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Terry longs for Mourinho-like squad depth at Chelsea

John Terry plans to become a manager © PA Photos

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Chelsea captain John Terry maintains the club must spend again in the summer if they are to topple Manchester United and reclaim their Premier League title next season.

The Blues saw their mini-revival end in a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford last weekend, which left Sir Alex Ferguson's men needing only a point from their last two matches to secure a record 19th championship.

Despite bringing in £50 million striker Fernando Torres from Liverpool and spending £25 million on centre-back David Luiz during January, Carlo Ancelotti was unable to find the winning formula again in 2011, having last season won the Double in his debut campaign, as Chelsea also crashed out of the FA Cup to Everton and the Champions League against United.

Terry, who has backed the under-pressure Italian amid reports he will be sacked in the summer, believes with a few more additions, Chelsea will be the side to beat again.

He told Chelsea TV: "I always think we should strengthen all over the pitch [in the summer]. I look back when Jose Mourinho was here - we had a very big squad and great players who could come in, but then that brings financial problems to the club and players become unhappy.

"We literally had 11-13 players who weren't involved, but they were a very good set of quality players and we have missed that. We need somewhere in between where we are now and what we had back then. We lost a lot big players this year and maybe we needed a bigger squad, but that's no fault of Roman or this football club. What he has done for Chelsea, I couldn't put into words.

"It's very easy for us to say we'd love to see this or that. It is his money and he has dedicated a lot of time and effort, but I would say we need players.''

Chelsea started the campaign in blistering fashion, winning their first five Premier League games, conceding just once before defeat at Manchester City. However, a poor run around the turn of the year saw them drop out of the top four, which despite their recent eight wins from nine before losing at Old Trafford proved too much to overcome. Terry feels losing to the likes of Wolves, Sunderland and Birmingham were fatal.

"When it comes to the big games, nothing has been too different in that the players have been very well prepared and gone into them feeling like we could win them like last year,'' Terry said. "Last season we won at Arsenal and at Old Trafford quite comfortably, but I always say they are very good sides, especially at home, and you can win or lose those games.

"The matches against the other sides were important, the Wolves game stands out for me and Newcastle, those are the ones you have to win because when you're playing those kind of sides, the other clubs are playing similar teams and winning those matches. If you drop points there it makes things more difficult and puts pressure on the bigger games.''

Terry turns 30 in December, and recently chalked up 500 games for Chelsea. The centre-back admits he already has one eye on life after playing, but maybe not straight into the Stamford Bridge hotseat.

"When I do retire, which hopefully will be in four to five years' time, I will step into management,'' he said. "I understand it [Chelsea] is such a big club and I will need to get experience first. I don't just want to be thrown in at the deep end, that would not be fair on the football club.

"I would like to go away, learn and hopefully come back to Chelsea with good experience and manage the club I have always loved. I have started my badges, but it's difficult to fit it in because we don't get too many days off because of the Champions League, FA Cup and so on. It's finding the right balance, so I have not done as much as I have liked. It has been a lot slower than I thought but I will go again next year.''

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