Chelsea legend John Terry has dissected the Blues' narrow 2-1 defeat to Arsenal, singling out captain Reece James for criticism ahead of Kai Havertz's equalising goal.
Chelsea initially took the lead through Morgan Rogers, but Havertz restored parity before the half-time break. According to Terry, James gave the German too much space, allowing him to shift onto his stronger left foot.
On his YouTube channel, Terry stated:
Reece simply needed to drop deeper and close down the space. That way, Havertz would have had to go outside onto his weaker foot. Instead, he shifted inside and was able to strike because there was space and a free area in front of him.
The former Chelsea captain also commented on an incident involving Emiliano Martinez and Gabriel. At one point, the Arsenal defender kicked the Chelsea goalkeeper in the head while going for the ball, yet no action was taken.
Terry believes the Chelsea players should have been more proactive in getting the referee's attention regarding the incident:
I think we missed a serious opportunity to get Gabriel sent off. It seemed like Hato and Joao Pedro were closest. When you see an attack like that on your goalkeeper, you need to surround the referee and say, 'He just kicked our keeper in the head.' You've got to put some pressure on the referee.
I understand that ideally you don’t want to do that, but we're here to take three points and fight for the title.
I feel we need to be smarter in the game. Arsenal are very good at that, probably the best.
However, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher disagreed with Terry, asserting that there was no grounds for dismissing Gabriel. He opined that the Brazilian was merely trying to clear the ball and only caught Martinez accidentally afterward:
I see absolutely no malicious intent here.
