John Terry has named Chelsea’s three best players in a season that is threatening to peter out after promising so much.
At the halfway point of the season Chelsea had emerged as Liverpool’s biggest rivals for the Premier League title, defying expectations under new boss Enzo Maresca to climb up the table.
Chelsea even had the chance to go top in mid-December but over the past three months Maresca’s side have slipped to fifth in the Premier League, 21 points behind champions-elect Liverpool.
The drop-off has infuriated Chelsea fans and put Maresca’s job under the spotlight, though getting back into the Champions League and winning the Europa Conference League would still appease the Stamford Bridge faithful.
Securing a top-four finish and a trophy would enable Chelsea to salvage the season but they face major competition for the former, with the likes of Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United, Bournemouth and Brighton hoping to join the top-two of Liverpool and Arsenal in the Champions League next season.
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Stamford Bridge legend Terry believes qualifying for the Champions League is the ‘minimum’ that should be expected of Chelsea, one of the biggest clubs in the world.
‘Is the Champions League, still a possibility? Who knows,’ the five-time Premier League winner told DR Sports.
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‘We’ve showed signs this year of being a really young squad I think. And I say that in terms of performances where you see a really good spell, then we’ve come off of it lately.
‘It was always going to be one of those seasons for me, even when we started well I thought we’d have a little bit of a drop off and we have done that.
‘Listen, Champions League has to be the minimum every year for me. When you’re playing at a top club like Chelsea the mentality has to be Champions League football year after year.’
After assessing Chelsea’s mixed season, Terry was asked to pick out the three players who have impressed him most at Stamford Bridge this season.
‘Well, Cole [Palmer] sticks out straight away,’ he added. ‘And I think Enzo [Fernandez] has been very good.
‘Noni [Madueke] as well, I think, has done well this year, he’s done a lot better and been really direct.’
Three defeats in five league games has left Chelsea outside the top-four places with 11 games remaining.
Discussing the team’s form, Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly recently said: ‘December was peak but, eight weeks out, things are a little different now.
‘If you look at the foundations being built, new management team, new academy leadership, sporting director leadership and player mindset.
‘All that’s there and now it is about cultivating the development of the team. You are always going to try to get better.’
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