Chelsea FC Captain: The Fault Is With Players Not Manager

This is the statement Chelsea FC fans were waiting for from their captain, leader, legend. In a week where the Blues were embarrassed by a subpar Liverpool side and suffered the indignity of their manager handed a one-match ban and a hefty fine, they needed some encouragement and reassurance.

Chelsea captain John Terry was happy to oblige. Speaking to the media before their Champions League clash with Dynamo Kiev Wednesday, Terry reminded them that it is the players are to blame. He said, as quoted in the Daily Mail:

"“I think it’s difficult to pinpoint as a group one thing. I think it’s a collection of things together. I and the players will stand up and say ‘I’ve not been good enough, our performances haven’t’. We realise where we are in the league, where we are in the Champions League group. At the minute the responsibility lies with us, not the manager, with us as players. Whether it’s been going bad, really bad, etc, it’s ridiculous that we have to sit here and talk about it. When it’s like that it hurts because people are fighting. I’ve seen people’s faces. If players heard that among ourselves it wouldn’t go down too well.”"

The “that” that Terry was referring to is the rumor that one of the Chelsea players supposedly told sources that he would “rather lose than win for Mourinho”. There was some speculation that it was Cesc Fabregas leading the revolt against Mourinho and that it was he who made those comments but he has come out on his Facebook page denying he ever made those comments.

As for Terry’s comments, it was the right time for him to come out and accept the blame for the way the club has been playing but these comments could have been made after the opening weekend draw with Swansea City. Chelsea have been awful in just about all competitions this season and they need something, or rather someone, to step up and make the changes.

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Terry has had an up and down campaign and has looked a vastly different player from the one who played every minute of Chelsea FC’s league-winning campaign last season. He lost his place in the team for several matches but appears to have returned to the starting lineup for good.

There were rumors in the past that Terry is the reason why managers Andres Villas-Boas and Felipe Scolari were sacked because he wields so much power in the Chelsea dressing room. That same dynamic was supposedly the reason why Chelsea was playing so poorly this season but that story does not add up. Terry enjoyed some of the greatest moments in his career under Mourinho and has always been one of the manager’s biggest supporters.

He has often come out in support of Mourinho and he owes him for bringing him back in to the fold after Rafa Benitez claimed that Terry was no longer the player he once was. Perhaps Mourinho’s loyalty to players like Terry and Branislav Ivanovic has cost him this season but Terry’s loyalty should never have come under question. The captain may have caused other managers to get the sack but they were never qualified enough for the position and proved so in their subsequent jobs.

Next: Chelsea FC: Cesc Fabregas Responds To Jose Mourinho Accusations

Mourinho has the qualifications and the gravitas to lead Chelsea FC in to the new era without players like Terry and the centerback has done well to remember that and remind us all that it is the players on the pitch who are responsible, and not the man on the sidelines.