Chelsea Players Must Respond to John Terry's Rallying Call to Save Jose Mourinho

COBHAM, SURREY—It was by design that John Terry should be the Chelsea player speaking to the press on Tuesday.

Ahead of Champions League matches, participating clubs must present the manager and a player to be quizzed by journalists. With all the speculation and angst surrounding Chelsea, there was no better man than their captain to take up such duties.

He may have indulged in a few quips along the way—namely his response to Robbie Savage's criticism of him—but Terry set his stall out from the get-go here. He was setting the record straight.

"It's not going to come to that," he confidently stated when asked if the current slump in form will end in Jose Mourinho losing his job as Chelsea boss.

"He's the best manager with the best history at the football club. Certainly, in all aspects of the managers I've worked with, he's by far, by a long, long way, the very, very best.

"We are going to turn this around. There aren't any what ifs, what if we lose our next game, what if we lose our next two. We're going to turn this around.

GLYN KIRK/Getty Images

"That's the only way I'm thinking [...] I'm sure and I'm adamant that we will turn this around. [Jose] will be in charge for the rest of the season and long after I've finished playing at the football club.

"He's the right man to take this club forward and where we want to be."

We talk of a captain's performances on the pitch; well, this was a captain's performance in the face of adversity in an intimidating media environment.

It was aggressive, domineering. Controlled.

Terry didn't flinch once. He didn't duck or dive, instead meeting the questions thrown at him head on in the way captains should.

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

It was a rallying call from Terry to the Chelsea players. This is the way things stand, this is our position and we're together.

Now his team-mates need to respond and show it's much more than words.

For too long Chelsea have been fragile this season. They've allowed the pressure surrounding their league position to envelope them, crushing them at times.

So much so, they have dropped more points from winning positions than any other team this season. It started on the opening day against Swansea City and continued as recently as Saturday against Liverpool.

Those eight Premier League points dropped when leading teams would make all the difference right now. They wouldn't have Chelsea back among the genuine title contenders but would still position them in seventh place, just two points off the top four.

IAN KINGTON/Getty Images

Instead, their failure to control matches and play without that nagging fear they will lose has crippled them. It's left Chelsea closer to the relegation zone than the top half of the Premier League, let alone European qualification.

For Chelsea, that's not good enough; for the reigning champions of England, even less so.

Until now it's been Mourinho taking the flak for it all. As Terry pointed out in his press conference, it's the manager who must face scrutiny after every game, while the players can disappear and not face the criticism.

Tuesday was different. It was the captain stepping up, standing shoulder to shoulder with his manager to accept the players' failings in all of this, too.

Mourinho has been culpable in Chelsea's decline and so too have the players.

"The manager can do all the preparation he wants, but when we step over that white line, it's out of his hands," Terry added.

What Terry was getting out is that he and his team-mates need to take on some responsibility. That includes accepting their own faults this term; yet above all else, it means putting things right on the pitch.

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

If they fail to do that against Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday, it will all but write off their season.

Mourinho's view is that facing the Ukrainians isn't a must-win, although his team cannot lose the game either. Should it come to that, Chelsea will be four points behind their Group G rivals with just two games remaining.

Time will be running out and Chelsea's Champions League destiny will no longer be in their own hands.

If that proves the case, Terry can give all the rallying calls he likes, but time may well be running out on Mourinho at Chelsea as a result.

So much is riding on Dynamo's visit to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea need to start winning games and winning them now.

The captain has made his call, so now for the response.

For the sake of Mourinho, it needs to be a good 'un.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes