Joe Cole thinks Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah was excellent in last night’s win against Red Bull Salzburg, especially in the final 10 minutes of the game.
Chelsea secured top spot in Group E and a place in the knockout rounds of the Champions League with a match to spare.
Mateo Kovacic and Kai Havertz both scored stunning goals on the night to clinch a great 2-1 away victory against Salzburg.
For Graham Potter, he’s now nine games unbeaten across all competitions since he took charge as the head coach.
Chalobah against Salzburg
Despite a superb team performance from Chelsea against Salzburg, they did have to survive a nervous end to the game with their narrow one-goal advantage.
BT Sport pundit Cole highlighted Blues centre-back Chalobah after his key contribution in helping to see out another win for Potter’s side.
The 23-year-old defender produced some excellent headed clearance to protect Chelsea’s penalty box and survive the late Salzburg wave.
“I judge my centre-halves in the last 5–10 minutes of a game… It was still 2-1, and Chelsea were under a little bit of pressure. He (Chalobah) won two or three crucial headers. He had the confidence to dominate. He’s not that young centre-half that will leave it to his partner. He was like ‘We are under pressure. I’m going to put my shoulders back and win this’… He was brilliant,” Cole told BT Sport 2 (11:05pm, 25 October).
Amazing again
Chalobah just continues to impress in Chelsea colours.
The centre-half is in a real purple patch of form right now where everything he does looks quite effortless but effective.
Injuries at Stamford Bridge opened up a starting position for Chalobah, and he’s not looked back since Potter played him earlier this month.
Paul Canoville recently insisted Chelsea’s academy graduate should earn an England call-up ahead of the World Cup in November. In fairness, there aren’t many defenders around right now who are in better form than Chalobah.
It would be a worth reward for the defender to force his way into the World Cup squad in the very last hour.
Keep up to date with all the latest Chelsea news and opinion by following The Chelsea Chronicle’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
