With John Terry out injured, Chelsea have lost their way in the Premiership. (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images).
Soccer: John F. Molinaro
Chelsea feeling blue without John Terry
Last Updated Friday, Jan. 5, 2007
by John F. Molinaro
Chelsea is one of the most cosmopolitan teams in world soccer.
The west-London club is owned by a Russian oligarch (Roman Abramovich), has an American chairman (Bruce Buck), and its players wear jerseys plastered with a South Korean sponsor (Samsung) while being coached by a Portuguese (José Mourinho).
Fittingly, Chelsea's player roster resembles the United Nations with a host of countries represented, most notably Germany (Michael Ballack), Ukraine (Andriy Shevchenko), Ivory Coast (Didier Drogba), France (Claude Makelele), Ghana (Michael Essien), the Czech Republic (Petr Cech), Portugal (Ricardo Carvalho), Cameroon (Geremi), Italy (Carlo Cudicini), the Netherlands (Arjen Robben) and Nigeria (John Obi Mikel).
And yet, despite having a galaxy of superstars from around the globe, it's Englishman John Terry who is the backbone of a club that has won back-to-back Premiership titles.
It's terribly clichéd to refer to the Chelsea captain as the heart and soul of the team, but that's exactly what the central defender is.
Drogba provides Chelsea with its offensive punch (he leads the league in scoring with 13 goals), Essien the muscle (he's played every minute of every league game this season) and Frank Lampard the drive (his rampaging play in midfield runs opponents into the ground).
But Terry provides Chelsea with its spirit and character thanks to his inspired play in anchoring the Blues' defence.
Terry is not a particularly cultured or elegant defender - no one will ever mistake him for AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini - but the Englishman is a no-nonsense, physically intimidating, take-no-prisoners kind of player.
The Blues are often lauded by the British press for their never-say-die attitude and their unwavering belief that they are never out of game even when trailing late in the contest.
John Terry is the main reason for that because he inspires confidence in his teammates - his timely tackling skills, his impeccable marking of opposing forwards, and his ability to read the game and deal with trouble before it even develops makes him Chelsea's most valuable asset.
You need only look at Chelsea's current crisis to appreciate his importance to the club.
The Blues have conceded eight goals in the last five games without their captain, who is currently sidelined with a back injury, and have tied their last three contests to drop six points behind Premiership leaders Manchester United.
Without Terry in the lineup, Chelsea has looked shaky and brittle in defence - they have now conceded 15 goals during the 2006-07 campaign, only five fewer than they allowed all of last season.
Even in the games they have won without Terry, Chelsea has looked far from dominant.
Against Everton on Dec. 17, the Blues needed two goals in the last nine minutes of regulation to beat Everton 3-2. A week later, a goal from Robben in the 90th minute allowed Chelsea to escape with 3-2 road victory over Wigan after squandering a 2-0 lead.
On Boxing Day, an error by defender Ashley Cole saw newly-promoted Reading tie the score in the 85th minute and earn a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's home stadium. Four days later, Chelsea settled for a similar result before the home fans when another defensive error saw Fulham score the tying goal late in the contest.
Manager José Mourinho, usually the paragon of cool and someone who rarely reveals what he's really thinking to the British press corps, could barely hide his disgust after the draw with 12th-place Fulham.
"We simply cannot defend right now," Mourinho told reporters.
Without Terry, the Blues have lost their confident swagger and are no longer impenetrable, a fact not lost on opposing teams."The story is the same for us. When teams keep seeing us making mistakes they believe they can score goals … At the moment we are always in danger," explained Mourinho after the Fulham game.
A few draws might seem like no big deal, but for a club such as Chelsea, who has lost only eight times in its last 98 league games and has rarely looked up at another club sitting in first place, it's a major catastrophe.
And if Terry doesn't come back - and soon - that six-point gulf between them and Manchester United will slowly widen as Chelsea watches its chances at a third straight league title slip away.
For all of Chelsea's Ghanaians, Germans, Dutchmen, Italians, Frenchmen and Portuguese, it is an Englishman who leads them.
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