Chilwell: I want to be England’s left back for a decade
LEICESTER’S Ben Chilwell has revealed his ambition to become England’s first-choice left back for the next decade. The 21-year-old has risen to prominence under Gareth Southgate and wants to be remembered as one of the best ever in his position. ‘My short-term aim is to play well for Leicester for the next few months, then hopefully I can be involved for England in March and then the Nations League in the summer,’ Chilwell told Sportsmail. ‘The long-term aim is to be the first-choice left back for 10 years and one of the best left backs England has ever had. That’s in the back of my head. It’s a long career and I’m taking every week as it comes.’ Chilwell benefited from injuries to earn his first senior cap in September, but he impressed hugely in the win in Spain and last month’s victory over Croatia, delivering the free-kick to set up Harry Kane’s late goal. Having missed out on the World Cup he is now ahead of Luke Shaw, Danny Rose, Ashley Young and Fabian Delph in Southgate’s left back plans. ‘He has said to just keep playing well for Leicester. Consistency is the main thing,’ Chilwell added. ‘Obviously competition for places is so tough, there are so many good players in each position, so I’ve got to expect that even if I’m playing well every week I might not be included.’ Tonight’s visit of Tottenham is a severe test and brings Chilwell into opposition with Dele Alli, who he played against in five-a-side games growing up in Milton Keynes. ‘Probably until two years ago we were going to Power League every summer, texting, “Shall we go in today?”,’ said Chilwell (left). ‘It was a good standard. As well as Dele there was Brendan Galloway, George Williams, Giorgio Rasulo. At the time it was just fun but looking back it probably did help, because you’re playing with good-quality players. It was pretty competitive, there were always tackles flying about.’ Chilwell revealed Alli is in charge of selecting the films for movie nights in England camps, picking black comedy Four
Lions last time, and said Southgate has fostered a collegiate atmosphere which is ‘very easy’ to enter. ‘The training is intense, the matches are intense, the meetings are intense, but when you are not doing all of that, you feel like you are away with your mates,’ he said.