John Terry gave a good impression of the heroic captain as he left his off-field troubles behind him at White Hart Lane

The scene at the end was the perfectcliché of the never-say-die, heroic captain. One point in the bag and another seemingly made, John Terry sauntered towards the band of Blues, peeled off his shirt and waded bare-chested over the advertising hoardings to hand his Chelsea jersey to one of his disciples. As he walked away, he banged his fist on his heart.

In Planet Terry, the vignette represented how fond he is of a performance that reeks of his own determination to tackle adversity head on. But the problem with Planet Terry is that there is no place for the kind of subtlety that would better suit his current circumstances. As Liverpool discovered with their T-shirt idea, the rest of the world does not always appreciate bravado in times of controversy.

Mind you, keeping his head down has never been part of his approach during an eventful 13-year career. And besides, do the boos hurt? Do the chants cut deep? Does the microscope burn? It has never appeared that way, and few players are as efficient at erecting a force field that such stuff bounces off. What wounds John Terry is losing, conceding goals, straining to be half the player he was in his pomp.

Brickbats have seldom seemed to bother him half as much as his detractors would like. And there were many, here at White Hart Lane, many and varied.

Not for the first time Terry found himself under special scrutiny, with his on-pitch performance analysed for signs of any stress emanating from the unnattractive headlines he currently commands following the CPS announcement that he will stand trial for alleged racist abuse.

From the moment he emerged into the spotlight he did what he always does, presenting a devil-may-care attitude. He evidently wants the world to know that whatever happens outside the pitch stays on the other side of the white line and so he sprinted towards the Park Lane, puffed his chest out, patted his badge and saluted the Chelsea contingent. Of course, Terry was the subject of some toxic hostility. But he gave the unmistakable impression that his worst moment came when he was exposed for footballing, rather than any other, limitations.

Eight minutes into this compelling encounter he heard nothing but white noise. Terry was caught dawdling as Tottenham broke down the left. Emmanuel Adebayor was his man. Terry was in front of him. Yet as Gareth Bale’s cross skidded over, Chelsea’s captain slowed up just as Adebayor anticipated keenly. The difference in sharpness between the two men helped to give Spurs the lead.

Tellingly he recovered from that to put in the kind of performance that had his manager purring and reflecting how, perversely, Terry has increased his levels since “the incident”. His leadership was evident as he took charge of a reshuffled defence. Early in the second half his yen for goals in circumstances such as this rose again as he thumped a header on target.

In stoppage time he blocked what would have been an Adebayor match-winner. The scale of insults aimed at him fluctuated during the game from the kind of ordinary rudeness he might expect every week, via observations about his family’s misdemeanours to some inevitable insinuations concerning his upcoming court appearance. The idea of arming stewards with headcams to guard against the most unacceptable of behaviour in the stands was not entirely successful. But as an idea it makes one wonder whether some bright spark could come up with a tiny device that footballers themselves could wear, armband-cam, for example, which might clarify instances of abuse on the pitch for all to see.

The visiting support reacted to the Terry baiting with an array of supportive songs. Then they changed tack and decided to pick at Tottenham, pointing out in a none too complimentary way: “You stupid bastards, you burn your own town.”

But it was a measure of how Chelsea’s players responded that the Terry-ometer soon quietened down. Once his team drew level through Daniel Sturridge, both sections of the crowd felt compelled to acknowledge that a football match broke out. Terry has plenty of previous when it comes to getting on with the job while extra-curricular shenanigans shadow his every move. If anything, history shows he uses moments of adversity as fuel to his fire.

There were match-winning performances for Chelsea after revelations about his liaison with Wayne Bridge’s girlfriend, and after his father made tabloid headlines for selling cocaine in an Essex bar. There was a goal for his country after he missed a penalty in the Champions League final. There was a composed defensive performance and clean sheet after he was stripped of the England captaincy.

Not that it always works. A couple of months ago against Arsenal, in his first appearance after the allegations of racism against Anton Ferdinand were put under investigation, he ended up floored, as a calamitous mistake paved the way for a humiliating defeat.

And that is what appears to stick in his craw more than the worst from any loudmouth.

John TerryChelseaTottenham HotspurAmy Lawrenceguardian.co.uk

Goalkeeper regrets his fellow Spaniard’s departure for Chelsea but believes the new-look Reds can be contenders again

Pepe Reina joined his old friend Fernando Torres on international duty last week. On Sunday for Liverpool he faces him at Stamford Bridge, assuming the Chelsea striker is selected against his former club. Torres was not in the starting lineup for Spain against England and Liverpool’s Andy Carroll did not even make Fabio Capello’s squad. Since the dramatic final day of the January transfer window neither the most expensive player to move between two English clubs nor the record British signing has had the easiest of years. Both have looked uncomfortable because of the size of the fee, although it could be argued Torres looked uncomfortable long before being sold.

The Liverpool goalkeeper particularly felt Torres’s pain at severing his Merseyside connection because he, too, had considered finding a new club. He felt the Liverpool he ended up playing for was not the Liverpool he had joined and, like Torres, was told he had to stay because the club would not release any big-name players while they were in the process of being sold to new owners. The only difference was that world-class strikers, even out-of-form ones, tend to be coveted more than goalkeepers and can still attract the sort of offer it would be difficult to refuse.

“I consider those months leading up to January to be the worst of my Liverpool career too,” Reina says. “It was incredibly sad to see Fernando go but I could understand his reasons for leaving. He started to feel Liverpool were never going to be competitive again. He was struggling with his own form too but the way we were playing I think even Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi would have struggled. We were playing without identity, it was probably the lowest point in Liverpool’s history.

“The club Fernando joined had just been to a second Champions League final in three years. When he left the only double the club could manage was losing twice to Blackpool. Fernando did a tremendous job for Liverpool and scored a lot of goals but he never got the goodbye he deserved. The supporters had formed such a special relationship with him and to see that bond broken was really sad but we carry on without him now. It’s been said many times but no one is bigger than Liverpool. Players and managers will come and go but the club will always stay.”

Reina insists he would rather look forward than back and believes things have improved enormously at Liverpool in a short space of time, mostly because of what else happened at the end of the January transfer window. “The money the club spent on Andy Carroll and Luis Suárez was a real statement of intent,” he says. “It was the kind of positive action that a lot of other people as well as myself had been aching for, and so were the signings that followed in the summer. It showed that even after all our problems Liverpool could compete in the transfer market. We could still attract top players and that was important to us all.

“It’s all about us being positive now and improving the club’s position. A great hunger and determination has always been present at this club but maybe in the past the quality and strength you need was not always there. Now with the new owners we have some stability back and you can sense the positivity returning. Liverpool should be aiming for more than just a top-six finish and, with the quality we have in the squad now, I think we should soon be able to aim for the title. With the right balance between the owners, the players and the supporters I think we can be contenders.”

Liverpool certainly have a top player in Suárez, whose form for his club and for Uruguay since arriving from Ajax for £23m has been consistently impressive. The only drawback is that controversy seems to follow the player who handled on the line in a World Cup quarter-final against Ghana and served a suspension in the Netherlands for biting an opponent, and if Suárez ends up with another ban after being charged by the Football Association over abusive remarks made to Patrice Evra the spotlight will fall even more uncomfortably than it already has been doing on the other striking buy Liverpool made last January. Kenny Dalglish keeps claiming he is happy with Carroll’s progress and he has plenty of time on his side, though Capello would not have been the only detached observer to form the conclusion that to be considered a success, never mind justify his fee, the former Newcastle centre-forward needs to start more games and score more goals.

Reina thinks that, as with Jordan Henderson, the important consideration is that Liverpool are putting down foundations for the future. “We are building a mid- to long-term project here and for that you need a good mix of experienced players and young ones coming through,” he says. “Luis was an instant hit, Andy was injured at first and will maybe need a little longer. But they are both good players, that’s the main thing.

“As is Fernando, whatever his form at present. He is my friend and I will always have time to speak to him but I will only wish him luck after the game at Chelsea. He’s tougher than he looks. I offered my help when he was leaving Liverpool but he didn’t need it, he’s mentally strong. He took everything on his own shoulders but he could handle it, be mature about it. Sometimes in football you just have to move on.”

LiverpoolFernando TorresChelseaPaul Wilsonguardian.co.uk