After John Terry’s man-of-the-match display in Chelsea’s 0-0 draw with Arsenal, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher lauded the Blues captain as the best centre-back in Premier League history.
It was a bold statement, but few know the position better than the former Liverpool defender who made more than 500 Premier League appearances during his playing career.
"There have been a lot of great centre-backs in Premier League history, but I think he has been the best that we've seen,” Carragher said of Terry, who made his 454th Premier League appearance against the Gunners.
The former England captain is on the cusp of leading Chelsea to the fourth Premier League title of his career, and a look at this season’s Opta stats illustrates how he is outperforming all of the favoured centre-backs at the Blues' top four rivals – Vincent Kompany and Martin Demichelis at Manchester City, Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny at Arsenal and Chris Smalling and Phil Jones at Manchester United.
Many felt Terry was past his best after he fell out of favour during Rafael Benitez’s brief spell at Stamford Bridge, but despite being the oldest of the top four’s favoured centre-backs, his stats this season are unrivalled.
The 34-year-old hasn’t missed a minute of Chelsea’s Premier League campaign and ranks first for blocks (28) and clearances (194), closely followed by his centre-back partner Gary Cahill in both categories.
Thirteen of those clearances came against Arsenal as he produced an individual performance Mourinho described as his “best ever” from a defensive point of view.
His alertness to danger and positional sense were highlighted by Carragher in the Sky Sports studio. "For the next 20 or 30 years, that position at the near post, when we see other defenders doing it we’ll call it the ‘John Terry’ position,” he said.
“We’re not just talking about a big aggressive centre-back, Terry is always in the right position. His understanding of where to be, his reading of the game and reading crosses cannot be matched. I don’t think we’ve ever seen anyone better.”
Terry is also a formidable one-on-one defender, boasting an outstanding tackle success ratio of 86.8 per cent this season. Of City, Arsenal and United’s favoured centre-backs, only Phil Jones (82.5 per cent) and Vincent Kompany (80 per cent) come close.
On top of that, Terry has won 73 per cent of his duels on the ground and on the air, including six out of six in the goalless draw with Arsenal. Per Mertesacker is just behind him in that category on 72.11 per cent.
While PFA Player of the Year Eden Hazard has been the standout star of Chelsea's season, Terry has been their rock at the back. Indeed, Carragher felt he deserved to be nominated for the award.
“Yes, Terry should be in the top six players,” he said. “There’s no doubt that, just behind (Eden) Hazard in this Chelsea team, Terry has been the most influential.”
There are more yet more stats to back Carragher up. Terry has helped Chelsea keep 16 clean sheets – more than any other Premier League side – and in the 2970 minutes he has played this season, he has only made two errors leading to opposition shots, which shows the sheer consistency of his performances.
Despite being overlooked for the main award, Terry was named in the PFA Team of the Year alongside team-mate Cahill in central defence. Outside of the top four the likes of Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel and Southampton’s Jose Fonte have also impressed, but the evergreen Terry is undoubtedly the best of the bunch.