Rio Ferdinand has been named one of the top five Premier League midfielders of all time and it can be said that John Terry does not agree with his list, as he names three Manchester United defenders.
John Terry and Rio Ferdinand (
Image: Getty Images)
John Terry has responded to Rio Ferdinand’s claim that the former Chelsea man is only the fifth-best center-back in Premier League history with a message “statistics don’t lie”.
The 41-year-old is considered one of the best defenders of the era of the highest category, having performed consistently at the highest level for almost two decades. He ended up winning five Premier League titles and countless other trophies, including the Champions League in 2012.
Terry finished his career with 492 first-class appearances and is known by many as Chelsea’s most successful captain in club history. He was also called up 78 times by England before retiring from international football in 2012 to focus on his career at the club.
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However, Ferdinand put three Manchester United central defenders ahead of Terry, including himself. The former Leeds United man was discussing the top five central midfielders in Premier League history with Virgil van Djik of Liverpool ahead of the Champions League final on Saturday.
Ferdinand placed first, with Nemanja Vidic in second, Van Djik third, Jaap Stam fourth and Terry at the end of the stack. Meanwhile, the Dutch international got out of the equation and also put Ferdinand up, followed by Vincent Kompany, Stam, Terry and Sami Hyypia.
It’s a debate that has sparked some discussion on social media and Terry has disagreed with Ferdinand’s thoughts when analyzing the statistics behind all Premier League supporters. In an Instagram story, Terry posted a series of images and graphics that contained a variety of statistics to give him a backup.
Chelsea legend John Terry posted on Instagram statistics arguing his case against Rio Ferdinand (
Image:
Instagram / @ johnterry.26)
Who was the best Premier League defender between Rio Ferdinand and John Terry? Let us know in the comments below!
There was one that included the captains with the most Premier League titles and another that had the center-backs with the highest winning percentage in Premier League history. Terry also added a picture of the top ten players with the most FIFPRO World XI nominations.
All three were overtaken by Terry offside and he captioned the post “opinions are good, but statistics don’t lie”. Another chart had Terry on the list of the highest-scoring defenders of all time.
Ferdinand, however, praised Terry when he explained his decisions to Van Djik. He claimed he was a “much better footballer” than people say he was after his spells with Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.
He said: “In terms of his longevity at this club, what they won, the body on the line, a footballer much better than people attribute to him, he could play with his right and left foot.”
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