John Terry offers bleak assessment of Chelsea’s struggles as Blues legend has his say on Mauricio Pochettino
JOHN TERRY believes Chelsea are a "long way off" Manchester City and Liverpool - but claims Mauricio Pochettino is still the right manager.
The England legend fears it will be quite a while before his old club win the Premier League for the first time since 2017.
But JT appears to have no doubts over Pochettino, despite Chelsea sitting just ninth in the Prem, 12 points off the top four.
Ex-Tottenham chief Poch spent £448.5million on new players last summer.
But many 2023 buys have so far been poor value for money, notably £107m Enzo Fernandez and especially £115m Moises Caicedo.
However, Terry is well placed to deliver a positive verdict.
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The 78-cap former centre-back won the Prem five times and the Champions League once as a Chelsea player from 1998-2017.
JT, 43, then returned to Stamford Bridge last year to do some academy coaching.
And after picking up a Player Career gong at at the Globe Soccer Awards in , he said: "Unfortunately, Chelsea are a little bit off it at the moment.
"But given time - the manager needs time - Poch is a great manager. I've seen him work on a daily basis."
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Terry, though, is realistic about the Blues' short-term future.
He added: "We are a young squad of players as well, but we are a long way off the likes of Man City and Liverpool at the moment."
"I think we're seeing cycles. I think when I look back 10, 15 years ago, 'Man United were dominating the Premier League.
"Chelsea come along, we dominated for a little bit. Now Pep and Man City are dominating."
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