Chelsea FC - John Terry's Remarkable Change Of Form

Very few footballers divide opinionsAi??like John Terry, yet time and again he hasAi??managed to rise above doubts and reinstated his status of a Chelsea FC legend.

No one in football divides opinions quite like John Terry has done, time and again throughout his career. However, even his worst loathers would have, at some point, succumbed to the fact that Terry has definitely been one of the best centre-backs in the league this season – and it would hardly be outrageous to say he has even possibly been the best.

This is in stark contrast to last season, which saw the English captain drop down the pecking order, below David Luiz, Gary Cahill and at times, even Branislav Ivanovic. He seemed a once-glorified war tank, once a feared feature on the battlefield, but now, its bolts giving way, rust seeping into its system, creaking with the impact of its hamartia. He seemed a shadow of the defender he had been and spent his time chasing that shadow, among those of opponents. Having been a cornerstone of Chelsea Football Club in the past decade or so, was it his time to pass the baton over to Cahill or Luiz?

Not yet, we’ve come to hear.

Even at the beginning of the season, Mourinho preferred Terry only in the Premier League, choosing Luiz to partner Cahill in all the cup competitions, even in the Supercup vs Bayern Munich. Moreover, Mourinho’s Chelsea still use a relatively high line in defence – the same system in which Terry struggled under Villas Boas, so what has changed?

For one, Terry now is aware that he – having never been the fastest of players – has lost a considerable amount of pace. Thus, Terry has fine tuned his decision making and reading of the game to negate this shortcoming. He knows when to tackle and when to hold up and delay; when he does tackle, he times it reasonably well, something reflected in his 43% tackle accuracy. All the while, he has retained his old strengths of bringing the ball out of defence and boasting a high pass accuracy – 90%. (Terry was the world’s third best passer in 2011, with an accuracy of 91.6%, only bettered by Xavi (93.0%) and Leon Britton (93.3%))

In addition to that, the fact that he has Gary Cahill as his partner has only made Terry a better defender. In previous seasons, the pair were not particularly preferred due to the fact that they are way too similar to each other, both like to defend deep, not great readers at the time and not flawless in positioning. Having Luiz, who is an aberration from Terry and Terry Jr, was seen as adding a mix to the defence such that opponents can come up against two different types of defenders. However, this season, with Terry’s improved awareness in the game, Cahill can function as Terry’ pseudo-legs, being younger and hence, quicker compared to the 33-year-old.

What Terry also provides Cahill with, is a certain reassurance alongside him, and a certain organizational commanding that went missing when Luiz and Cahill played with each other. Terry provides that confidence, a boost to the entire backline that only a born leader can.

The return of Jose Mourinho was always going to coincide with an increase in the defensive solidity of Chelsea, but it has also coincided with the Chelsea captain playing some of his best football since perhaps as far back as Jose Mourinho’s last reign. Chelsea have only conceded 4 times in the league since the turn of the year (once due to Terry himself nodding past a helpless Petr Cech) and this has been the London team’s strength throughout the season. Equipped with less-than-satisfactory strikers – certainly for a team challenging on multiple fronts -, the Blues’ campaign has been driven forward by the fact that they are so water-proof at the back.

They don’t score much but they concede even less.

Terry has amassed around 700 appearances in his professional career thus far and given the state of transition Chelsea are in, this has been invaluable. He has faced all of Suarez, Sturridge, Aguero, Ibrahimovic, Cavani, van Persie and old-friend Drogba this season, and none of them have been allowed to score against Chelsea, barring Aguero. The big-game know-how he possesses is reflected in the fact that Chelsea have not yet lost to any of Liverpool, Arsenal, or City and his having experienced tight ends to the season, challenging in Europe and domestically will certainly help Chelsea in their bid.

Terry is certainly not getting any younger. Chelsea have already acquired the services of promising French youngster Kurt Zouma and have the likes of Tomas Kalas, Kenneth Omeruo and Andreas Christensen at the club. Should Terry’s amazing form continue though, it could yet be slightly longer before they get a look at the first team and are passed the keys to the fort that is the Chelsea defence.

Tags: Chelsea FC John Terry Jose Mourinho

Chelsea FC – John Terry’s Remarkable Change Of Form

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