Would be surprised if there wasn't already a thread for him but I couldn't find one so if somebody could kindly merge if there is.
Didn't know where to put this.
Jamie Carragher interviews John Terry: Chelsea and Liverpool legends come head-to-head to discuss the ghost goal, this season and what the future holds...
By Jamie Carragher for the Daily Mail
22:30 04 Dec 2015, updated 05:02 05 Dec 2015
OUR BATTLES
Carragher: āJohn Terry is the best Premier League centre back of all time.ā Who said that?
Terry: (long pause) My mum, probably.
Carragher: It was me! You werenāt saying anything about pundits then, were you?! But letās go back to 2005. You are named the PFA Player of the Year. Do you remember when you found out that Stevie (Gerrard) and I had voted for you? We saw each other at England and you seemed surprised. Was that genuine?
Terry: Yeah, of course. I didnāt have a clue. It was funny because after that, I phoned Bobby Barnes from the PFA about it. He told me I had quite a few votes and was in the running. But even then, I never dreamed of winning it. Only Paul McGrath (in 1993) and Gary Pallister (1992) had won it as defenders. Iād been struggling with my toe that year. If you have a chance of winning, they tell you to come along to the awards just in case. But I told Bobby I needed to know whether Iād won because I wouldnāt have been able to get my shoes on! Before every training session and game, I had to have an injection. So, that night, our doctor came to the hotel, gave me a jab that lasted three hours so I could get my shoes on to go on stage! As I was coming off stage, the jab started wearing off and I was thinking āIāve got to get out of here!ā
Carragher: I had absolute respect for you as a player but, Iāll be honest, we couldnāt stand Chelsea at Liverpool back then. Was it the same for you with us? At the end of my career, Iād played against Chelsea 45 times. Youāll be the same, as you were in all those gamesā¦
Terry: You know what, every time we got drawn together, we kept thinking āletās have itā. The rivalry was there for the fans and we loved coming up against you and Stevie. It was massive. The (Champions League) semi-final in 2005. We were 30 points or something ahead of you in the table. We should have rolled you over. But the thing about Liverpool was that hunger, that fight. The fans, the passion. You and Stevie. It was everything.
Carragher: What do you remember most about that night? The Luis Garcia āghostā goal, of course, butā¦
Terry: (dead pan) What goal? What goal?
Carragher: The ghost goal! Itās Chelseaās ghost, not ours! But at the end of the game, the first thing I wanted to do was go over and see you. I knew how much you had given. Every game we played was either 0-0 or 1-0. As a defender, I was going in thinking, if someone gets the better of me, thatās it.
Terry: You never forget moments like that. But donāt you think as defenders, we get nerves that midfielders and strikers just donāt get? As a defender, you have to be so mentally strong. You could have two or three games consecutively where you are at fault for a goal. As a midfielder, if you lose your runner, nobody thinks about it, do they? Lose your marker as a centre half, itās all your fault.
Carragher: The level of concentration and intensity around those games. At the time, you just get on with it but now you look back at it and you think āChelsea? Champions League semi-final?ā
Terry: I can imagine what Rafa (Benitez) would have had you doing in the days beforehand, having experienced it here. We were similar (in our preparations). After the game, you are dead, arenāt you? You are blown to bits.
Carragher: I think we had a hold on you because we played you at your own game. Arsenal and Man United tried to play football against you. We wouldnāt have dreamed of doing that, we werenāt good enough. Weād knock it long to Peter Crouch or to Dirk Kuyt to pressure Ashley Coleā¦
Terry: How good was Kuyt in those games? You would watch him week after week and think to yourselfā¦ But then he played against us and, like everyone else, he would be a level up.
ENGLAND
Carragher: How do you look back at your England career?
Terry: You know what, I loved it up until a certain point when everything went on. It disappointed me, more than anything. I look back on my 78 caps and Iām unbelievably proud. I was captain for two spells. Itās the biggest honour you can have in football. As a kid, itās the thing that everyone wants. Iām just disappointed with how it ended, really. I never saw myself walking away. It took something that big to say enough is enough. Once you get to 50 caps, then 60, then 70ā¦ I had a target of 100 caps. That is all I ever wanted to do. Number one was to play for England, second was to be captain and third was to get 100 caps. Iāll watch games now and it kills me. I donāt miss being away. No chance. I get to spend time with my kids, I get to see them play. I get a few days off and have family time. But I watch England games and think āI could have been playing thereā. I could have been there last summer. I had one more cap than Wazza (Wayne Rooney) when I retired. I would have been there or thereabouts, so that kind of eats away.
Carragher: Fabio Capello resigned in 2012 when he disagreed with the FAās decision to take the captaincy off you. Have you spoken to him much since then?
Terry: Iām still in contact with him. Itās really strange. I didnāt have that kind of relationship with him as captain. You know what it was like ā he was hard. But we still speak, we text. Itās bizarre. How he stood up for me, given the character that he was, meant everything to me. I gave everything to England. In Portugal in 2004, I missed the birth of my kids as I was away with England. I missed the best day of my life. So the way it finished saddens me, if Iām honest. It was the best thing ever, going away and representing England.
Carragher: How did you get over it then? How did you cope knowing that people last season were saying you were the best English centre half and should be playing? Did you just have to draw a line?
Terry: Definitely that. In the back of my mind, something was saying ācome back, get to 100 caps ā show a bit back at themā. That was me kind of being ānever give upā. Thatās why when I was an England player I said I would never walk away. So (to do) it was something massive. When you have gone through everything as a player, youāve been away with them, played with injections to get through games and to get turned over, it really saddens you. The fight inside me wanted to go back and play. I wanted to get to 100 caps because I would have been captain. They told me that Iād never be captain again but if I got to 100 caps, you are captain. That was the mentality I had in every game I watched.
THIS SEASON
Carragher: I expected domination again from Chelsea this season. Thatās why it has all been such a shock. People canāt believe a team managed by Jose is having this run.
Terry: We were so good last season, teams sat off. But two games into this season and we get beat (by Manchester City). Everyone saw that and thought āwe can give them a run for their money hereā. You get beaten again and the mentality changes. Teams come and have a go at you.
Carragher: You are taken off at half-time against Man City. What do you think?
Terry: Listen, you take it in your stride. I was more shocked than anything. But I took it and went out to watch the second half. Iāve got that mentality where you go in the next day, work your socks off and think to yourself āright, Iāll show youā. There is no point moaning, sulking or staying in the dressing room. Thatās not me. Iāve got to where I am in my career by fronting things up. So I did and I knew, sooner or later, heād put me back in.
Carragher: Even at this stage of your career, does something like that put doubt in your mind?
Terry: Yeah, of course. Itās a game-and-a-half into the season. Against Swansea on the opening day, I thought I played well. I had a shaky 45 minutes against (Sergio) Aguero, who is one of the best strikers in the world. But if you go back to the last seven or eight games Iād played against him, he hadnāt got a sniff. Maybe I was due that. But you do lose a bit (of confidence) for sure. I think you pay more attention (to the criticism), too.
Carragher: People have been saying this year that āJohn Terryās legs have goneā but they havenāt gone ā you never had them! I was the same.
Terry: But thatās lazy, isnāt it? You get to a stage and people say āthatās wrongā but they donāt back it up. Youāve been there. Youāve played. You know your legs aināt gone. It takes a little bit longer to recover but when youāre ready and the adrenaline pumps in, you are fine. Iāve never been quick.
Carragher: Exactly! Youāve always been towing a caravan!
Terry: (much laughter) Thanks!
Carragher: You reach a point and start to think twice about doing things that were natural rather just thinking āIām doing itāā¦
Terry: Yeah, itās not relying on your instincts, which you have made your name on. It (anxiety) does set in but then you hit the ground, have a couple of wins and you are fine again. But this hasnāt happened to me much in my career, so it (the attention) definitely does (have an impact). I donāt care what anyone says. It hits you a little bit.
Carragher: How do you cope with going from being a regular to not a guaranteed starter?
Terry: Itās different for centre halves. I donāt know what you think but as a midfielder, you can miss a game and come back. As a centre half, you are either playing or youāre not.
Carragher: Thatās it: as a centre half, you are never going to come off and you are not going to come on if you are sub. When I was out the team under Kenny (Dalglish), I was thinking to myself āI could be out the team for months, hereā. But, listen, this season the team hasnāt played well ā what is different about the club to bad runs that you have had before?
Terry: Itās not different. The league table says itās different but it isnāt. If you look for stuff (that is wrong) you will find it. You could sit there after a game and find a million things. Iād prefer to say ās*** result, letās just move onā. Iāve had some managers who overanalyse things but nothing is there. Some will see that you have conceded goals at set pieces, so they will practise 20 corners. It does nothing. If anything, it does the opposite. It highlights things and makes people worry. So the manager (Mourinho) has just been like āletās get on with itā. The quality is there, everything is there.
Carragher: The only difference is the manager hasnāt been sacked!
Terry: Listen, his stability is massive for the club going forward. What the club have done is set a precedent and said heās the man to take us forward. He will do. This squad of players won the league last season. There is no difference. Itās a bad run of form. Really bad. When you have been at the top for so long, itās horrible. You donāt want to go out after games, you donāt want to show your face in public. Itās that level.
THE FUTURE
Carragher: Your contract is up in the summer. If Chelsea donāt offer you something, do you know your next move? Or are you just going to wait and see what happens?
Terry: I think Iāll wait, yeah. I donāt know at the minute. As you get older, you start to look down that route. Iām doing my coaching badges at the minute. Iām looking at TV. Iāve done some bits for Sky and BTā¦
Carragher: Weāre after someone, you know! Are you doing anything this Monday?!
Terry: (laughs) When you have the security of those contracts for four or five years, you are fully focused on that. But when you get to those year-on-yearsā¦ I was going to ask you a question, actually. When did you know you were going to call it a day?
Carragher: I knew 18 months before. As soon as I wasnāt a regular, I had 18 months left on my contract. I knew then I wanted to go. Iād worked for ITV at Euro 2012. Iād started my coaching badges ā I wouldnāt say I loved it ā but Iād enjoyed TV. When I met Brendan Rodgers for the first time, I told him I had 12 months left on my deal and I was going to go at the end. It was killing me training and not playingā¦
Terry: Thatās always been my mentality. I have never known (how) players can go week after week not playing. This is the first time in my career where I have not been a regular in the team. I couldnāt see myself doing that for a year or two years. But, at the same time, I couldnāt even begin to think about being somewhere else or playing for someone else. Chelsea is my club. Iāve been here 20 years. Iāve looked into coaching. Playing-wise, (if I went) it certainly wouldnāt be here.
Carragher: So you couldnāt play for anyone else in England?
Terry: No. No chance. No chance. America, maybe. But physically I feel like I can still play. Do I want to play? Of course I do. But then decisions come in to it with your family. What if you go somewhere and it doesnāt work out? Everything else comes into play, doesnāt it?
Carragher: Do you look at your loan spell at Nottingham Forest in April 2000 with any regret? You played six games for someone else other than Chelsea. If it hadnāt been for those games, you could have been like a Maldini, Baresi, Giggs, Carragher! You know, one club menā¦
Terry: (laughs) Itās a funny story actually. Chelsea wanted to sell me then. They had agreed a deal with Huddersfield. After my loan at Forest, I was supposed to go to Huddersfield. Steve Bruce was their manager. Gianluca Vialli was manager here and he knew David Platt at Forest. But I did well in those games, I started five and came on in the other. Chelsea wanted more money then decided they didnāt want to sell as Iād done well. I came back and got on the bench for the FA Cup final.
Carragher: Have you been close to moving at any point since? Did it ever cross your mind?
Terry: No. There was the thing with Manchester City. They offered Ā£29million for me in 2009 and Chelsea turned it down. I had a meeting with Roman (Abramovich) about it. I said to him, if the club accepts the offer then it tells me you donāt want me. So then you havenāt got a choice, you have got to go. But if they donāt accept the offer, it tells me everything that I need to know. Chelsea refused the offer and that was it.
Carragher: One final thing ā give us your all-time Chelsea XIā¦
Terry: Iāve never done this before! Iām going to play 4-3-3. So weāll say, Cech, Ivanovic, Carvalho, Ash. Iām putting myself in! (long pause) Now this is where it gets hardā¦ Lampsā¦ Didier (Drogba)ā¦ Robben (puffs cheeks out), (Damien) Duffer was good, wasnāt he? But itās got to be Hazard in that position. Then Makelele, plus Zola. Itās got to be him, hasnāt it? Weād be s*** at corners but weād be all right otherwise!