Jose Mourinho has spoken of John Terry ahead of yet another season that the legend will remain as Chelsea Captain. Mourinho was keen to point out that life goes on when it’s time for players who have been instrumental in our success to call time on their Chelsea careers.
“Five or ten years ago, every Chelsea supporters would say, ‘I can’t see Chelsea winning a title without Frank Lampard.’ But Chelsea won the title without one of their three best players of the last ten years,” Mourinho said.
“No-one is irreplaceable. Difficult to replace, yes. To replace one by one, it is also very difficult. Very difficult. But to replace by good time, a good structure, a good dynamic, good options, it is possible.
“We were champions without Frank. We were champions with Petr Cech playing only six matches, not 38 like always. And one day we will be champions when John finishes – which I don’t think is next season.
“One day, when he stops, we have created already a situation for John to be replaced. Obviously last year he was fantastic. He didn’t play in the national team. When I could protect him in Capital One Cup matches, I did. When I could protect him in Champions League matches in the qualification group, I did too.
“We invested everything with John in the Premier League, so let’s see if he can have the same season with one more goal scored to be better than this season.”
Mourinho is right. The club has to have a structure in place to bring players through and to identify the next option to replace Terry when he decides to call it a day in a Chelsea shirt and his career.
Players come and go, but the club and the supporters remain. No one will ever forget what Frank Lampard and Petr Cech have given to this club and to the most successful period in our history and the same will be said of Terry.
However, we all know what Terry is like and it’s clear that he wants more while he is still here!