HomeFeatured ArticlesJust how Good Is John Terry?

Just how Good Is John Terry?

It ended 0-0 at the Emirates and Mourinho’s men got their job done, once again. Chelsea’s 10 point cushion over rivals Arsenal meant the Premier League trophy will be heading back to London, to Stamford Bridge after a four year stay in Manchester. A gritty, organized away performance, especially at the back from the champions elect which was not the first time one would have witnessed this season, largely down to the man that wears his heart on his sleeve every time he steps onto that pitch, someone that puts in tackles and goes into challenges like his life depended on it, driving that football club towards another boringly fairy-tale campaign.

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Jose Mourinho, having guided Chelsea to two successful title winning seasons from 2004-2006 with Terry at the heart of his back four has come up with an interesting statement that John Terry has been at his personal best this campaign bettering all of his stellar seasons for Chelsea as they look to wrap up their 4th Premier League title with as little as 5 games to go. After Terry’s flawless display at Arsenal he said,

“This season JT has, in my opinion, been even better than last season. Yesterday he didn’t make one mistake.”

So why not look at John Terry’s recent couple of seasons in numbers? Has he really improved on what he did last season? The answer is a yes and an emphatic one at that.

John Terry's last two campaigns

Statistically Terry has hit much better numbers than he did last season making him one of the best center backs around even at his age and no wonder Jose Mourinho has acknowledged that, not failing to give him the credit when he deserves. Barring the number of interceptions per game, Terry has managed to make 0.85 blocks per game as opposed to the 0.59 last season, a massive improvement in his aerial duel success rate and almost twice the number of successful tackles per game made compared to last campaign. While what is more impressive is the fact that the Chelsea captain has committed the least number of fouls of all outfield players at Chelsea – just goes to show the sheer class of the player himself who is arguably still the league’s best centre back, and will continue to remain the same, if he could sustain his high standards in the future.

John Terry made 13 clearances against Arsenal It is fair to say he’s come a long way since the days of uncertainty under Rafa Benitez where at one point the then Chelsea manager pointed out John Terry’s lack of fitness whilst also questioning whether he would be able to play two games in a week and Terry made just 14 appearances across the course of the season. But that myth has been debunked as well, as John Terry alongside Branislav Ivanovic are the only two Chelsea players that have so far managed to play every single minute of the club’s successful Premiership campaign while also leading the team in three other tournaments.

Very few would argue with John Terry’s place in the Premier League team of the season voted by fellow players and fewer would argue with the Chelsea captain’s place among the pantheon of greats to have graced the league, year in year out, one of those select few that continue to remind us all why defending is such a passionately intense yet dying art form and why it should not be deemed boring.

Aashish Murali
Aashish Murali
I can bore you to tears.
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