Question Of Club v Country Raised Over John Terry

John Terry’s return for Chelsea against Middlesbrough on Saturday raised a few eyebrows as well as a few questions unsurprisingly. The Chelsea captain had just missed two internationals for his country having been unable to train following a recurrence of his back problem and yet, here he was playing out a full 90 minutes for his club again.

Terry was reported to have played through the pain barrier against CFR Cluj and despite rumours he wouldn’t make our subsequent game against Villa, again managed to play albeit receiving treatment on his back part way through. When it came to playing for England though, Terry was deemed unfit to take part and yet, again appeared for Chelsea three days later at the Riverside.

So what’s going on? Is this a case of Terry being more committed to playing for his club than his country? Personally, I don’t think it’s a question of commitment but more a question of management.

Under Jose Mourinho, players were out there week in, week out, whatever their condition and that suited Terry down to the ground. Apart from a couple of months out after surgery on his back two years ago, the Chelsea captain was usually an ever-present – and that’s apparently how he likes it. Plenty of injuries have followed but however long it’s predicted he’ll be out, he’s back earlier. And I guess there’s two ways of looking at that.  Either you can say he’s a rock for Chelsea, always ready to put himself on the line, or, you could suggest a risk of early retirement through not taking better care of himself won’t help Chelsea in the long-run. Take your pick.

Under Scolari, Terry appears to have found a manager who wouldn’t force him to play through the pain. I mean, Drogba’s certainly been given ample time to recover from his various ailments so far, and Scolari doesn’t appear to be one to panic when the big names are missing. However, maybe the fact that Scolari appears willing to let Terry play before he’s entirely fit to do so, isn’t ideal either?

I’ve no doubt Fabio Capello will be less than pleased to have read Scolari’s jovial comments about the England captain being prepared “to die on the pitch”, followed by his appearance for his club. And that’s where my suggestion that this is about management rather than commitment comes in.

You see, hand on heart, I honestly couldn’t see Terry dodging a game for either club or country. If he’s got the chance to play, he’s the sort of player who just wants to play. But with Capello, he’s found a manager who isn’t prepared to send injured players out on the pitch – and he doesn’t give his players the final word. If they’re not fully fit, they don’t play and he would no doubt expect the same from their clubs, so whether Terry came through Saturday’s game ok or not, it won’t be something the England manager will be happy about.

And likewise I’m sure the odd England supporter will be asking questions as well.