Here is the UEFA team of the year 2007. No black suit bias, no lobbying – all based on user votes. About 275,000 of them. There are two entries from Chelsea in the team of the year 2007 – John Terry and Didier Drogba. For clubs like Chelsea, any representation is a great recognition because the massive fan base of clubs like Man Utd, Liverpool, Madrid, Barca, Milan etc normally sweep the polls with their players.

The team of the year is usually made up of 11 players and 1 coach. This has been an annual UEFA feature since 2001. Chelsea had no representation in the lists from 2001 to 2003. In 2004, we got two spots (Ricardo Carvalho, Jose Mourinho). In 2005, we got three spots (Petr Cech, Jose Mourinho). In 2006, there was none. Some of the ex-Chelsea players have also won the selection in the team of the year.

Also, some of our current lot also won a place when they were in their previous clubs. Ashley Cole featured in 2004 as an Arsenal player. Paulo Ferreira featured in 2003 as a Porto player. Damien Duff was in 2002 list as a Rovers player. Michael Ballack in 2002 team as a Bayern player. Andriy Shevchenko was in 2004 and 2005 list as a Milan player. Jose Mourinho was the coach in 2003 list as well as a Porto Coach, apart from the 2004 and 2005 selections as Chelsea coach.

Okay, without much ado, here is the UEFA team of the year 2007.

Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid CF)
Right-back: Daniel Alves (Sevilla FC)
Central defender: Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan)
Central defender: John Terry (Chelsea FC)
Left-back: Eric Abidal (Olympique Lyonnais/FC Barcelona)
Right midfield: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United FC)
Central midfield: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool FC)
Attacking midfield: Kaká (AC Milan)
Left midfield: Clarence Seedorf (AC Milan)
Forward: Zlatan Ibrahimovi? (FC Internazionale Milano)
Forward: Didier Drogba (Chelsea FC)

Coach: Sir Alex Ferguson

uefa-team-of-the-year-2007.jpg

The above is a very formidable team. But we hardly agree on someone else’s team selection, right? Here are my disagreements. I think JT is lucky to find himself there. I’d have either Vidic or Puyol there. I’d have chosen Evra over Abidal. Steven Gerrard in central midfield? No way! I don’t know how he scored over Essien, Fabregas, Pirlo and Poulsen. That’s where may be the fanbase thing comes in! Cristiano Ronaldo pips Messi for a right midfield spot. That’s a tough one, but Ronaldo deserves a place. Ibrahimovic? That should have been van Nistelrooy alongside Drogba. The coach has to be Sir Alex. The year 2007 belonged to him. Of course, I’d hand it over to him despite Ancelotti’s champions league. League titles always carry more weight than champions league wins.

So my choice of team of the year 2007 would be something like this:

Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid CF)
Right-back: Daniel Alves (Sevilla FC)
Central defender: Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan)
Central defender: Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United FC)
Left-back: Patrice Evra (Manchester United FC)
Right midfield: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United FC)
Central midfield: Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan)
Attacking midfield: Kaká (AC Milan)
Left midfield: Clarence Seedorf (AC Milan)
Forward: Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid)
Forward: Didier Drogba (Chelsea FC)

Coach: Sir Alex Ferguson

What’s your say on the UEFA team of the year 2007? Do you think this is a good list or you can better this list? I’m sure you can!