Chelsea legend Frank Lampard quickly shot down any comparisons of Gabriel and William Saliba to iconic Blues pairing John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho.
Saliba and Gabriel have formed one of the best centre-back pairings in the Premier League and impressed again as they helped Arsenal keep a clean sheet in a 2-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
With the duo's success in Arsenal's defence, it's inevitably led to comparisons with some of the Premier League's most iconic centre-back partnerships like Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, Martin Keown and Tony Adams as well as Terry and Carvalho.
However, Lampard does not believe Saliba and Gabriel come close to Chelsea's rock-solid defensive pairing.
When asked during Amazon Prime's pregame coverage of Arsenal against PSG if Saliba and Gabriel were comparable to Terry and Carvalho, Lampard responded: 'No. Not yet.
'If they go and win two or three Premier Leagues and a Champions League, then maybe you can compare them.
'I'm not putting them down. They are fantastic and growing all the time. It's not fair to make that comparison because this is all ahead of them.
'But at this point, no. But what they're doing at the minute is great things.
'But yeah, win some stuff, boys, and you can get in that conversation.'
During their time together at Chelsea, Terry and Carvalho won three Premier League titles, three FA Cups and two League Cups.
The pair were also at the heart of a Blues backline that shipped just 15 goals across a full Premier League season in 2004-05.
In an interview with Chelsea's official site in 2023, Carvalho opened up on the near-telepathic understanding he had with Terry and how it came to be.
'I was talking to him from the beginning and after we enjoyed ourselves; we had a very good relationship together and we started to know each other quickly,' Carvalho said.
'Sometimes we didn't even need to speak, it was just about looking at each other and I knew what he was going to do.
'He knew that I liked to cover, I knew that he liked to fight for the first balls, so it was automatic. Those are the kind of things you feel and it is difficult to explain in words.'
Terry and Carvalho's partnership was broken up in August 2010 when the Portuguese international voiced his desire to join Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid.
As for Terry, he remained at Stamford Bridge until 2017 when he brought an end to his 19-year stay at the club and moved to Aston Villa on a one-year deal before retiring in October 2018.
AppeDeNazário
0
FA bri
You can keep that FA in your toilet 😂
Twariki
0
Who cares about his managerial career. He won all the trophies that you will never ever dream of achieving soon. Assanal 😂
😂🖕
Twariki
0
But won us 1cup what did arteta had won for you
FA bri
Bepbcdimps
0
That is why, he is most failure coach of this era, is defender that make them win league and champions league? They asked him individuals skill ability, failure coach is answering with sentiment.
Most ‘failure coach’ according to you 😂 Where will you put Wayne Rooney then?
AppeDeNazário
0
Rampard failure manager
Who cares about his managerial career. He won all the trophies that you will never ever dream of achieving soon. Assanal 😂
tazcknpuz
0
Rampard failure manager
But won us 1cup what did arteta had won for you
abangyaandrews
0
But both of them didn't go for a whole season without conceding a goal if i can still remember very vividly.
the set the most home unbeaten record and least goals conceded in a season 15. cam ur guys do that??
best190
0
where are their Epl and Ucl titles?
What u guys problem with Arsenal? Are u just hatter’s because we are flying at the moment??
best190
0
Delusional club; players, staffers and the fans alike. No wonder they hardly win anything substantial cuz complacency is their chief diet.
Smiles am getting better everyday.. that’s the truth u guys can’t handle
best190
0
You sound so foolish🤧
Thank u
best190
0
that's while Arsenal remains in search of Trophies season in season out because Arsenal Fans & Team hate truth and reality
Am not arguing with u time will tell
Fiuabceny
0
Rampard failure manager
sush butthurt!
NanbalRaphael
0
Lampard is talking kak,how can you say they must win the league or champions league. Remember these are defenders,ther job is to defend and strikers must score.Example is now in 2 games they didn't concede bt they are on 4 point.tht shows defenders hv done their job bt strikers fail to score in 1 game.So it can happen tht in all 8 games they play nil-nil draws then they will hv 8 points bt will not be enough to go ahead then you say defenders are not good enough. John Terry was having great players like the same Lampard,Essen and Drogba in front of him,hence he archive wat he hv archived.
He never said the are not good bro... Just that they have not reach to the standard of been compare to Terry and Carvalho. This guy's conceded 15 goals 🥅 in an entire EPL 38 matches. Which I think it will 50-80 years b4 this record can be broken.(Impossible)
NanbalRaphael
3
He never said the are not good bro... Just that they have not reach to the standard of been compare to Terry and Carvalho. This guy's conceded 15 goals 🥅 in an entire EPL 38 matches. Which I think it will 50-80 years b4 this record can be broken. (Impossible)
Bozeltuyz
1
Lampard is talking kak,how can you say they must win the league or champions league. Remember these are defenders,ther job is to defend and strikers must score.Example is now in 2 games they didn't concede bt they are on 4 point.tht shows defenders hv done their job bt strikers fail to score in 1 game.So it can happen tht in all 8 games they play nil-nil draws then they will hv 8 points bt will not be enough to go ahead then you say defenders are not good enough. John Terry was having great players like the same Lampard,Essen and Drogba in front of him,hence he archive wat he hv archived.
Supermimo
0
Our boys never want to come close to them… cos they are way better now
that's while Arsenal remains in search of Trophies season in season out because Arsenal Fans & Team hate truth and reality
Supermimo
0
so it was only Terry and Ricardo that made Chelsea to win those trophies? Wrong notion.Football is a team game and if your attack is not good,the defence will always leak goals. At this point,we can as well say that the French world Cup winning team in 2018 in all positions is far better than the England's players since no modern English player has won the World Cup. Oliver giroud better than York Greizman better than Beckham Kante better than Lampard Hugo loris better than seaman.
And if your attack is very very good and your defence is porous and weak, you will win trophies right. You need to understand things from the perspectives of those who saw the listed players play. You are running into a wrong conversation if you try to argue JOHN TERRY & RICARDO CARVALHO indisputable greatness in EPL. Maybe you didn't watch JT & RC of Chelsea and even the kind of attackers & Strikers they came across in their entire playing time in Chelsea. Those deadly, Sharp, aggressive, physical and Strong Strikers & Attackers are scarce in the world of football today. You are comparing League Football to World Cup that just played few games.
AlwaysSoccer
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That is why, he is most failure coach of this era, is defender that make them win league and champions league? They asked him individuals skill ability, failure coach is answering with sentiment.
I don't think you should be talking about failure tho😬
AlwaysSoccer
0
Our boys never want to come close to them… cos they are way better now
You sound so foolish🤧
Twariki
0
Rampard failure manager
patacrtuy
0
JT and RICH have no mate
sure
patacrtuy
2
they should stop that Rubish
patacrtuy
1
Bro 😂 ? cry more those are kids
Tell him again
AFeruuUE0025
0
Your spelling mate😂 It’s Saliba
ChelseaFC_Addict
0
But both of them didn't go for a whole season without conceding a goal if i can still remember very vividly.
Bro 😂 ? cry more those are kids
hinbelnrtz
0
But both of them didn't go for a whole season without conceding a goal if i can still remember very vividly.
Show24real
0
Smiles we will talk about that when the trophies starts calling on us
And then the paire won’t be there again 😂
kuyablosuy
0
No now, you can't compare Salina and Gabriel with JT and R Cavalho now......for just one season? you can't compare Van Dijk , Saliba and Gabriel with any of them.
luydknorsy
2
For a club to concede only 15 goals in a all season is not a joke , premier league is very tough ,when will there saliba did that please JT and RC in 203_204 are imagination guys 💪🙏💙👍
Temaklnpt
0
so it was only Terry and Ricardo that made Chelsea to win those trophies? Wrong notion.Football is a team game and if your attack is not good,the defence will always leak goals. At this point,we can as well say that the French world Cup winning team in 2018 in all positions is far better than the England's players since no modern English player has won the World Cup. Oliver giroud better than York Greizman better than Beckham Kante better than Lampard Hugo loris better than seaman.
cedaeimno
1
This comparison is out of place. How can you be comparing sleep with Death.
cedaeimno
2
JT and RICH have no mate
Gbengababs
0
They are coming
So now you know they are jusy coming? Why did you made such a comment in the first place? To compare the things that don't look alike
best190
0
Delusional club; players, staffers and the fans alike. No wonder they hardly win anything substantial cuz complacency is their chief diet.
Smiles we will talk about that when the trophies starts calling on us
Jackson_Kpadeh_Jr
1
Our boys never want to come close to them… cos they are way better now
Delusional club; players, staffers and the fans alike. No wonder they hardly win anything substantial cuz complacency is their chief diet.
best190
0
Our boys never want to come close to them… cos they are way better now
They are coming
lilmen20
0
Our boys never want to come close to them… cos they are way better now
better without EPL and champion's language??
Thaj
1
That is why, he is most failure coach of this era, is defender that make them win league and champions league? They asked him individuals skill ability, failure coach is answering with sentiment.
And that's why your wacky grammar is failing you hugely too because it is difficult for you to accept the truth. And understanding English seems to be having serious impact in your life
kamaknrtz
2
Whether the defenders are good or not so good also depends on the players in front of them.
SpeedRashyDon10
0
Our boys never want to come close to them… cos they are way better now
where are their Epl and Ucl titles?
best190
0
Our boys never want to come close to them… cos they are way better now
yehbceikmp
1
For Terry and Carvalho's time, they were unstoppable. But times are changing ….
Faycekoptz
2
That is why, he is most failure coach of this era, is defender that make them win league and champions league? They asked him individuals skill ability, failure coach is answering with sentiment.