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The 2000s was arguably one of the greatest eras of football and saw an incredible generation of supremely talented individuals take the game to mesmeric heights.
We saw a brilliant team go unbeaten in the Premier League, a feat not achieved since the 19th century, and we saw a team wearing Blue win the Premier League after a very long time. We saw English teams win Europe's biggest prize twice and reach the final of the competition on multiple occasions.
We also saw the birth of a footballing phenomenon, who completely changed the way the beautiful game was viewed and was probably the greatest player to grace the English game.
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We were truly blessed to see such legendary times.
Many of the greatest ever Premier League teams were around during this time. Arsenal's Invincibles were known for their fluid football, Chelsea for their outstanding defensive quality and Manchester United for completely dominating the opposition.
Goalkeeper - Petr Cech
This is probably the most difficult player to choose, as Petr Cech and Edwin van der Sar were both unbeatable to a certain extent. Both won multiple league titles during this decade, but Cech edges this as one can argue that he was in his pomp while Van Der Sar's peak was at Ajax. Jens Lehmann is another one close to being a contender.
The Czech Republic goalkeeper won the league thrice in London during the 2000s. He was integral to Mourinho's historic backline which conceded a miserly 15 goals in the 2004-05 season when Chelsea won their first league title. They defended their title the following year.
Cech added to his tally of 2 titles by winning the league again under Ancelotti in the 2009-10 season.
He won the Golden Glove twice that decade along with a host of Fa Cups and League Cups.
Right Back - Gary Neville
Our right back is a shoo-in as Gary Neville was far more consistent than any right back in that decade. Winning the league title 4 times and missing out on a fifth one unfortunately due to injury, he was one of Sir Alex Ferguson's favorites as he was at Manchester United for 19 years.
His understanding with Beckham on the right wing during the earlier 2000s and with Cristiano Ronaldo during the latter part of the decade was the reason for him to be a part of the United backline for nearly two decades. A very prominent member of United's famed "Class of 92", he won the Champions League in 2007-08.
Branislav Ivanovic of Chelsea and Lauren of Arsenal are other notable players who could have made the team. Both were wonderful fullbacks capable of creating chances while shouldering responsibilities at the back, but Neville arguably was better than both of them.
Center Backs - Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic
The Centre Back pairing will be Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic was almost impenetrable for the Red Devils for several years. John Terry's case to be included is titanic, but with this center back pairing, Manchester United won the league three years on the trot - something Chelsea couldn't achieve.
Both complemented each other in innumerable ways. Ferdinand's job was primarily passing the ball and starting attacks from the back while Vidic was the one who dealt with the majority of the ugly battles. The former had the pace to deal with almost any attacker in the world while Vidic was known for heading every single ball coming into the box and was not afraid to get a bloody nose.
They even managed to win the Champions League for United in 2007-08, and might go down as United's greatest ever center back pairing.
Sol Campbell, Jamie Carragher and Ricardo Carvalho are players after John Terry who could have made the team.
Left Back - Ashley Cole
Patrice Evra and Ashley Cole were both legendary but the latter edges it in this battle. Cole came through the Arsenal academy during the early 2000s and won the league twice wearing red in London. He was part of the Arsenal team that went unbeaten in 2003-04. After this, he signed for Chelsea and won the league in Blue too in the 2009-10 season. He might have established himself as England's greatest left-back
Patrice Evra was another great left-back who played for Manchester United who was a part of the great United backline, but defensively Cole was arguably better than him. John Arne Riise is another name that springs to mind when talking about great left-backs, a legend at Liverpool for winning the Champions League in 2005. The fact is that he was more of a utility player for Rafa Benitez during the latter stages of his career; he was used as a left midfielder and even as a left winger on occasions.
Ashley Cole, on the other hand, retained his position at Arsenal and Chelsea as a buccaneering left back, and he therefore makes this list.
Defensive Midfielder - Paul Scholes
Paul Scholes will be our deepest lying midfielder and quite simply put, he was the best passer of the ball in England's history.
Ex-Barcelona player Xavi, one of the greatest players of all time, said that Scholes was an inspiration to him during his formative years, a statement which closes the debate about his inclusion in this side. He was the reason behind Manchester United's legendary attack over the years.
The balls which he used to spray for the wingers and the center-forwards from a fair distance always used to find their target. He won 5 league titles with United during the 2000s and also won a Champions League in 07-08.
Paul Scholes is arguably the only player from the premier league who could have made it into Pep Guardiola's Barcelona team of the late 2000s, arguably the best passing team in history.
Other players who could have played in this position are Claude Makelele and Xabi Alonso. Makelele was more of a destroyer and although Alonso enjoyed a more illustrious international career than Scholes, his prime years were not in the Premier League.
Central Midfielder - Steven Gerrard
Our box-to-box midfielder is Steven Gerrard, who is widely considered the greatest midfielder of the Premier League era. It is quite unfortunate that he never won the Premier League title, but the talent he displayed on the pitch during his prime years was legendary.
He remains the only player to have scored goals in an FA cup, League cup, Europa League and Champions League final. His greatest performance will be very close to the hearts of Liverpool fans as Liverpool won the Champions League final against AC Milan in 2005 remains, to date, the greatest comeback in Merseyside football history. He is still the greatest player to not win the Premier League title.
Patrick Vieira pushes the Liverpool captain for his position, winning the league twice in the 2000s captaining Arsenal, but he left the Premier League early, and his all-around play although great was not as good as Gerrard's.
Manchester United captain Roy Keane also makes a great case to be included in this team, but the impact that Steven Gerrard had on Liverpool remains unmatched to this day.
Attacking Midfielder - Frank Lampard
Frank Lampard is the greatest goalscoring midfielder in Premier League history. A West Ham academy graduate, he made the switch to Chelsea in 2001 and went on to become Chelsea's greatest ever player. He won the league thrice with Chelsea.
His link-up play with Drogba was phenomenal. He is also the scorer of 22 goals in the 2009-2010 season, the highest for a midfielder in the Premier League era. He also won a host of domestic trophies including the Champions League in 2012.
Dennis Bergkamp, who was arguably the most influential player to play for Arsenal, can be a great shout. Unfortunately, the Dutch maestro's prime years were during the late 1990s. Although he was technically superior to Lampard, he did not possess the goalscoring attributes of the latter during the final stages of his career.
Lampard changed the game regarding the goalscoring prowess an attacking midfielder should have, by scoring several goals for Chelsea.
Left Wing -Thierry Henry
It is controversial to put Thierry Henry on the left as he was a number 9 at Arsenal, but the Frenchman was capable of playing anywhere across the front line, as is evident from his time at Barcelona.
Keen observers of the Premier League will have noticed that during Arsenal's dominant years in the early 2000s, most of their beautiful attacking play came from the link-up between Henry, Pires, and Cole on the left flank.
Henry is Arsenal's greatest ever goalscorer. He won the league twice wearing Red in London. There was a point in his career where he was the best player in the world. Arsenal fans will fondly remember his iconic goal against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Ryan Giggs could have played as a left-winger as he is the most decorated in Manchester United history but his impact, when compared to Henry's, is not as immense.
Right Wing - Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo, during his Premier League days, was a young monster. A winger converted into a goalscoring machine, Ronaldo terrorized Premier League defenses on a weekly basis.
Unearthing his massive hidden potential will go down as one of Sir Alex Ferguson's greatest ever achievements. He won the league thrice in Manchester; and is also the most recent recipient of the Ballon d'Or from the Premier League. He will go down as one of the greatest in footballing history. He even won the Champions League in 07-08.
Robert Pires, a two-time title winner with Arsenal, an integral part of the Invincibles, and Arjen Robben, a two-time title winner with Chelsea are the only two who can stake a claim for the position. The truth is that neither of them come close to filling the shoes of the great man.
A winner of multiple Ballon D'ors, Ronaldo changed the English game completely.
He is arguably the greatest player ever to grace the English game.
Center Forward - Didier Drogba
Didier Drogba is Chelsea's greatest ever striker. Jose Mourinho's go-to man in difficult situations, he is the ultimate big game player as he has scored in 10 different cup finals. He won the league thrice with Chelsea during the 2000s, left Chelsea, and then came back and won the league again in his second stint in 2014-15.
Signed from Marseille, he was everything Mourinho needed in a center forward: big, strong, powerful and capable of bringing wingers and surrounding midfielders into play due to his great link-up play.
He is the greatest striker to come out of the African continent after George Weah. His goal against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in the 90th minute to save the match and eventually win it will go down in footballing history.
Ruud van Nistelrooy and Fernando Torres are the closest competitors for Drogba's role; both were phenomenal goalscorers but the Ivorian was better than both of them.
