Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has revealed that, upon his return to Stamford Bridge two years ago, he had his doubts about whether John Terry’s career was in decline. However, he has happily been proven wrong, and suggested that he could even manage a return to the international arena.
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According to the Daily Mail, the Portuguese believed that age had caught up with the man that had led the Blues to their previous three Premier League titles, the first two of which came during Mourinho’s first stint at the club, and he could be entering the twilight of his career.
“I thought he was over when I arrived, because he hadn’t played for the previous two years in consecutive matches,” he explained.
The statistics would suggest that Mourinho’s claims may have had some foundation. Despite the club reaching the semi-finals of both domestic cup competitions, and winning the Europa League, the defender made just 27 appearances in all competitions.
However, two years later, in this trophy-laden campaign, Terry has played 47 games, including every minute of their fourth Premier League title-winning season.
And the Mail report that Mourinho believes his excellent form proves that the 34-year-old could make a return to the England side in the future.
“He’s in condition to play international football,” he added.
“I think it’s just a decision based on other issues and factors that I didn’t want to interfere with or give any opinion; just respect his decision,” Mourinho said.
While it is exciting to see the young English players making the grade in the national team, Roy Hodgson’s only priority has to be looking towards who will be our best team for Euro 2016 – and leave the development side of things to others at the Football Association – and Terry is arguably still the country’s best central defender. If this season proves one thing, it is that there is one more big attempt at glory still left in the veteran. Roy Hodgson would be foolish to not consider making a plea to the country’s former leader to make a comeback.
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