Chelsea: John Terry proves pivotal miss in Liverpool loss

Chelsea showed how important John Terry still is to their team as the Blues crashed to a 2-1 defeat to Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.

Liverpool stunned Stamford Bridge as they comfortably beat Chelsea 2-1 to take all three Premier League points. The Blues are hoping to be serious title challengers this season, but will need to improve immeasurably after a passive display against Jurgen Klopp’s team.

One improvement which clearly cant come soon enough is the return of the injured John Terry. For all the talk of how far the Chelsea captain has fallen, he sure is important for that Chelsea defense.

Antonio Conte fielded Gary Cahill and David Luiz at centre-back in Terry’s absence, with the Brazilian making his first start since returning to the club. Generally, Luiz did well. All the Chelsea fans who were concerned about Luiz playing in such a game needn’t have worried.

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It wasn’t anything special from Luiz, but it was solid. A stable showing. What Luiz did not give the team, however, was the leadership and organizational skills of Terry. The 35-year-old may be declining physically, but Terry remains the leader of this team.

Chelsea started the game very passively. Liverpool looked like they were up and motivated for a big game. Chelsea looked like this game was the last thing they needed. An inconvenience, almost. A slow start was compounded when Liverpool went 1-0 ahead.

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Surely Terry would have had his teammates livelier and sharper from the kick off were he playing? The team looked like they missed that voice. That leader watching over them, making sure nobody is slacking off. It was almost like the kids at school taking a huge sigh of relief while the teacher is away.

Liverpool’s first goal offered another example of the gap Terry leaves when he is not there. A free kick for the away team on the left wing was floated in by Philippe Coutinho. The ball flew straight to the back post, where three Liverpool players were left completely unmarked.

The Chelsea defenders were marking each other at the front post. Meanwhile, Dejan Lovren scored with a neat finish to put Liverpool ahead. An awful goal to concede and one where Terry surely would have been screaming at everybody to mark their man and be alert had he been there.

However, one goal wasn’t enough. Conte’s team only really got going once they were 2-0 down, which tells you everything. Jordan Henderson scored a fantastic long-range strike to extend the lead. The 2-0 scoreline finally gave Chelsea the motivation they needed.

Diego Costa pulled a goal back in the second half, but the game ultimately ended 2-1. It was just too late. Chelsea left themselves to much to do. The team didn’t look mentally prepared for such an important game.

They allowed the game to pass them by and that’s exactly what it did. Terry would not have allowed that. Not in that manner. You might lose the game. But you’re not going through the motions for 45 minutes if Terry is screaming in everybody’s ear.

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Terry proved a crucial miss in the game for more than just his play with his feet. The biggest miss was his leadership, mentality and organizational skills. It was a gap Conte could not fill, that’s how big a loss it proved to be.

Terry might not be the player he once was. But he’s still important as the team’s organizer and leader.

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