Will Antonio Conte need to keep John Terry as Chelsea FC captain?

Antonio Conte needs to create leaders in the Chelsea FC dressing room. Could a leadership vacuum open the door for John Terry to finish his career at Stamford Bridge?

After Saturday’s 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne (who, by the way, used to play for Chelsea FC), interim manager Guus Hiddink noted the lack of leadership among the squad.

"It’s good to see younger players coming through but it’s good to have the younger players developing themselves on the lead of big players. That’s a bit lacking at the moment. If you have leaders then it’s easier for them to integrate, but I emphasise in the instance of Loftus-Cheek, he’s developing himself rather OK."

Hiddink’s comments reveal yet another flaw in Jose Mourinho’s short-sighted handling of player roles and man management. The Portuguese has already been roundly criticized for not prioritizing the academy-to-first team pipeline, and for not providing newly acquired young players the necessary match opportunities to grow into first team regulars (see, e.g., de Bruyne, Kevin).

Now we see that there was little effort to develop a cadre of young leaders who someday would not just wear an armband but assume the role of captain.

Hiddink’s comments reveal yet another flaw in Jose Mourinho’s short-sighted handling of player roles and man management

If only Chelsea had a captain – possibly a leader …maybe even a legend – that has already expressed his desire to conclude his playing career with the team. Someone who could wear the armband but also teach the next generation of Blues what it takes to captain a football club on and off the pitch.

En route to Champions League and Premier League titles Chelsea had as much depth in the captain’s position as they had any position on the pitch. Didier Drogba, Petr Cech and Frank Lampard all regularly shared the workload with John Terry. Like Terry, each of these athletes firmly qualified as captain, leader and legend. Unlike Terry, each of these athletes currently plays somewhere else.

Ivanovic has stood in as captain in place of John Terry more than any other player this season. Even if his performances had been up to last year’s standard, he doesn’t carry the gravitas of the club’s former backup captains. Captain? Sure, he’s got the armband. Leader? Maybe, we don’t know all that goes on at Cobham. Legend? Not a chance.

The captaincy will only become more important under incoming coach Antonio Conte. Conte’s highly disciplined, structure-based brand of football will require not just an on-field leader but a training ground and locker room leader.

Conte’s captain will need to bring the troops in line behind a skipper that is not known for tolerating dissent. A manager like Conte needs a captain on whom he can rely absolutely, and whom the players will trust and follow – even if they’d rather not. Conte has limited options among Chelsea’s current dressing room. Among his transfer window dealings he may need to add a senior player experienced in his management and style of play to communicate and implement his plans.

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Or, he could go a long way to endear himself to the Chelsea faithful and possibly the players by pressuring management (and ownership) to give John Terry the retirement in blue that everyone knows he wants.

All quotes taken from ESPN FC.