Marcel Desailly includes three Chelsea legends in his dream five-a-side team | OneFootball

When we asked Marcel Desailly to name his dream five-a-side team, we knew the answer would be good. But we weren’t prepared for the wistful trip down memory lane that his picks provoked.

Desailly was arguably the world’s best defender during the 1990s, winning both the World Cup and European Championship with France alongside a plethora of honours at club level.

Known as ‘The Rock’ for his commanding displays in the Chelsea backline, Desailly was also part of the famous AC Milan team that beat Barcelona 4-0 in the 1994 Champions League final.

We’ll start with some of the names he didn’t include: Zinedine Zidane, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Paolo Maldini, Zvonimir Boban and Roberto Di Matteo.

That’s an indication of the rarefied company Desailly kept during his illustrious career. So who did make the cut?

“I’ll start up front first,” he told Planet Football with Card Player. “George Weah would be my striker, a player I managed to convince to sign for Chelsea!

“We played many times together and have many special memories.”

Considering Weah was capable of unfathomable sorcery, we have to say that Desailly is off to a strong start.

“Weah can play alongside Roberto Baggio, a wonderful team-mate at AC Milan, so he makes my team in midfield.”

That’s us weak at the knees. Just imagine Baggio pulling out first touches like this at your local Power League? You don’t get this from graphic designers called Josh.

“I’m also including Gianfranco Zola in midfield, because he was one of the best in the Premier League at that time,” Desailly continued with absolutely no argument from us.

Zola was a revelation at Chelsea, one of the first foreign imports to illuminate the Premier League. He is one of the greatest players in their history and could probably still peel a satsuma with his right foot.

“John Terry would be my defender – I’ve played alongside him and know how good he was,” the Frenchman said.

Desailly was Terry’s mentor during the early stages of his career and the former England captain reflected on that influence as his own playing days were ending.

“Desailly would stand there, in the team lineup, and say to me: ‘Listen to this Champions League music, this is what you want to hear season after season,’ and he was excited,” Terry recalled.

“He was at the end of his career; a man who had won everything, with no need to be ‘up’ for those games, but he wanted to win and be involved in those big Champions League nights.

“And for me, even now I’ve got goosebumps on my legs – I will never forget those nights standing alongside Desailly.”

The love between Terry and Desailly is clearly mutual, making the former a shoo-in for this glittering five-a-side team.

“And then, finally, I’d have Fabien Barthez in goal,” Desailly said. “A fellow World Cup winner with France!” Fair play. Barthez could even do a serviceable job outfield if needs be.