Chelsea fans will love what Alfie Gilchrist has just said in classy interview

Alfie Gilchrist says he’s living his childhood dream at Chelsea this season after surprisingly finding himself in the squad and playing with world-class footballers. The 20-year-old has one goal from 10 league games so far. 

He’s had to step up and play at right-back due to injuries to Malo Gusto and Reece James. Against Spurs last night, he kept Son Heung-min quiet for large parts of the game. His success story is another feather in the Cup for manager Mauricio Pochettino who has kept Chelsea in the hunt for European football despite a long list of injured players. 

Gilchrist, a boyhood Chelsea fan who has been compared to legendary John Terry, says it's all suddenly happened for him after his impressive debut against Crystal Palace last year.

He told LondonWorld: “If you told me this would happen before the season I probably wouldn’t have believed you but it is a dream come true. I hope to keep ticking off these achievements. My family just say keep going, believe in your ability and keep doing what you are doing.” 

Pochettino’s influence and growing belief in himself

There comes a time when a manager’s pedigree tells and Pochettino who has a reputation for bringing the best out of young players is getting results. Noni Madueke is playing with so much confidence compared to when the season started. 

Moises Caicedo who arrived from Brighton has taken time to get going, but in the last few games, he's applied himself well and going places while Gilchrist continues to catch the eye and prove that the academy players still have a pathway to the first team. 

Asked what influence the manager has had on him, he said : “He has given me a lot of confidence and got me to keep believing and do my thing and play my football for Chelsea. He keeps us calm and lets us know what we need to do. 

“He helps us a lot and we are all still learning. The support is brilliant. I feel like [he believed in me] after I came on after my debut at Palace. He started pushing me even more, I got my first start and from there I built a good relationship with him. I feel like I need to keep pushing and hopefully they will see that [I am good enough].”

Amid adversity, Argentinian Pochettino has been forced to look at the academy and Josh Acheampong, the 17-year-old who replaced Gilchrist made his mark by completing four successful blocks, the most of any player on the pitch for either team across the 90 minutes.