Frank Lampard has named Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka as the three players who have helped Chelsea impress this season.
Carlo Ancelotti's side top the Barclays Premier League table and have booked their place in the last 16 of the Champions League. And Lampard is particularly impressed by the efforts of England international left-back Cole and strikers Drogba and Anelka.
The England midfielder told his club's official website, www.chelseafc.com: "Ashley has shown it for a long time. For me, for the last two years he has been completely out on his own as the best left-back in the world."
As for Drogba, Lampard continued: "Didier is so strong and his all-round game is brilliant, when he plays his best I don't think there is anyone to match him. And I want to talk about [Nicolas] Anelka as well, because he is right up there with him. We have the best strikers in the world.
"When you have those men up front who are organised like we have, their partnership is absolutely formidable. When you are playing well and a lot of big players are fit and playing well then you go to games with a winning belief."
However, despite their five-point advantage at the top of the Premier League, Lampard is not thinking of the title just yet.
He added: "It's far too early to be over. We have seen teams take points off everybody else this season. It's great for us to be in the driving seat but, for instance, if Arsenal win their game in hand then they close the gap.
"People make huge deals about your record against the big teams but if you do win the games in between them then you stay up there regardless. You can always understand losing against teams like Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, because they have so much quality.
"We did it last year, we lost lots of points against the big teams, but it was the points against the not-so-big teams that made the difference.
"To be champions you have to get a mix, you can get the results against the big boys but all the games in between you have to keep the right attitude."
g
Copyright (c) PA Sport 2009, All Rights Reserved.
