It's only been a couple of days since Chelsea defender John Terry retired from international football and people are already talking about who might replace him for England. One of those people is Tottenham Hotspur assistant manager Steffen Freund. In a press conference before the Carlisle game Freund had a lot of kind words to say about young Tottenham defender Steven Caulker.
"He is similar (to Terry). He has already been called up for the national side and he's definitely one of best centre halves in England. 'He is like a rock in the defence, he's very tall and strong, and is difficult to beat in a one-on-one situation. He's very talented and wants to improve every game."
Well, in terms of footballers (not people) to be compared to, John Terry isn't bad. Terry has made 547 appearances for Chelsea and scored 49 goals in his career. In addition he's made 78 appearances for England and scored 6 goals. If Caulker could come anywhere close to replicating those numbers I think most Tottenham Hotspur fans would be quite pleased.
In terms of physical presence, Caulker is bigger and more mobile than Terry. They seem to both be equally competent in the air. Terry always had an excellent first touch and was a pretty good passer. From what we've seen of Caulker he is comfortable on the ball, but he may not quite be on Terry's level.
I think Caulker, who is only 20, still has a long way to go in his development before he can be mentioned in the same breathe as Terry, but Caulker possesses a lot of potential and under the current coaching regime it would seem like he has the coaching necessary to take the next step. Hopefully, Caulker will start getting some games, either in Europa League or the Premier League and we will all get to see the tools that he has.
So, what do you say Spurs fans. Is Steven Caulker a logical John Terry replacement?