When they were rivals on the pitch, battling it out in the knockout stages of the Champions League, there was no love lost between Jamie Carragher and John Terry.
A grudging respect, maybe, but you would never have considered Terry and Carragher to be great buddies.
But the former Liverpool man has been lavishing the praise on the Chelsea skipper following Sunday’s goalless draw at the Emirates.
“We talk about Chelsea being a defensive team, but sometimes you’ve got to say they defend brilliantly, and Terry is the best,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.
“There have been a lot of great centre-backs in Premier League history, but I think he has been the best that we’ve seen.”
Carragher even believes that long after he’s finished playing people will talk about Terry positioning, presumably in much the same way as the ‘Makelele role’ has come to define holding midfielder’s.
“For the next 20 or 30 years, that position at the near post, when we see other defenders doing it we’ll call it the ‘John Terry’ position,” he added.
“You can’t always find yourself in the right position to put your head on things and clear things, you’ve got to have an understanding of the game.
“We’re not just talking about a big aggressive centre-back, Terry is always in the right position.”
