Having been written off by fans and pundits alike before Jose Mourinho’s return to Stamford Bridge, John Terry has silenced many a detractor in the last two seasons. Since the “Special One” made his way back to Chelsea, Terry has been named in our Team of the Season in consecutive years and been honoured in the PFA Team of the Year for his exploits this campaign. Although a line has been drawn under Terry’s England career, the Blues stalwart is exhibiting few signs of dotage on the domestic stage.
The Statistics
Despite going undefeated in their first 11 matches, Chelsea recorded just three cleans sheets over that period. With nothing in the way of attacking returns to bolster Terry’s output, though, his value depreciated from 6.5 to 6.3. The Blues’ subsequent seven matches restored our faith in his big hitting-potential, in light of the London club’s six clean sheets and Terry’s back-to-back goals in Gameweeks 17 and 18 that delivered successive 15-point hauls. A further eight shut-outs in 20 starts ensured that Terry remained at the forefront of the defender discussions in the second half of the season.
While Branislav Ivanovic’s spate of attacking returns (two goals and four assists in nine starts) upon the turn of the year rendered him the premier Chelsea defender for much of the campaign, two goals and three bonus points in his final five fixtures meant that the Blues captain finished just two points shy (177 points) of Ivanovic’s total score (179 points), while stretching his lead over third-placed pair Nathaniel Clyne and Phil Jagielka to 35 points.
In fact, Terry – who spearheads the defender scoring leaderboard with five goals – ranks seventh in the full Fantasy Premier League (FPL) roster, after surpassing his 2013/14 tally (172) with two fixtures to spare.
Although Terry picked up more bonus points (14) than Ivanovic (13), both defenders surprisingly fall short of Cesar Azpilicueta’s tally (19). Terry’s initial price tag (6.5) was pitched a tier below the marauding Ivanovic (7.0), yet the pair are more or less identical for points per game, with 4.7 and 4.8 ppg respectively. On a lesser note, Terry chalked up eight fewer yellow cards (two) than Ivanovic (ten) this term, keeping the negative points to a minimum.
The Prospects
One of only four outfield players (along with Ivanovic) to play every minute of the 2014/15 campaign, Terry’s guaranteed pitch time could well earn him a price hike to 7.0 next time around, putting him on a par with the Serbian.
Mourinho clearly has no concerns over Terry’s fitness right now and it was perhaps telling that, when Kurt Zouma was occasionally handed minutes in the heart of defence, it was Gary Cahill who dropped out to accommodate the youngster. With Cesar Azpilicueta and Filipe Luis still battling it out for the left-back berth, Terry’s security of starts offers a solid route into the Chelsea defence.
The Blues’ resilience under Mourinho saw them produce more clean sheets (17) than any other side and also saw them concede fewer goals (32) – a pattern that looks likely to continue for the following campaign due to Jose’s pragmatic approach.
Terry’s consistency of attacking returns also serves to strengthen his case for investment. The Premier League’s all-time top-scoring defender has netted at least three goals in the past five campaigns and scored more times (five) than any other defender this term.
For those Fantasy managers prepared to shop in the premium bracket next time out, it’s difficult to look beyond the Chelsea defence as a reliable source of returns. Providing he can steer clear of injury, Terry looks likely to push Ivanovic all the way for our attentions as Mourinho keeps faith in his skipper to lead the London outfit to a successful title defence.
