Ranieri tips Terry to hold England role for a decade
The Chelsea centre-back will line up against Arsenal in tonight’s FA Cup quarter-final replay at Stamford Bridge and then link up with the senior national squad for the first time.
“He’s 22 and he could be an England centre-back for a minimum of 10 years. He could be there for a long time.
“His body and strength remind me of Tony Adams. He reads the game very well and feels tall and strong. And he can mark any striker, even Thierry Henry.
“He made a little mistake, which anyone might make, but I’ve seen his commitment and focus since then.”
Terry is revelling in the heart of the Blues’ back-line, a position he will occupy when Ranieri’s men attempt to dispatch Arsenal at the second attempt and clinch their place in the April 13 semi-final against Sheffield United at Old Trafford.
Ranieri revealed how Terry’s talent stood out the moment the Italian boss succeeded Gianluca Vialli in September, 2000: “I saw John play for the reserves during my first month in charge. I saw him and thought he was a fantastic young player and believed in him immediately. I preferred him to Frank Leboeuf. And since then, he’s improved match after match. He’s confident, strong and solid in the air. They’re good qualities for a defender.
“Marcel Desailly is a big champion for Chelsea and maybe John can achieve what Marcel has achieved in his career.
“John always concentrates on his job and has suffered a lot for the first team when Marcel and William Gallas were playing and he wasn’t. He continued to train very well and played in the reserves to make up his fitness.”
Ranieri has studied Arsenal closely this season, and despite their Champions League exit at the hands of Valencia, he still rates them as one of the finest teams in Europe.
“I saw all Arsenal’s Champions League games at Highbury and they’re a great team, one of the best in Europe. They lost in Valencia but their football is very, very strong. I believe they will play very strongly tomorrow night because they want to win the FA Cup. But, for sure, Chelsea will also play very, very hard and fight. I want to fight and I want to win.
“We’ve played a lot of matches against Arsenal and every game is difficult. They’re fantastic on the counter-attack.”
French midfielder Emmanuel Petit returns from his calf injury to face his former Highbury team-mates tonight.
Arsene Wenger has vowed his team will “give everything” to clear the path to more Millennium Stadium glory.
“It’s a cup game and everybody in my team wants to win this FA Cup tie. We want to win the competitions we’re in and take every chance to do that,” said Wenger. “I feel that, in the dressing room, my team are in fact really up for it and have the mental determination to do well.
“I don’t know how we will respond after the Everton game, but I know we really will give everything.
“If you look at our record in the FA Cup since I came here, we’ve been in the final three times and the semi-final once. That means the FA Cup is important to us.
“We’ve had a few tests in the last two seasons. We’ve played Chelsea twice, Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester United.
“And we have a good record against Chelsea. The winners of the game will not have won the cup but they will be favourites. We have a disadvantage because we played yesterday and they played on Saturday. Playing twice in 48 hours is not ideal.
“But will our victory give us enthusiasm and less fatigue than normal? It’s hard to predict.”
Sol Campbell will have a fitness test to reveal whether his problematic Achilles will withstand 90 minutes of action tonight.
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