Mourinho: I had my doubts about John Terry but he proved me wrong

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has praised John Terry for his renaissance this season, claiming that the centre back is benefiting from a run of games in the Chelsea team, and can continue playing for years to come. Admitting to the Guardian that even he had his doubts over Terry in recent years, Mourinho believes that Terry’s return to form shows he is back on track.

“He’s recovering his self-esteem. In the last few years he was not playing a lot, he had problems on the pitch, he had problems outside the pitch, he had suspensions for different reasons, he had injuries, he had managers who didn’t trust him enough.

“And it looked like, at a certain moment, his career was going in the wrong direction.

“Even I was questioning, from far away, what was happening to this guy: physical problems, psychological problems, what is going on? I’m happy he’s proving he’s still a top player.”

Mourinho pointed to other defenders across Europe for evidence that Terry still has time at the top level, continuing: “He plays in a position where age doesn’t make a huge difference. It’s a position where players rely more on positioning, on reading the game, and being in the right place at the right time. Experience helps.

“Look at how many top teams have experienced players at centre-half: go to Barcelona and Carles Puyol is there, go to Manchester United and there’s Rio Ferdinand, Jamie Carragher at Liverpool was playing until last season and was important for them.

“You go to many clubs and top clubs and central defenders are 30 to 34. John is proving his quality. With what he did at Chelsea in the last decade, I think he deserves to be back on track.”

John Terry has scored nine headed goals in the Premier League since the beginning of the 2011/12 season, more than any other player.

John Terry’s headed goals in 2012/13