Lampard’s #One2Eleven

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Premier League star Lampard picked a 4-4-2 formation as he struggled with leaving out players such as Joe Hart and Gianfranco Zola…

GOALKEEPER: Petr Cech  

Two things about Petr is he’s a great lad – in the dressing room he’s brilliant, never a bother and trained really hard, but most importantly he’s a great goalkeeper.

He’s technically brilliant, tall, has a big presence, talks to players in front of him and I think he matured as his career went on. When we won the Champions League, we wouldn’t have won it without Petr Cech in goal.

RIGHT-BACK: Branislav Ivanovic

He’s a beast of a footballer. He’s got everything: the power, the technical ability, desire to get in the box and score goals, to put his body on the line. He’ll play every game he can and train every day like it’s his last. He’s an absolute diamond of a fella. You wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of him though, he’s just a brick.

LEFT-BACK: Ashley Cole

An absolutely outstanding player and bloke. He always had time for everyone at the training ground. Two games stick out for me: one was against Ronaldo for England – Ash didn’t give him a kick – and against Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions League when we got to the final. In the first leg particularly, no one could get past Ash and he should be very proud of what he achieved as a left-back.

CENTRE-BACK: John Terry

One of the easiest picks in the team, and in my opinion the best centre-half in world football for a long time. I think you could’ve taken John for granted, having someone that good behind you, and he’d often play on the left side directly behind me. I can remember on one hand the number of times he was caught out for pace. He’s technically brilliant and I know John worked at that.

CENTRE-BACK: Rio Ferdinand

I played with Rio for the first two or three years of my career. I saw he come through as a young boy – he started as a No 10 and moved himself back to centre-half. He practised heading – heading maybe 50 balls after training when he was 17 to improve his game. To then see him at Manchester United as an absolute world-beater was amazing because I knew how much it meant to him. He was top class.

CENTRAL MIDFIELD: Claude Makelele

When the Abramovich era started at Chelsea, there were a few players we signed that summer that changed us from a good team to a really good team, and Maka was at the centre of that. He was never a bother around the training ground. He just went around and did his job. I was attack-minded and he gave me my insurance to go forward.

CENTRAL MIDFIELD: Steven Gerrard

To play with him was a pleasure. If anything, for England, there may have been times where we could have played better.

I always remember playing against him at Anfield and he was a moster. A complete midfield player. He had pace, he could makle tackles, his passing range is top, top-end. He was the stand out player for them, and I know he had other options but I think it’s the right thing that he stayed.

LEFT MIDFIELD: Eden Hazard

He could swap sides with David Silva. I remember him coming to Chelsea and I wasn’t sure – even with the lovely flicks. When we played Wigan the first game of the season, he absolutely ruined them. I’ve told him he can go as far as he wants to go, and I’m talking Messi and Ronaldo level.

RIGHT MIDFIELD: David Silva

I remember playing against him when he was at Valencia and he smashed one in from 30 yards.

Some players like to hide away from certain situations, but David is the master of a football. Off the pitch, he’s very humble and very quiet. A pleasure to play with.

CENTRE-FORWARD: Sergio Aguero

I remember asking John Terry who he would rather play against – Aguero or Suarez, and he said: ‘Aguero is the hardest to play against all day long.’

I played a heavy pass to him in pre-season and you know those little legs he’s got, he just turned on the turbo and dinked it over the keeper. I don’t think there’s another striker in world football that would’ve got there. He’s a born finisher. In training he only shows you a glimpse here and there, but on match day – he does what he wants.

CENTRE-FORWARD: Didier Drogba

Another relatively easy pick for me. I could talk about Didier all day. You can’t underestimate the influence he had in the dressing room. The year we won the Champions League he was like a man possessed.

I owe and have a lot to thank him for, because a lot of my goals and assists were down to him. The Champions League final, we wouldn’t have been stood there without Didi. To be able to score that header and then to go and score the winning penalty for the team was amazing. I didn’t like his run-up though; he did that short, slow run-up. But he’s such an inspirational bloke.