Chelsea: Matic and Mazacar in the mix for all-time best partnerships

2. John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho (Abhishek Pancholi)

No other centerback partnership in the modern era perfected the good cop – bad cop routine the way John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho did.

Although, in this case, the good cop would slyly slap you in the balls when no one was looking and the bad cop would kick you in the back of your knee with the whole world watching. As you rolled on the ground in agony, Carvalho would put on his surprised face, shrug his shoulders and slip away into the darkness. Terry would protest, tell you not to believe your own eyes and swiftly find himself in the referee’s notebook.

A superb exhibition of brains, brawn and brutality, the Terry – Carvalho years were when the Chelsea backline was at its most impenetrable. Carvalho was a master of the dark arts, a silent assassin, while Terry was like a jackhammer who could also place a pinpoint pass and score a crucial goal when the going got tough.

Their partnership spoiled fans rotten to the point where we expect a Chelsea central defender to be able to do it all. But since those halcyon days, not one centerback – let alone a pair – has come close to those levels. Maybe someday.