Joe Cole has revealed the greatest ever football team he has seen and explained why they 'blew him away'.
The former England star has also named what he believes to be the greatest club side of his career.
Cole, 43, was speaking to Alzheimer's Society about teamwork and reflecting on a career which saw him lift three Premier League titles and play 735 games for club and country.
He is mostly associated with Chelsea but found time to play for West Ham, Liverpool, Lille, Aston Villa, Coventry City, Tampa Bay Rowdies, and even 11th-tier Belstone in an itinerant career spanning almost a quarter of a century.
The greatest team he saw? 'The best club side ever assembled has got to be the Barcelona team,' said Cole. 'Xavi, (Andre) Iniesta, (Lionel) Messi, Ronaldinho, (Samuel) Eto'o, (Thierry) Henry, the names fall off the tongue.
'More so than the great players was the togetherness and the vision they had. They changed the game. I would have loved to have played for them. That would have been a real privilege.
'Watching them play against Manchester United in the Champions League final, obviously we [Chelsea] got beat in the semi-final, it was bittersweet.
'But as a fan of football, and knowing how good that Manchester United side was as well, watching that performance... it's not often you watch a game of football and are just blown away. It was beautiful.'
Unsurprisingly, Cole named Chelsea as the best team he played in. He won all three of his Premier League titles there, two FA Cups, a League Cup and a Community Shield, and reached the 2008 Champions League final, where they lost to Manchester United.
He said: 'The best side that I've been part of is the Chelsea side. We knew what we were and we knew how to win games.
'We would stick together and fight for each other. There was a collective will to win from the whole team, which was pretty remarkable.
'We won lots of trophies. I think that's what your Carlo Ancelotti and (Jose) Mourinho's have got, they figure out how to do that with players, and then they can do it consistently and repeat that process in different countries. But for me, a real honour to play in that Chelsea side.
'Beating dementia isn't the task of one person or one profession. It will take all of us. It will take a team, it will take a society to beat dementia.'
olowokelly
2
Man U fans will never forget that day
Chrismaris1
0
yet they think that Barcelona team payed referee, Perez will try so hard to prove this in court 😂
Perez wasn't complaining of such then
Pibcdioprz
0
Real talk from Chelsea legend
Footballislife0811
0
I saw Brazil 1998 an 2002 that was the greatest team even France 1998
Go check again u did see those big names are never flawless when playing Ferguson said to his assistant let’s just watch this Barca because they can keep the ball for a whole year tell me if any of Brazil team ever have that flaws in their game remember we have the Germany team also full of stars ⭐️ it’s not about star name it’s what they played that make that 2009 Barca the best ever 11 put together in history. They revolutionize the whole football till today tiki take started and today epl don’t even play the old way anymore that’s fact no more kick and follow
Suarezzy
3
yet they think that Barcelona team payed referee, Perez will try so hard to prove this in court 😂
bibdekmnt
4
A True Chelsea Legend has Spoken
academy1
3
Barcelona team without referees help is incomplete.
Betabdilrz
3
I saw Brazil 1998 an 2002 that was the greatest team even France 1998
mejjamax
1
Hunacioprz
0
who is Henry for barca, he played well in arsenal . not barca so stop rating henry. even my Julian is better than henry prime
nepbisty
1
If the admissions of how great Barcelona team was by someone who was a former member of the Chelsea team that was defeated is not convincing enough. Is there any reason to take your comment seriously.
any blind man could have seen it was robbery this game is on yutube up to a day like today an this game is not fun anymore .
returnofthesaith
0
this was match fixing that game barca vs chelsea this is y i say curruption to the t
If the admissions of how great Barcelona team was by someone who was a former member of the Chelsea team that was defeated is not convincing enough. Is there any reason to take your comment seriously.
Scientific1
1
Real recognizes real_ Visca Barca
nepbisty
2
this was match fixing that game barca vs chelsea this is y i say curruption to the t
Gamer15
2
Gotta hurt telling the truth after Barcelona robbed Chelsea
Mumbkmnrtu
2
Wonderful 👍 Chelsea football Club loves you