I love Gary Cahill. Always loved watching him as a player and despite the fact he used to get harshly criticised by too many, he is one of the best centre backs we’ve ever had at this club and in the country. In terms of all out defending, there wasn’t many better, and he had a top attitude and mentality to go with it. One of my all time favourite Chelsea players.
I also like to now hear from him talking about current Chelsea. I don’t always agree with him, but he is a solid voice and has great opinions, and is also often very positive on the Chelsea project. I respect it.
Cahill says that Chelsea don’t need to upgrade the defence. This is something I don’t agree with at the moment, but I can see what he means.
Cahill was asked whether Chelsea need to upgrade their centre backs…
“There has been a lot of noise around this for a long time, but I think the lads that are there are doing a very good job of proving that they don’t need to add to this position,” Cahill told Standard Sport.
“I’ve been very impressed with Wesley Fofana since he’s come back. Touch wood that he stays fit.
“Trevoh Chalobah: look at the job he’s been doing — he’s a bit of an unsung hero. Trevoh is probably the most underappreciated player at Chelsea. I worked with him when he was young, and he’s got a great attitude. He’s been put on loan, thinking that maybe he’s not needed at the club. But you see his attitude when he comes back into the team and rolls his sleeves up.
“Now he is starting in huge games for Chelsea and performing very well. He comes in and does the job week in, week out.
“Levi Colwill was arguably the main centre-back at the club, but they also have Tosin [Adarabioyo], who has a bit more experience, and Josh Acheampong is developing.
“Josh does need more game time to continue his development, but it’s difficult because he’s got players in front of him. He’s going to have to be patient.
“I like Josh. He is very comfortable on the ball and likes to carry the ball out from the back. When he’s been called upon, he’s played well. He just needs to keep performing well in training and show the manager that he’s more than capable.
“There has been a lot of noise on the defence and sometimes you can understand why when they’re chopping and changing that position a lot, but when everyone is fully fit, they’re making a good case that they don’t need another centre-back to come in. Their centre-backs are all young and still learning; they’re not the finished article yet.”
And of course, there was some big praise for Moises Caicedo. This was all pre-Arsenal but one red card will not and should not change anyone’s opinion.
“This season, from what I’ve seen of Moises Caicedo, I’d argue he’s been one of the best midfielders not only in the Premier League but in Europe,” Cahill said.
“I played with some great midfielders in my career such as N’Golo Kante, Michael Essien, Nemanja Matic. These are top holding midfield players. Caicedo reminds me of Kante in that he’s everywhere and puts fires out everywhere on the pitch. On the other side of the game, looking at driving the ball and making passes, he is also good at that and has added goals to his game.
“Chelsea have been blessed to have so many great midfielders, but he is one of the very best in world football at this moment in time, in that holding-midfield position.”
Cahill on improvements…
“I think Chelsea have improved from last year,” Cahill explains. “They’re very much going on an upward spiral. It is pleasing to have a young team that is growing all the time.
“Qualifying for the Champions League, winning Conference League and the Club World Cup, these were massive moments. Coming into this season — looking at the young age of this squad — you’re still going to get a few ups and down. But they are starting to look like the real deal, putting it together against the big teams.
“I was very impressed with Chelsea against Barcelona and certainly they’ve improved with the strength in depth — they have so many options all over the pitch.”
Great to hear from the big man.
