Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has moved to defend under-fire captain John Terry ahead of rumours that the former England international could be axed for this weekend’s clash against Arsenal, reports Sky Sports.
The 34-year-old has endured a difficult start to the new season that has since seen his place in the side speculated about as a result.
“He’s a player of my total confidence. I trust him as always and he’s one of my men. Because he’s on the bench one game or because I take him off at half-time, nothing changes,” said the Blues boss. Last season, Terry played every minute of Chelsea’s title-winning campaign, but has already found himself out of the side early on due to poor form and indiscipline.
The long-serving defender played a full 90 minutes in a 2-2 draw against Swansea, before being substituted at half-time in a 3-0 defeat against Manchester City.
He followed that up with a sending off in a 3-2 win away to West Brom, missing their Crystal Palace defeat through suspension, and was an unused substitute for their midweek Champions League clash against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Arsenal are the next to being welcomed to Stamford Bridge by the Premier League defending champions, but Terry could be forced to sit this one out.
With the pacey duo of Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez set to start in attack for the Gunners, Mourinho could well look to the athletic Gary Cahill and Kurt Zouma as his centre-back pairing to try and quell Arsenal’s speed up front.
