It may have been the hottest day of the year so far yesterday but in truth, our resident Manchester United fans in the Football Transfer Tavern were hot and bothered anyway.
Their frustration stems from the fact that their club have been linked with more transfer targets than any other club, yet the only player that has arrived at Old Trafford so far is Memphis Depay.
With another centre back, another striker and potentially another goalkeeper required for United this summer, Red Devils fans would love Louis van Gaal to get a move on in his recruitment drive.
As for Chelsea, Jose Mourinho only needs to land some finishing touch kind of signings this summer with a new understudy to Thibaut Courtois required after Petr Cech’s departure, not to mention a new striker to replace the departed Didier Drogba.
Finishing fourth of course last season, United fans want to see their team push on next term while pushing the likes of Chelsea a lot harder when it comes to the Premier League title race.
While signing high calibre players such as Sergio Ramos will help, van Gaal will again have to ensure that any new arrivals gel quickly with Chelsea’s side settled and rarely incurring injuries, meaning that they yield their best performances for most weekends during the campaign.
All of this talk surrounding these elite clubs of English football has led our United and Blues supporting punters to devise a best combined eleven comprised out of players from both sides. Do you agree with their selections?
[ffc-gallery]
Click on the image below to reveal the best Manchester United and Chelsea combined XI.
[/ffc-gallery]
David De Gea
We could’ve easily picked Thibaut Courtois for the goalkeeper slot but we’ve gone with David De Gea simply born out of the fact that he is set to join the world’s biggest football club this summer.
When Real Madrid come knocking and for a player to dislodge a club icon such as Iker Casillas, you know he must be worth his weight in gold and that is something De Gea is.
Nowadays, it’s hard to imagine the David De Gea that struggled with aerial crosses and commanding his area earlier in his United career, such has been his improvement in the last two seasons, showing the determination of the man at the same time.
Winning Sir Matt Busby’s Player of the Year crown for the last two successive seasons, this tells you all you need to know about the ability De Gea possesses.
Like we say, we could’ve easily picked Courtois but we’re going with the Spanish international on this occasion.
Branislav Ivanovic
Branislav Ivanovic has been such a consistent professional in his time spent at Stamford Bridge with mistakes very rarely occurring on his watch.
A capable centre back as well as performing in his favoured slot at right back, Ivanovic gets on with his job with maximum determination, grit and little fuss, and you can imagine he is a dream player to work with under Jose Mourinho.
The Serb is also fantastic going forward as well with his raiding runs down the right wing, not to mention representing a threat in the air from corners.
We simply couldn’t leave him out in this combined eleven.
Gary Cahill
An incredible stat that was read out in the bar recently was the one which officially stated that Gary Cahill, yes Gary Cahill has now won all there is to win at the domestic level in just three years at Chelsea.
Scooping one Premier League title last term, not to mention one FA Cup, one League Cup, one Champions League and one Europa League triumph, Cahill has been a staple part of the success Chelsea have enjoyed on all of these momentous occasions.
A hugely capable partner for John Terry, Cahill is a threat in the air from set pieces and this is going forward.
Defensively, he is assured, calm and has ultimately proved himself at a higher level, having traded Bolton Wanderers for Stamford Bridge four years ago.
Given his form at club level, Cahill is an automatic first pick at centre back for England.
John Terry
How could you possibly leave John Terry out of this combined eleven after the 2014/15 season he has just enjoyed?
Undoubtedly back to his best form on a weekly basis, John Terry seems a man reborn after being written off by both Rafael Benitez and a section of the media.
Terry of course witnessed Frank Lampard depart Stamford Bridge in strange circumstances but this hasn’t deterred him from producing some excellent displays which ultimately culminated in the latest trophies to adorn his overflowing cabinet of riches.
Having been there and done it before, Terry’s leadership abilities would’ve helped the younger players cope with the pressure of grabbing wins at the end of the season.
Cesar Azpilicueta
The Spanish international took a little while to get going but with each passing season, Cesar Azpilicueta has grown into an indispensable role in Chelsea’s starting eleven.
Preferred by Rafael Benitez in his time in West London, Azpilicueta has managed to stay at the forefront of Jose Mourinho’s attentions.
This is because the Spaniard is equally adept at getting forward, not to mention putting in his shift defensively, representing the sought-after modern breed of full back.
Not often putting a foot wrong, Azpilicueta’s form means Chelsea fans aren’t really pining after the defensive displays of Ashley Cole.
Ander Herrera
Featuring in our deep lying midfield two is United’s Spanish maestro Ander Herrera who makes the cut simply born out of the fact that his influence grew and grew as last season went on.
While Chelsea boast Cesc Fabregas and Arsenal boast Santi Cazorla, United’s very own Spanish star can dictate the pace of the game while fulfilling both the attacking and defensive side of the game in equal measure.
The consensus amongst United fans is that Herrera was Louis van Gaal’s most successful signing out of last summer’s arrivals that also included Angel Di Maria, Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind.
United fans look forward to Herrera improving again next season and will hope that he can manage to forge a part of Vicente del Bosque’s plans at international level ahead of Euro 2016.
Nemanja Matic
When people contemporarily refer to the defensive midfield position as the ‘Matic role’, you know Chelsea’s Serbian international has been doing something right.
Nemanja Matic provides excellent cover to Chelsea’s back four with tackling abilities and brute strength singling him out as one of the best in the business.
Able to take on an entire plethora of opponents while succeeding, Matic has been the natural heir to Claude Makelele’s throne.
The mark of Matic’s worth to this team is when he is injured or suspended with Chelsea fans not nearly boasting enough faith in either Ramires or John Obi Mikel.
Juan Mata
Infamously deemed surplus to requirements by Jose Mourinho in 2014, Chelsea’s loss has been Manchester United’s gain with Juan Mata starting to look like the player he was in his time spent at Stamford Bridge.
It has taken Mata a little while to get going at Old Trafford but it seems that the Spaniard’s performance away at Liverpool last term in which he bagged a brace has proved the making of him.
Currently boasting a record of 15 United goals in 48 appearances in the top flight, this record isn’t so bad for a man that took a little while to get going as a square peg in a round hole at Old Trafford.
Wayne Rooney
Say what you want about Wayne Rooney; he still boasts the same passion, tenacity and determination in his game, season in, season out.
While he would of course like to register more Premier League goals than he has struck in recent seasons, there is much more to the England international’s game with Louis van Gaal having experimented with his positioning last season.
Rooney’s best position is undoubtedly as a centre forward but he takes the number 10 berth in our combined eleven because he can produce the goods here also.
Capable of dictating the play in a game, Rooney can pull off those sweeping cross-field passes with aplomb, not to mention assisting the attacking players in front of him.
Eden Hazard
We couldn’t leave out the PFA Player of the Year could we?
What can there be said about Eden Hazard that hasn’t already been said with the mercurial Belgian having terrorised defences up and down the land in 2014/15.
The best bit about Hazard’s game is that he rarely gives the ball away while providing such pace and trickery when going at opponents.
When performing at the peak of his powers, Hazard can be difficult to stop and the player will be hoping he can produce his best form not only for Chelsea but Belgium next summer in the European Championships in France.
Diego Costa
Bagging 20 goals in 26 Premier League appearances isn’t a bad start to life in English football is it?
Diego Costa made Chelsea fans forget about the likes of Andriy Shevchenko and Fernando Torres last term, bagging goals left right and centre.
A tenacious character and that’s putting it mildly, Costa plays the game on the edge and this enables him to bully opponents while getting into their head.
These street fighter-like abilities give Chelsea a different dimension and like Hazard mentioned previously, it can be difficult to stop Costa when on form.
