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'Disgraceful' Chelsea told to let John Terry loose on Mauricio Pochettino's dressing room
Chelsea have been urged to radically shake up Mauricio Pochettino's backroom staff by bringing in John Terry.
Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara has urged Chelsea to promote club legend John Terry and “allow him to get hold of” Mauricio Pochettino’s dressing room. The Blues are languishing in 10th place in the Premier League and most recently lost 1-0 away to Championship side Middlesbrough in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final.
A lack of leadership is the criticism often levelled against Chelsea this season, following the club’s dramatic overhaul and focus on youth since Todd Boehly and co took charge at Stamford Bridge. Conor Gallagher has donned the captain’s armband in Reece James and Ben Chilwell’s absence, but O’Hara believes that Terry needs to return and be let loose on the squad.
“The first thing they should do is phone John Terry and get him in that dressing room and allow him to get hold of some of those players,” O’Hara told Grosvenor Sport. “Their standards have fallen so far that they’ve forgotten what it means to play for Chelsea Football Club, and they need to be reminded of it.
“I remember playing against Chelsea when I was a player and coming up against the likes of Terry, Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Didier Drogba. They were proper men who wanted to turn up and get good results.
“Even if they weren’t playing well, they would turn up away from home and win games; they’d go through teams and refuse to roll over. They’d fight to get a result and that’s why they were so successful.”
Terry is already working at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground complex having been hired as an academy coach in July, but O’Hara believes that his talents would be put to better use with the first team. He described the current Blues team as “disgraceful” and insisted that only two of Pochettino’s stars wanted to get on the ball in their cup upset at Middlesbrough on Tuesday evening.
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“I looked at this Chelsea team against Middlesbrough on Tuesday night – and I’ve been watching them for the last 18 months too – and they are as soft as anything,” O’Hara added.
“They’ve got absolutely no leadership qualities; none of them want to get on the ball apart from Thiago Silva and Cole Palmer. Connor Gallagher is a good player, but captain of Chelsea? One of the most successful football clubs in the world? Come on!
“They’ve been disgraceful this season – they’ve absolutely messed it up, and these players aren’t getting any better anytime soon. Forget potential and what they’re ‘going to be’ doing in a few years, they haven’t got the mentality to accomplish anything or be successful. They’re going to be where they are for a very long time.”