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 Poissa
Suosikkijoukkue: Chelsea FC
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Vastaus #1129 : 01.02.2015 klo 23:15:44 |
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Laitetaas tänne vähän kehuja kipparista:
"The ESPN FC crew debate whom they believe is the best defender in the
English Premier League, and settle on Chelsea as the best defensive
unit in the league with John Terry at the helm.
Ask any English football fan for their opinion on Chelsea captain John
Terry, and you'll probably receive a somewhat blunt response. The
first answer is very rarely "complete defender." Terry appears almost
universally despised among English football fans, with Chelsea
supporters an obvious exception. Disliking Terry has become something
of a national sport and, you could argue, with good reason.
Controversies from earlier in Terry's career range from somewhat
trivial to the significantly more serious, strengthening the case of
those who believe Terry's personality can't be separated from the
judgement of him as a footballer.
"I know what JT's like and nothing surprises me about him, so I'm not
going to comment on that guy -- I think everyone in football knows
what the guy's like," Craig Bellamy memorably declared after
Manchester City's 4-2 victory at Chelsea in 2010, the game best
remembered for Wayne Bridge refusing to shake hands with Terry. "But
that's off the field. On it, he's an outstanding player, he's a great
captain, and it's always going to be difficult when you play against
him."
This has been somewhat forgotten: throughout Terry's career, those who
dislike him have desperately attempted to find reasons to criticise
him. Yet the more you study Terry's performances in a footballing
sense, the more impressive he appears.
What do Wayne Rooney, David Villa, Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o all
have in common? Well, lots of things; they're all great forwards,
they're all European Cup winners. In this case, however, the answer is
more specific: they all consider Terry among the best defenders
they've faced.
"The toughest opponents for me are the defenders who are tough in the
way they play, where you can't see a way through," said Ronaldinho.
"Paolo Maldini and John Terry are two of the toughest men I have met
on the field."
But it's not all about Terry's toughness. "He's big, good in the air
and he's powerful," agreed Rooney. "But he is a very intelligent
footballer who reads the game so well. You come off feeling like
you've been in a real game." His anticipation skills are hugely
underrated.
"He's very English in his personality and a great leader of his team;
he never gives in," Eto'o once said. But the Sampdoria striker's next
evaluation is interesting: "Terry is strong and surprisingly quick."
That is Eto'o talking back in 2008, when he was still one of the
world's quickest forwards. If he considers Terry (at this peak)
surprisingly quick, Terry must be surprisingly quick.
Then there's the man who succeeded Eto'o at Barcelona, Villa. When
asked for his toughest opponent, he replied "Maybe John Terry. Not
just because of his reputation for being tough, but because he is a
great defensive player."
Footballers' views on other footballers can be unreliable, but when so
many top-class strikers praise Terry so highly, it's worth
considering. Similarly, any compliments about Paul Scholes from
legendary players like Xavi have been repeated to the point of
torture, but Terry is unlikely to be afforded similar treatment.
Even the Chelsea captain's fiercest critics would agree he's strong
and good in the air. However, Terry has improved since his younger
days, when he relied solely upon those traditional centre-back
qualities. His positioning has become much better, he covers well for
his centre-back partner Gary Cahill (once upon a time, it was usually
Ricardo Carvalho covering for him) and he reads play intelligently.
Despite his reputation as a tough-tackling centre-back, he very rarely
dives into tackles. In this respect, he's the polar opposite of his
opposite number for this weekend's meeting with Manchester City,
Vincent Kompany, who repeatedly throws himself into ludicrous
challenges, gets turned and is forced to foul his opponent. He
repeatedly chastises referees and never learns his lesson.
In 22 Premier League games this season, Terry has conceded just four
fouls and not been booked once, a remarkable record for a centre-back.
In 14 appearances, Kompany has conceded 24 fouls and been booked five
times.
This is partly because of individual defensive styles, and partly as
Terry is better protected. But then we've heard these "explanations"
about Terry his whole career: he looks good because of Carvalho, he
looks good because his side plays deep, he looks good because he's
shielded well by the midfield. But over a decade's worth of fine
performances suggests Terry looks good primarily because he is good.
The reality is that Kompany, a likeable and hugely eloquent man away
from the field, is a considerably less intelligent centre-back than
Terry.
Even Terry's distribution is underrated. It's always been slightly
baffling that Rio Ferdinand was considered a better passer than Terry;
while evidently a classier, more composed defender at their respective
peaks, Ferdinand was no better on the ball.
Jamie Carragher summed it up neatly in his autobiography: "I've heard
for a decade how Rio Ferdinand is an elegant passer of the ball who
starts attacks from the back. He must have hit a 60 yard pass when he
was 17 because I haven't seen much evidence since. Ferdinand is a top
defender, but he's been well served by his friends in the media
continually describing him as some kind of Franz Beckenbauer."
(Carragher, incidentally, subscribes to the Ronaldinho view: "Maldini
and Terry are the defenders I admire most in the modern game.)
Terry, on the other hand, is consistent with his distribution; he has
the third-best completion rate in the Premier League this season and,
while this is partly because most of his passes are safe, he's also
capable of penetrative balls into Oscar and Cesc Fabregas, and long
passes switching play to the right flank, too.
His pace is now a cause for concern; for Sadio Mane's opener in the
1-1 draw with Southampton in December, for example, he looked very
sluggish. But he's never turned in a performance as positionally
desperate as Ferdinand did in Manchester United's 3-0 defeat to
Newcastle three years ago, for example, when Ferdinand stationed
himself 15 yards behind the rest of the defence to hide his lack of
speed.
Lacking pace is naturally a problem for Terry at 34 years old, the
same way it was for Maldini or Alessandro Nesta or Fabio Cannavaro,
but his problems adjusting to Andre Villas-Boas' high line, in
hindsight, were probably more about Villas-Boas' system than Terry's
weakness judging by how it also flopped at Tottenham. Let's not forget
about Terry's goal-scoring feats, either; he averages a goal every 11
games, which isn't bad when you consider someone like Andres Iniesta
hits one every 10.
Finally, Terry is a great survivor. This weekend will be his 650th
Chelsea appearance, third on the all-time list behind Ron Harris and
Peter Bonetti. Staggeringly, 520 of those appearances have been as
captain. Never mind being rotated like Steven Gerrard: this season,
Terry hasn't missed a minute of Premier League football.
Terry hasn't been voted in the Premier League's Team of the Year since
2005-06, which seems ludicrous given that players like Thomas
Vermaelen and Richard Dunne have been selected ahead of him at one
time or another. He won't hold his breath for a place this time
around, either. In general, Terry isn't liked, isn't respected and is
barely even admired. But if you ignore his personality, it's clear the
Chelsea captain remains arguably the best centre-back in England."
CAPTAIN,LEADER,LEGEND.
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