Chelsea Need John Terry If They’re Ever to Repeat the Spirit of Spurs Derby

Now that the dust has settled and the adrenaline has returned to healthy levels, Chelsea can reflect.

Monday night was a fine spectacle for the Premier League, let alone London derbies in general. The Chelsea-Tottenham Hotspur rivalry has been given a healthy boost that means we’re already licking our lips at the prospect of the clubs’ first encounter next season.

The 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge was complete chaos. There’s no better way to describe it.

From Chelsea’s end, the buildup to the game smacked of John Terry controlling the narrative. There were players goading others in the media, talking of a dislike for Spurs as they called out to fans to let them know they understood the job they were shouldering.

In his programme notes on Monday, Terry pushed the agenda further.

“Tonight is a huge game, a London derby against one of our big rivals…,” Terry started off. “We know what this fixture means and, as with all our remaining games, we will be looking to win it.”

It was captain talk, but not from just any skipper. This was Terry, the man who has come to define Chelsea over the course of the 12 years since he inherited the armband from Marcel Desailly.

“We know tonight is going to be a completely different type of game [to those Chelsea have before the end of the season], and we will have to battle hard to take the points from this match.”

Chelsea’s players heard Terry’s calls. The words from Cesc Fabregas, Eden Hazard and Pedro leading into the game suggested it was a theme being pushed from inside the dressing room the moment the countdown started.

Chelsea didn’t want Spurs to win the league. It’s one thing desiring that, but quite another to go out and play with the sort of passion we saw to prevent it happening.

There were times in the first half when it boiled over for …

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