If you ask a Chelsea supporter to list the characteristics of John George Terry, you’ll likely hear phrases such as “inspirational leader,” “home-grown talent,” “captain fantastic” and the “heart and soul of Chelsea”. Ask a neutral, and you’ll be presented with a wholly different list of traits: "love rat," "moron," "full-kit wan**r" and, arguably, "racist".
But one thing that diehard Blues and neutral football fans alike should agree upon is that, transgressions aside, John Terry is one of the finest goal-scoring centre backs England has ever produced. Last weekend against Liverpool he notched up the 39th BPL goal of his career, making him the highest-scoring defender in the Premier League era.
Unimpressed? Then consider the following:
-
John Terry (10) has more than twice as many career Champions League goals as Radamel Falcao (4).
-
Averaging a goal every 11.7 games, John Terry’s career Premier League strike-rate is nearly three times better than USMNT forward Jozy Altidore’s (two goals in 68 games).
-
With 65 goals (and counting) in all competitions, Terry is 21st on Chelsea's list of all-time leading goalscorers.
-
Terry has scored in 15 consecutive Premier League seasons; the best Michael Owen ever managed was nine.
-
In the three full seasons that occasional central defender and supposed marauding goal threat David Luiz spent at Stamford Bridge, Terry outscored him by 10 goals to four.
-
Terry is averaging a goal every 648 minutes in the league this season. That’s a considerably better return than such attack-minded talents as Mario Balotelli (one goal every 940 minutes), Cesc Fabregas (every 954 minutes), Ashley Young (every 959 minutes), Samir Nasri (every 790 minutes) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (every 1,428 minutes).
So, however much of an odious individual you consider John Terry to be - and, as a person, we think he’s up there with Bill Cosby - it would be remiss not to acknowledge him as being one of the greatest goalscoring defenders in the history of the game.
Well done John. Now please, stop being such an unbridled douchebag.
