EPL team of the decade - 2000s
The Premier League has been graced with some of the greats in football ever since its inception in 1992. The most followed league in the world truly came to the forefront in the 2000s when brand building was the priority and huge amount of money was rolled in to get the services of world stars to play for top clubs in England.
The last decade of the Premier League has seen some extraordinary and landmark instances in football. Manchester United’s solo dominance of the league was finally broken by the rise of Roman Abramovich's Chelsea, Arsenal went on to produce the Invincibles and last a whole season without losing a single match in the 2003/04 and Cristiano Ronaldo emerged as one of the best players in the world.
There were a plethora of immensely talented players to play in the last decade and, therefore, choosing a team of eleven players was no joke. If the 1990s was the era of Eric Cantona and Ryan Giggs, the 2000s was the era of Thierry Henry (who’s obviously an automatic inclusion) and… well, will not give the names up that easily.
Read more to find out what we think was the greatest EPL team of the 2000s which plays in a 4-4-2 formation.
Goalkeeper
Petr Cech
Petr Cech established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the world following his move to Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea in 2004. In his first season for the Blues, Cech set a record of keeping 21 clean sheets in the season and conceded only 15 goals in the process, which was another record in itself, and helped Chelsea win the Premier League title after years of mediocrity.
Considered one of the best shot-stoppers in the game, Cech is also widely appreciated for his presence in the box and in one-on-one situations. Cech had been ever-present for the Blues between the sticks and has won the league four times for Chelsea. He has been inducted twice in the PFA Team of the year and is considered one of the best in his generation.
Cech played in a team which was inherently defensive minded and often parked the bus to suffocate the opponents into giving up which Cech had to make far more saves than the average goalkeeper. However, Cech excelled in the role for more than a decade and continues to do so and that is why he makes the team of the decade as the first choice goalkeeper.