Is John Terry Leaving Chelsea the Correct Decision?
For Chelsea supporters, John Terry leaving their club hurts. Badly.
In the past 30 months, the club has said goodbye to Ashley Cole, Michael Essien, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Petr Cech and Jose Mourinho—basically every person of legendary status from their would-be golden generation.
Terry was the constant, an ever-present. If you cut him, he probably bleeds blue, that's how woven the centre-back is to Chelsea Football Club.
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Starting his west London career aged 14, playing 18 senior seasons, amassing 703 appearances and scoring 66 goals, the club's long-serving captain seems destined to leave this summer, as reported by the Guardian's Dominic Fifield.
The exact reason why Chelsea are not re-signing Terry will probably be revealed in some tell-all book in five years' time. Reasons could stem from his role in former manager Andre Villas-Boas' horrific tenure, possibly his vocal support of Mourinho last December or perhaps something more sinister.
Whatever the reason, the public is not to know.
The timing is odd. Possibly the Blues' worst defender this season, Branislav Ivanovic, was offered a contract, which he signed, after woeful performances. Moreover, Ramires signed a new five-year contract last October, but he was sold to the Chinese Super League's Jiangsu Suning three months later.
Chelsea are not opposed to offering contracts, so why not extend that generosity to arguably your best-ever player (certainly your most decorated)?
It is a confusing decision for Blues supporters. Add the fact Terry is clearly their best defender not recovering from knee ligament damage (i.e. Kurt Zouma) and you have the makings of a mystery.
Not knowing whatever internal issues, there can only be three reasons why Terry could be leaving SW6.
The first is manager Antonio Conte.
Does the Italian boss want him? If so, does he have the power to keep him? Operating under the assumption he would like to work with Terry, Conte—as stood out when he was announced—is not the "manager," rather the "head coach."
Conte's title suggests he has little control over contracts and transfers, just overseeing game preparation, picking his matchday squads and the usual in-game management of which many are accustomed. So what the 46-year-old coach wants, might not matter too much.
"There must be something more behind John Terry's non-contract.
— ChelseaTalk (@ChelseaTaIk) 12 May 2016"
But, maybe, as seem w/ Cole, Čech, Lampard & Drogba, #CFC just don't get it.
The second is dressing-room power.
As long as Terry remains in Stamford Bridge's dressing room, he has the clout to manipulate hearts and minds toward or against managers, coaches or even board members.
Can this new Chelsea allow the 35-year-old to decide whether he likes Conte or not? If he does, great, but if not, then what happened with Villas-Boas could happen again.
The third is a desire for change.
Should Terry remain in west London, he stunts the leadership of Gary Cahill. He takes a rotational spot from either an up-and-coming academy prospect (e.g., Jake Clarke-Salter) or loanee (e.g., Andreas Christensen). Also, his mental capacity for defending at centre-back is exemplary, but attributes like speed and acceleration have irreparably vanished.
Chelsea cannot play a high defensive line, leading to more attacking football, with slow centre-backs. Zouma could only protect Terry's inability to cover ground for so long. When the Frenchman was ruled out for the season, so was any chance of playing a more aggressive defensive structure.
Furthermore, technical director Michael Emenalo and director Marina Granovskaia have signed three centre-backs this year: Michael Hector, Papy Djilobodji and Matt Miazga. If any of that trio are to succeed at Stamford Bridge, having an automatic starter, whose career could last two more Premier League seasons, crushes their hopes.
Having Terry around has the potential to hurt the Chelsea board's reputation, and one can be confident they know about risk aversion.
This should start a discussion on how clubs treat their legends. The Blues haven't been great at honouring (or allowing supporters to honour) distinguished footballers in the past, and this case appears to be another in a long list. Maybe the saving grace, though, is Terry's the list's last name.
It should make him special. It should make him their last chance to get this right.
In any event: Smart people learn from their mistakes; wise people learn from the mistakes of others; the dumb never learn—so we shall see.
*Stats via WhoScored.com; transfer fees via Soccerbase where not noted.
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