http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,1447151,00.html?gusrc=rss
Richard Williams
Tuesday March 29, 2005
John Terry remembers the day he won acceptance among Chelsea's superstars. It
was the morning of his first training session with the senior squad, and he
marked it by giving the new manager a good kick.
"I was there with the likes of Dennis Wise, Marcel Desailly, Roberto Di Matteo
nd Mark Hughes," Terry said yesterday. "Gianluca Vialli had just been made
manager, and I came in and kicked him from behind. The other lads all said,
'You can't do that!' But he came up to me and and shook my hand and said,
'That's what I want to see.' He was making the point to all the other young
lads that it doesn't matter who they are, they're there to be kicked, just
the same as anybody else. And that's something I've always done."
Half a dozen years later, and now the bearer of the captain's armband at
Stamford Bridge, Terry retains a refreshing straight forwardness. Fans of
Barcelona, however, will probably not appreciate his unvarnished
interpretation of the last-minute goal with which he eliminated their club
from the Champions League three weeks ago, when the referee and linesman
failed to spot Ricardo Carvalho holding back the goalkeeper as Terry's
header flew into the net. "I didn't see it until after the game," he said.
"It was only when we were watch ing it in the dressing room. Ricky said,
"Look at this!" And I saw him pulling the goalkeeper. I'd have gone mad at
him if the referee had blown up, though."
So the header was going in anyway?
"Yes," he said, with a broad smile.
"I really enjoyed coming back into the team and playing alongside Rio," he
said. "I've got great respect for Sol. But now I've got my chance in the
side and it's down to me to keep working hard and training hard and playing
well in the games. With the chances I'm getting at the moment I hope I
can prove myself."
"Ledley came in against France and played brilliantly," Terry said. "I thought
he was very unlucky not to play in the next game, and I would have totally
understood if the boss had told me that I wasn't playing. And Jamie Carragher's
been fantastic this year, so it's not just about Sol and Rio. He's got to be
aware ofJamie, Ledley and Wes Brown, who's come back into form. We've got a
lot of centre-halves who're all fighting for those two places."
He returned from Portugal last summer feeling he had not done himself justice.
"I don't feel I've done anything wrong in an England shirt, but I don't feel
I've reached my best yet. In a club match you can maybe get away with being
a little tired, but at this level you have to be at the top of your game
every single time you play.
"At the end of every season I like to take a week off and think about the way
things have gone. I look at the tapes of a few games, some I've done well in
and others I've done not so well in, and I assess my own performances and try
and improve that over the summer. I speak to the fitness coaches and the boss
before I go away and see if there's anything I can improve before I come back.
That's what I did over the summer. I worked hard and I came back a lot
fitter and a lot sharper."
As well as a commendable interest in self-improvement, ultimately Terry's
trump card may be a gift for captaincy, displayed since it was conferred on
him by Jose Mourinho at the beginning of the season. Much has been said
in recent days about Mourinho's influence on Joe Cole, but Terry was keen to
stress his own debt to the Chelsea manager.
"He's been brilliant for me, right from the start. He sat me and Frank Lampard
down and said, 'Listen, either of you is going to be my captain, but whoever
it is, I want you to be a winner and I want you to be my speaker on the pitch.'
"He's given me great confidence. He treats us with great respect, tactically
he's spot-on, and he knows exactly what the players want. I think I've stepped
up into the role of captain. On the pitch I'm very vocal, and if someone needs
to be told something, I'll do it."
A mention of the England captaincy, however, brought words of appreciation
for David Beckham, who is currently under fire for his performances.
"We've already got a great captain," Terry said. "He's a great talent, he's
great with the lads and they've got great respect for him. I think it's
going to be a few years before anybody gets the armband off him."
好險! 好險! 謝天! 謝地!
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