04/23/24
February 28, 2007
The heroism-stupidity line.: After John Terry's decision to leave hospital as quickly as possible, Martin Samuel wonders is he believing his own hype as "captain indestructible" and when bravery turns into stupidity.
I admire his grit, but it does seem like he could set a better example by using a little common sense. Sure, in a crucial situation, you play through the pain if you can, but when the only thing that you're contributing to by pushing on is your reputation, it's time to sit down and focus on recovery. The more you put into recovering, the sooner you'll be able to play at 100% again, and if you're playing hurt today (or resisting treatment) when the team doesn't need you, you're likely to screw them later when they need you at your best (or when you needlessly aggravate an injury to the point that it ends your career).
posted by ctal1999 at 10:36 PM on February 28, 2007
Warning, link goes to the Mirror ;) He has just had another scan, and will be having a thrid at some stage.
posted by Fence at 02:48 AM on March 01, 2007
I'm not a Chelsea fan, but I generally like John Terry. It's interesting to me that he has managed to overcome the follies of his youth to become such a well-respected player. Overall, while I agree with Samuel's general premise that Terry appears to consistently put himself in a position of playing when doing so may be worse in the long run for him and his team, I think much ado is being made about nothing with respect to him leaving the hospital early to celebrate with his teammates. I guess Samuel just needed a hook for his story/hypothesis (and again, I think the hypothesis seems to be pretty valid). In terms of Terry's tendency to put himself in position to worsen injuries in general, though, I think the manager bears a responsibility for keeping the player off the pitch when it is detrimental to the long-term interests of the team, so there's some blame for Jose as well. Considering that Jose is just as competitive as Terry and probably won't be around past the end of next season at the longest, however, the long-term interests of the club may not be first and foremost on Jose's mind. Considering Terry's back problems, the ankle injury he picked up in Champions League play and assorted other nicks and bruises, I'm surprised he was in the Carling Cup final at all, particularly in light of the fact that Arsenal did not exactly field their best team.