise in dominance due to one player.

"“I think Claude has this kind of gift . He’s been the best player in the team for years but people just don’t notice him, don’t notice what he does…The loss of Makélelé was the beginning of the end for Los Galacticos… You can see that it was also the beginning of a new dawn for Chelsea.”"

Makalele signed for Chelsea in 2003 for £16.8m, where coincidentally then manager Claudio Ranieri proclaimed that Makélelé would be the “battery” of the team”.  Ranieri was of course the man that brought N’Golo Kante to Leicester before Kante joined Chelsea a year later.

The pint-sized Frenchman was the base of the team with the likes of Joe Cole, Arjen Robben, Frank Lampard, and Drogba up ahead of him. Mourinho deployed him in front of the back four where he excelled. His tactical knowledge and intelligence of the game shone through as he made crucial tackles and intercepted passing lanes. Mourinho dubbed Makalele Chelsea’s “player of the year”.

He subsequently got named in the World XI at the FIFPro awards in 2005.

Makalele spent five seasons at Chelsea winning the Premier League and the League Cup twice and the FA Cup.

In total, he made 217 appearances.

He left in 2008 to PSG where he spent three seasons before retiring in 2010.

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