Gary Neville believes John Terry should fight for his Chelsea future as long as possible instead of following Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard to MLS.
Writing in his Telegraph column, Neville says ‘there is mishandling of 32 to 34-year-olds’ throughout the game, as he addresses Terry’s predicament following the Chelsea captain’s half-time substitution at Manchester City last week.
Instead of looking for last pay days abroad, Neville suggests that older players should realise they can’t play every game, while managers need to trust their experience and constructive influence in the dressing room.
‘Didier Drogba was moved out of Chelsea, then brought back in. Steven Gerrard should still be at Liverpool. There is no way he should be kicking a football for LA Galaxy,’ writes Neville.
‘At Liverpool on Monday night, Jordan Henderson went off injured with his team 1-0 up. Why could Gerrard not come in those circumstances to do a job, to provide control and experience?’
‘Terry doesn’t need advice from me, but in these situations I would always say: relax, enjoy what’s to come, realise that 25 games for Chelsea is better than 45 for the Orlando Owls or the Tasmanian Tigers.
‘Equally Mourinho has to be happy with it and know the player will not be disruptive.
‘There is a reason why Ryan Giggs played until he was 40 and Paul Scholes made it to 38.
‘They accepted the shift into a different phase of their career: a change Gerrard struggled to accept last season.’
