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Football London
Football London
Sport
Robert Warlow

Chelsea dominate ex-Premier League midfielder's best XI, with some surprising Arsenal omissions

He may be Arsenal's record goalscorer, but there was no place for Thierry Henry in an all-time Premier League XI picked by former Wimbledon and Chelsea midfielder Vinnie Jones.

The former midfielder has named his all-time Premier League XI in a column for odds comparison website EasyOdds, with Chelsea dominating the side picked by the 55-year-old.

But while he has found places for five former Chelsea players and one current Blue, there were some notable omissions from his selection.

Henry was one of those, while there was also no place for his former Arsenal team-mate Patrick Vieira.

Chelsea: The season so far

Chelsea hero Didier Drogba is also not included in Jones' team, while there were no places for the likes of Wayne Rooney, Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard or former Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs.

Jones, who played 446 times during his professional club career, which spanned from the mid-1980s until 1999, featured against some of the early greats of the Premier League era, including the likes of Eric Cantona, Roy Keane and Alan Shearer.

But of those, only Shearer has been included in his all-time Premier League XI.

He is one of only three players in the side not to have played for a London club, alongside goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel and former Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo.

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, who featured just three times in the Premier League for Chelsea, is also included.

The rest of Jones' team is made up of past and present Chelsea stars, with one former Arsenal player in Tony Adams.

The former Chelsea men included in his team are Graeme Le Saux, John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Frank Lampard and Eden Hazard, with current Blues star N'Golo Kante also named in his XI.

Discussing his choices, Jones was full of praise for two Chelsea players in particular.

“Now making his mark as an outstanding English manager, Frank [Lampard] is another record-breaker," he said.

“He’s Chelsea’s all-time leading goal scorer and the most complete box-to-box player with a goal threat there’s probably ever been.

“Eden Hazard helped them [Chelsea] win a shed-full of trophies, creating and scoring goals, and those mazy runs are just a joy to watch.

“When Hazard’s on the ball, something happens. What a player.”

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