Chelsea’s win over Spurs got an extra dimension with the number of academy graduates impressing for the home side
(Image credit: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
Just an hour after Chelsea’s victory over Spurs, Alfie Gilchrist was back on the Stamford Bridge pitch to speak about his night and the last few months, which have been a whirlwind.
Yesterday he was starting in a Chelsea team who convincingly beat Tottenham, making it two wins over their London neighbours this season. Apart from the 20-year-old defender, there were also Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah starting and then Josh Acheampong and Jimi Tauriainen came on to make their Premier League debuts. You almost forget that Gilchrist made his own Chelsea bow only a few months ago in December.
Since then, he has had regular sub appearances and also some starts, like yesterday. He also got his first goal a few weeks ago against Everton, which shortly came after he had extended his contract until 2026, with a further one-year option. It has been some season for the young defender already.
Mauricio Pochettino has welcomed several academy graduates to the first team (Image credit: Getty Images)
“If you told me this was going to happen at the beginning of the season, I probably wouldn’t believe you. It’s a dream come true and I hope to keep ticking off these achievements.”
“[This momentum all started] when I came on against Palace, my debut. And then he [Pochettino] started to push me even more, I got my first start and from there, built a good relationship with him. He has given me a lot of confidence, just believed in me to go out there and do my thing and play football for Chelsea, so it’s brilliant.”
Hailing from a Chelsea family, the fans can identify with him as he gives it his all in every single moment.
“That’s what you’ve got to do all the time, give it your all, especially on nights like this, it’s getting us a 2-0 win against Tottenham tonight,” he says. “I think we were well organised and structured, we carried out the job and we got it done.
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“It just shows how good we are as an academy, and our players can do it. And if you look at the bench tonight as well, a lot of young boys coming on as well, playing their part.”
Conor Gallagher – another academy graduate – has captained Chelsea this term (Image credit: Getty Images)
With Acheampong and Tauriainen making their Premier League bows, it made Gilchrist look as if he has been around for some longer time already. Being around the new debutants came in handy as he could help them with little details.
“I’m a little bit older than them, I’ve been captain in teams where they’ve played as well,” says Gilchrist. I was speaking and helping them, because I know the feeling of coming on and making your debut, so just making that a little bit easier for them.”
Pochettino seems to be the perfect manager for him and the other young Chelsea players, just as he was at Spurs where he oversaw the development of players like Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Son Heung-min.
“He helps us all a lot, we are all learning and keep going,” Gilchrist says about his manager. “He keeps us calm and lets us know what we need to do.”
With all the youngsters at Chelsea emerging in the first team this season, the year could well have a silver lining for the Stamford Bridge faithful.
Arthur Renard has been writing for FourFourTwo since 2013, when Ronald Koeman hosted him for a Readers interview in a small room in stadium De Kuip. Two years later Arthur moved to London, where he still lives and from where he covers English football, while he has also been travelling the world to cover events like the World Cup and Copa America.
