Terry tells off Cech after his lapse

14 April 2012

While Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho blamed referee Graham Poll for the quick-fire free kick which allowed Thierry Henry to score Arsenal's second goal, his captain John Terry believed the responsibility lay a little closer to home.

Terry, who headed Chelsea's opening goal, was furious with his team-mates for the lapse in concentration which allowed Henry to fire past Petr Cech. Terry was so angry that he gave the goalkeeper a serious dressing down.

Afterwards he explained he wasn't singling Cech out for the goal, but it was clear he was frustrated at conceding such a soft goal.

"We have worked on that," he said. "I wasn't trying to dig him [Cech] out.

"We made someone face Petr so he can direct the wall and the others, the play, so they can see what is going on. We didn't do that so it was disappointing."

Despite that setback, Eidur Gudjohnsen's equaliser underlined Chelsea's determination and resilience, qualities which have put them in real contention for the Premiership for the first time in almost 50 years.

Terry, who was outstanding yesterday, says he has had enough of Chelsea's status as a team that regards reaching a Champions League place as success for the season.

"We have been too close too often and I am fed up with it now," said Terry. "I want to win something this year. The Premiership would be fantastic and we showed in the Carling Cup that we are in every competition to go and to win everything we are in. You could see that by the determination of all the lads.

"We have great experience in the side and we want to go that extra length and go and win the Premiership. With the manager's success and the players' will and desire, it is a great mix. There is no reason why we can't go on to win the league. We have to keep our nerve and go into every game thinking we can win it. We are top of the league for a reason."

And Terry added that he feels there is no need for Chelsea to buy new players when the transfer window re-opens in January.

"New players to come in? The manager has the final say about that. But we have not had any big injuries so far and, definitely, this squad is good enough to win the title. We have a great togetherness and the manager has brought that in. We want to win and to fight for each other on the pitch."

He added: "A point at Highbury is a good result. We didn't deserve to be 2-1 down at half-time and we were playing the better football.

"But a great side like Arsenal always have goals in them and are capable of scoring from anywhere. We were strong in the second half after a bit of a telling off from the manager and we gave him a great response.

"The game plan was to win. The manager has been saying all week that they are a good side but let's go there for the win.

"We are top of the league and we are top of the league for a reason. That is because we are playing better football and getting better results.

"We have a young squad but we also have players who have won things. You mix that with the players who want to win trophies at Chelsea and there is a great team spirit."

MORE ABOUT

Chelsea F.c.

David Jones (Footballer)

Petr Cech

Terry tells off Cech after his lapse

Read More