Graphic credit to: Lee Fraser
LB: William Gallas v Cesar Azpilicueta.
William Gallas aged 27: Signed from Marseille in 2001 by Claudio Ranieri. He played across the whole back line in all positions, making 46 appearances.
Cesar Azpilicueta aged 25: Signed from Marseille in August 2012 as a Right Back. Since his arrival “Dave” as he’s known has kept Filipe Luis on the bench in Luis’s favoured position of Left Back and has made 40 appearances in all competitions this season.
Graphic credit to: Lee Fraser
CB: John Terry 2005 v John Terry 2015.
John Terry (2005) aged 24: Signed from West Ham as a 14 year old midfielder in 1995. He was made Captain at the start of the season, replacing the retiring Marcel Desailly and made 53 appearances.
John Terry (2015) aged 34: Signed a new 1 year extension to his contract at the start of the season. He has defied all the experts by playing every minute of every Premier League match and made a total of 49 appearances this season scoring 8 goals.
Graphic credit to: Lee Fraser
CB: Ricardo Carvalho v Gary Cahill.
Ricardo Carvalho aged 26: Signed from Porto in 2004 by Jose Mourinho primarily for his pace and made 39 appearances alongside John Terry.
Gary Cahill aged 28: Signed from Bolton Wanderers in January 2012. Despite suffering a slight slump in form mid season he has still made 48 appearances and weighed in with 3 goals.
Graphic credit to: Lee Fraser
RB: Paulo Ferreira v Branislav Ivanovic.
Paolo Ferreira aged 25: Signed from Porto in 2004. He made 42 appearances primarily as right back before injury ended his season early.
Branislav Ivanovic aged 30: Signed from Lokomotiv Moscow in January 2008. He has made 49 appearances including substitutions and scored 6 goals.
Graphic credit to: Lee Fraser
Defensive Unit Summary:
2004/05: 32/40
2014/15: 34/40
Graphic credit to: Lee Fraser
This surprised me when I totalled the defensive units together, because the 2004/05 team was renowned for being the best defense by a country mile both domestically and internationally! Indeed the 2004/05 defense only conceded 33 goals in a total of 59 matches.
Paulo Ferreira is outscored by Branislav Ivanovic because of Ivanovic’s forward forays and the importance to the way Jose Mourinho wants his team to play.
This season John Terry has matched his 2004/05 season score because of his positional skills, leadership and overall importance to the team playing every minute of every Premier League game.
I have scored Gary Cahill the same as Ricardo Carvalho because despite his mid season slump he has still managed more games.
“Dave” has outscored William Gallas because of his Mr. Consistency and “you shall not pass” mentality.
So that’s my ratings for the defensive unit, would you rate them differently?
Next: Midfield Unit: