The Curious Case of John Terry

John Terry retired from England duty on Sunday, overall I feel this is a good thing and I'm going to try and explain why.

Firstly, Terry was a great defender for England. He was also a great leader for England. The keywords in these two sentences are "was". Throughout his 8 year international career he has performed honourably whilst wearing the "Three Lions", he has performed with a passion that very few have shown over the past few years. He has been a leader for a team that has lacked leadership both on the field and off it; although sometimes, like everything he done off the field, he crossed a line. Terry's defensive abilities also shone on the field, along with his willingness to put himself where others wouldn't, and his defensive leadership have helped out England to achieve more than they should have. Terry formed a great defensive partnership with Rio Ferdinand that continued on from Rio's pairing with Sol Campbell. The two's individual attributes complimented each other, and for the past 8 years it would hard to argue against selecting them as the first choice pairing for England. For all of Terry's positives, there were negatives. His biggest flaw (on the pitch) was his lack of pace, and now as he cruises past the age of 31 it's going to be shown up even more at international level.

Age is a key factor in why I believe him retiring is a good thing. England have a talent group of defenders coming through and I believe Terry (and Rio Ferdinand) are now surplus to requirement. After the disasters of previous World Cup and European Championship campaigns, it is time for England to slowly remove the old "golden generation" and allow the younger players to take over. With Joleon Lescott, England have an experienced defender with no past history who can steady the ship for the likes of Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Steven Caulker to take over. I also believe this process needs to happen across the rest of the team, with Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard making way for their younger counterparts, however this is a story for another time.

Now, let's get on to the dirty off field shenanigans of Terry, the reasons why Terry shouldn't be part of the England set-up outside his declining ability.

Terry has been twice stripped of the England captaincy. That, to me, is enough to show that he shouldn't be part of the team any longer. The reasons behind him losing the captaincy are fair enough, and are something that the England captain should not be involved in. Sleeping with an ex-teammates ex-girlfriend and making racist comments towards another footballer on the pitch are not the behaviour of a role model. The fact he's trying to make himself look like the victim is also disgusting. The magistrates court and the FA are two different entities. It's only right that he is getting punished by the FA despite being found not guilty at court, in a trial that should have never been considered. A large fine and a several match ban, plus put on a "black list" for England selection where he wouldn't have been called up for 6 months or so, would have been enough for me. However, this won't happen... it's logical and the FA doesn't do logic.

In the end Terry has made himself look like a victim and people have bought it. It's a disgusting way to end his England career, but good riddance to you. The England team will be better for his loss, despite what people will try and claim.