Trev’s starting to realise true Town potential
STATS INDICATE CHALOBAH’S ON RIGHT TRACK AS LOANEE BECOMES KEY PLAYER UNDER COWLEY
TREVOH Chalobah has been dividing opinion for much of the Huddersfield Town season.
Supporters have questioned many aspects of the Chelsea loan man’s game and, at times, his value to Danny Cowley’s Championship survival campaign. He has had his ups and downs and taken some stick from fans along the way – expectations perhaps being unreasonably high because of his parent club – but there have been glimpses, too, of the potential which makes him one for the future at Stamford Bridge, where his contract runs until the summer of 2022.
Chalobah is a big unit at 6ft 3ins and physically imposing, so when he’s roaming around the midfield it’s sometimes easy to forget he’s only 20 and still very much learning the game.
A couple of stats, however, indicate his development is nicely on track and pinpoint exactly why Cowley trusts him to make key contributions in the effort to collect Championship points.
Firstly, he has made the most interceptions of any player under the age of 21 in the Championship this season, with a total of 41.
On top of that, he is one of only two players in that same age bracket to have completed more than 1,000 passes this season at second-tier level.
The interceptions perhaps reflect an element of his game which goes unappreciated.
Fans don’t seem to think he wins enough tackles, an area where vastly-experienced Terrier Jonathan Hogg excels.
Chalobah, though, isn’t programmed by Cowley to work in such a one-dimensional way, so much of his work is designed to push opponents the way of colleagues – the full-backs, Hogg and Lewis O’Brien – who can then administer those ball-winning challenges.
There is pressure created in that scenario, with the opposition seeking to move the ball under duress, and that’s where Chalobah is talented enough to read the play and mop up possession with those interceptions.
There is no doubt Chalobah looks more accomplished in the 4-2-3-1 formation which Cowley prefers rather than the 4-3-3 – giving him the link with a natural No.10 – and
It’s sometimes easy to forget Chalobah is still only 20 years old and is still very much learning the game