The Man of the Match in Chelsea’s Capital One Cup triumph, Captain John Terry, has been able to draw parallels with a decade ago as the current crop under the same manager quickly set their sights on more silverware this season.
Ten years after lifting his first Chelsea trophy, a very happy John Terry repeated the success but this time with the added bonus of his first cup final goal.
“This is the first one, it is massive,” he the Chelsea website.
“It meant an awful lot to us in 2004/05 in Jose’s first year here and it could be the start of something very good. Now we have to kick on with the League to focus on next but it’s a great day and a great win.
“I’m delighted with my goal and delighted with the team’s performance and lifting the trophy but you have to build on that. You have to set the foundations and we have done that, this is the first one and hopefully we can kick on.”
Terry, who also made his debut in the League Cup back in 1998, spoke about the strong desire among the current Chelsea crop to make history and the way they went about doing so at Wembley on Sunday afternoon.
“It is the start of something and we have to win trophies to be up there with some great sides, but we have won our first one now and in 2005 it inspired us and kicked us on and hopefully this will do the same.
“The pressure was there before the game but that is what cup finals do to you and I thought we handled the game very well.
“It was fairly even in the first half but we controlled it a little better in the second half and we are deserved winners.
“Spurs like to press, certainly in that first phase, so we tried to miss that out and get the ball into the front man a bit sooner which eliminated it a little bit, and I am delighted for Diego, he is in great goalscoring form and it is great to see him do it on the big stage as well.”
One of the game’s big talking points was Jose Mourinho’s solution to being robbed of the services of Nemanja Matic and needing to deal the Tottenham central attacking threat of Harry Kane with Christian Eriksen behind. The manager deployed Kurt Zouma further forward than normal with Gary Cahill and Terry paired in central defence.
“We did a little bit of work on it in the week and we shuffled it, so the manager does keep everyone guessing and on our toes,” said Terry.
“He said in the team meeting everyone has had a part to play in this competition and it is hard to leave some people out, but that is why he is the best because he makes good decisions.
“In this competition he made it very clear from the outset that we were out to win it and credit to the manager and the squad.
“The squad is moving in the right direction with some young players and hungry and experienced players as well, it is a great mix.
“A few teams over the years have written this competition off but it has always been close to my heart, and to be in this great stadium lifting this trophy is a really great feeling.”
It was the Blues skipper who fired his side into the lead against Tottenham to turn the Capital One Cup final tide against North London and in favour of the west, with the 2-0 win sealed when Diego Costa’s strike found the net and the Chelsea defence held firm.