Chelsea fans on the whole believe that the 2007/08 Blues side would defeat last season's Champions League-winning side if the two would have ever faced off against each other, therefore implying that Avram Grant's and Jose Mourinho's team is the better of the two.
That verdict that will come as some shock to Thomas Tuchel, especially considering his side won the biggest of accolades on the continent last season whilst the 07/08 team didn't win anything in that specific season.
Yes, player for player, it could be argued that the 07/08 team on paper is overall better in quality, with the likes of Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, John Terry and Petr Cech composing the spine of that team.
On the contrary, football is a team game and as a team, the 2021/22 Blues outfit won major silverware whilst the 07/08 side were second best in the League Cup and UEFA Champions League.
Furthermore, based on silverware alone, surely that would make the latter of the two aforementioned sides more likely to win if they would have ever hypothetically faced off against each other due to the winning mentality that Tuchel has instilled in the more recent team.
The manager of the XI from the last decade, Avram Grant, was eventually sacked in 2008 by Roman Abramovich due to the lack of silverware that his current counterpart Tuchel has already provided to the Russian owner.
Here's how a selection of Chelsea fans on Reddit reacted to this specific question- comparing the two teams in question during this social media discussion.
@Agreeable-Bench-5269 tried to end the discussion straight away: '07/08 they have drogba, DONE.'
@Nevinhooo made a smart point: 'Depends on if the managers play a part in the discussion. If it’s only the players, then 08 for sure because that squad is absolutely stacked full of legends at the peak of their powers. However, I feel like Tuchel might be able to exploit them tactically somehow if he was involved, especially since he’s up against Grant.'
@brenobnfm reckons: '07/08 is stronger on paper, currently team is much better coached, could go both ways.
@Toothache79 replied: 'I don't see how the current team beats that 07/08 team. Could you imagine our current attack trying to break down JT, Carvalho, Ashley Cole & Petr Cech?'
@Fawkes_91 made a similar point to @Nevinhooo regarding the manager situation: 'Yeah, but on the flip side the current team has Tuchel making in-game adjustments while the 07/08 one has Grant. Now, with Mourinho in charge of that team, they probably win.'
@Jameson_43 delivered his damning indictment of the 2020/21 side: 'I don’t think we score on that 07/08 team. And I trust Drogba with a 88’ header.
'So 07/08….1-0.'
@Johnnyojvan joked: 'Chelsea 20/21. No question. Those guys from the 07/08 gotta be pretty old now…
Finally, @htotheh struggled in his assessment: 'Man, this is hard.
'Different styles of play since the league has adapted through the years.
'My gut says 2008 due to all the legends and how strong they were all season, though they didn't win a single trophy which is still a shock.
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'2021 has arguably a better system with Tuchel which would make it difficult for the 2008 squad. A lot of soon to be legends as well.
'With that said, I'm still going with 2008, I'd never bet against Terry, Lampard, and Drogba side.'
