https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/
potter-on-chalobah-epitomising-group-mentality-and-how-thiago-silva
Potter on Chalobah epitomising group mentality and how Thiago Silva
continues to thrive
08 Oct 2022
Graham Potter has been discussing the personality and performance levels
of two defenders in the build-up to this afternoon's clash with Wolves.
https://i.imgur.com/5xPCTAf.jpg
Wesley Fofana will miss the game after spraining his knee in the midweek
win against AC Milan, moments after he had opened his Chelsea account with
the first goal in our 3-0 victory. The damage is not thought to be as
severe as first feared, with the initial diagnosis being an absence of
weeks rather than months.
The young Frenchman's withdrawal saw a call from the bench for Trevoh
Chalobah, who slotted into the right-sided centre-back role effortlessly
and exemplified the readiness of those in Potter's squad not selected in
the starting 11.
'He epitomises the group,' said the manager. 'Everyone is ready to come
in, play and help.
'Trevoh has been really professional, hard-working in training and his
level has been high. In that regard, his performance was a reward of that
behaviour.'
Thiago Silva is 15 years the senior of Chalobah but has registered 90
minutes in each of Potter's three games so far, demonstrating all the
attributes of his many years in the game as we kept out the Rossoneri on
Wednesday night.
'I thought he was outstanding,' Potter continued. 'His reading of the
game, his positioning and his organisation of the back-line were
fantastic. Aerially he dealt with [Olivier] Giroud, which is not easy, but
he competed well with him, and his distribution from the back was really
good.
https://i.imgur.com/uaT3RCV.jpg
Thiago Silva and Chalobah will both be vying for a place in Potter's
defence against Wolves
'He's 38 and when he's playing like that he's an impressive person. I've
really enjoyed working with him, he's a character and a proper guy with
fantastic experience behind him but has a humility to just do the job,
which is nice to see.'
The Brazilian's long-held dream to represent Brazil at the World Cup in
Qatar is now just weeks' away from being realised and Potter admitted that
every player would start to think towards that tournament more and more as
it neared.
However, he disputed any suggestion of it being a distraction, citing
Thiago Silva's own professionalism and ability to live in the moment as
evidence that club form would not be compromised.
'Everyone has half an eye on the World Cup a little bit and we'd be
fooling ourselves if we didn't think that was the case, no matter what
country,' he added.
https://i.imgur.com/DzqGV8y.jpg
Thiago led Brazil at the Parc des Princes recently
'I think this will be his fourth one with Brazil so there's half an eye
definitely and he wears that with pride, responsibility and respect
because he's so professional.
'To be 38 years old competing in the Premier League and Champions League
at the highest level, you don't do that by thinking about something that's
six weeks away. You get it by being in the moment and taking care of the
day, the training session that you're in, the game that you're in.
https://i.imgur.com/IDGBlYW.jpg
'How he prepares and recovers, how he rests and focuses on his daily work
is why he's so good and why he's going to the World Cup.'
As for facing Wolves today, Potter claimed he had not yet decided whether
Thiago Silva would start, insisting that a late call would be made
following our midweek exertions in the Champions League.
'That's where our work is and our job is for the next 24 hours in terms of
making sure and assessing all the players in terms of their recovery and
where they're at,' he said.
'We'll be taking all the information in terms of the load that they've had
over a period of time and then make sure we have a team that's fresh
enough and ready to deal with the demands of a Premier League game against
Wolves at home.'