Only two days of rest separated Chelsea’s crucial victory over AC Milan and its battle at the Bridge against a regressing Wolverhampton Wanderers squad. With six games in 16 days over the next few weeks to close out the month of October, Graham Potter made an astounding seven changes to the starting IX on Saturday afternoon. With Thiago Silva, Raheem Sterling, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all taking a hiatus for the day, Potter turned to some of Cobham’s best alongside some players desperate for consistent minutes to do the job against a team that is still searching for a solution at the top of their coaching ladder after sacking Bruno Lage just hours after its Premier League defeat to West Ham last weekend.
From Conor Gallagher’s constant motor in the attack to Trevoh Chalobah continuing to show his worth as one of the Blues’ most reliable centerbacks, Chelsea’s performance against Wolves was everything Potter could have asked and more. Seeing Armando Broja find the back of the net for the third and final goal of Chelsea’s afternoon was the cherry on top of it all, scoring his first goal for the club that he joined at just eight years old back in 2009. Carney Cukumenka even got the chance to see the pitch for the first time, making his Chelsea debut in the 86’ at the young age of 18. With a free-flowing formation, Potter allows that freedom that young players seek as they begin to come up in the senior game.
Following the match, Potter hailed the academy players for playing an intricate role in the Blues’ triumph:
"“They’re vital. They bring an understanding of the club, of the culture of the club, its demands, and what is required in terms of environment. They’ve come through a fantastic education in the academy. They are good people and good footballers. Our job is to help them maximize their potential which is really exciting.”"
While not much can be taken from a game against a team that has not taken a single point in the league over its last three matches, being able to see players like Kai Havertz, and Christian Pulisic gain just a little more confidence in front of the net makes the depth of this team even more dangerous as the number of fixtures begins to add up with a condensed schedule before the World Cup that kicks off at the end of November. Rest, recover, and repeat has to be the name of the game for CFC as the time between contests does not get any more favorable.
Silva had the opportunity to get an extra day to recover from his cold while a motivated Pulisic made just his second start of the season. Before its first clash of the season at the Bridge, the Blues had not beaten Wolves since July of 2020, dropping a total of nine points in their last four contests against a team that finished in the top seven just three seasons ago. Under Tuchel, the Blues netted three or more goals in consecutive league games just once, and four games into the Potter era, Chelsea has already accomplished that feat, collecting back-to-back clean sheets along the way.
With the manager-less Wolves on the back burner, Chelsea can turn its attention to a critical Champions League fixture that could see it top of the group at the conclusion of Tuesday night. Just five more league contests left before the international break, and progress under the new leadership takes another step in the right direction. From another Potter masterpiece, here are the lessons learned from the Blues’ first win against Wolves in over two years.
Conor Gallagher has officially arrived at Chelsea Football Club
If Gallagher’s match-winning strike on the road against Crystal Palace was not enough, his outing against Wolves without a doubt sealed the deal. Following a dazzling campaign that earned him the player of the season for the Eagles last season, there was an enormous amount of hype, and pressure on Gallagher to perform at the level with his parent club. Gallagher tied Koulibaly for the most tackles on the team with five on top of completing the most crosses for the Blues in their third straight victory.
He played the second-most key passes and was constantly hustling for loose balls, picking the pockets of the opposition, and starting the counter-attack the other way for Chelsea. In games like these against bottom-level opponents, clubs need players like Gallagher; they have the drive to affect the game on both ends of the pitch. With Gallagher playing higher up the pitch, he had the opportunity to play his game, filled with creativity, and persistence with and without the ball. So far this season, Gallagher has the fourth-highest shot-creating actions per 90 minutes for players that have played 30 or more minutes for the Blues.
On top of that, he affects the game by getting back into the defense, blocking shots, and making crucial tackles that make him a fan favorite, but Potter may have found the perfect position for the player that has so much going for him after a stellar season on loan in south London. His winner at Selhurst Park may have just been the starting course, and if performances like this continue, Chelsea could give N’Golo Kanté more time for him to get back to 100 percent full fitness before he returns to the matchday squad.
Trevoh Chalobah continues to conquer every obstacle in his way
With Wesley Fofana and Kalidou Koulibaly coming into the team in the previous transfer window, Chalobah looked bound for a loan outside of west London. Just over a year ago in August, he made his first appearance in a Chelsea uniform, and now the Blues through 19 games in the league in which the 23-year-old has started have never lost. When Fofana went down against AC Milan, it was almost like Chalobah was waiting in the wings to jump on the opportunity that was given to him, as he has always done since joining the club.
Just a few months ago, there were plenty of talks of him going out on loan in the Premier League or another top league around Europe, but those talks should be completely shut down for the foreseeable future with Silva’s age, and Fofana’s injury history. For someone that has had barrier after barrier on his way to the top, Chalobah is not only a footballer beginning to find his way at the pro level, he is an inspiration for everyone out there that there is not just one path to getting to where you want to go. He joined the club back in 2007 at the age of eight, and now each time anyone doubts his position at the club, the former Huddersfield loanee erases any doubt of why he is not on loan or signed a permanent contract elsewhere.
Cobham’s reputation just gets better by the minute
A total of six Cobham graduates contributed in some way against Wolves on Saturday, demonstrating once again, the path for the people beyond them in the academy. In a club like Chelsea and the reputation that it has for giving up on some of its promising young talents by slashing the cash in the transfer market, it is extremely difficult to break into the team. Academy players like Lewis Hall, Jude Soonsup-Bell, and Mason Burstow are watching on, and seeing players like Loftus-Cheek, and Gallagher fly up and down the right flank gives each of them just a little more confidence that someday it will be possible.
Looking around Europe today, the talent that Cobham has developed is truly extraordinary, and seeing a player like Broja finally fulfil his dream of scoring for his boyhood club is what football is all about. That first goal must have been a weight lifted off of his shoulders for someone who was a constant threat on the south coast for the Saints on loan last season. Not only did the Cobham graduates at Stamford Bridge have a good day out, but Fikayo Tomori scored his first Serie A goal of the season against Juventus while Callum Hudson-Odoi starting on the left wing in Bayer Leverkusen’s four-goal victory over Schalke in the Bundesliga.
So much work goes into the development of these players, and for Mark Robinson, and Ed Brand, the amount of successes by many of the graduates at the highest level has to give them a lift each day on the job. Not all of them are going to make it, but Saturday afternoon against Wolves eternally proved how much talent comes through the youth levels in Surrey. From a physical striker, playing in the No. 9 role they way it should be played to a dynamic, and assertive young centerback that has the heart of a lion, October 8, 2022, was a day to remember in Cobham’s storied youth history.