Pochettino puts his foot down over Levi Colwill situation, future

Mauricio Pochettino has made it pretty clear that he’s counting on having Levi Colwill in the Chelsea squad this season, perhaps in direct response to the bit of cheekiness shown by Brighton manager Roberto de Zerbi in Friday’s pre-match press conference about the parallel transfer rumors involving Moisés Caicedo.

Caicedo wasn’t even in their squad last night (supposedly as a pre-planned move due to his recent return from holidays) but Colwill got the start, partnering the peerless Thiago Silva against many of his former teammates from last year’s loan-season.

Pochettino hasn’t known him for that long, barely a few weeks, but he’s been impressed already by the 20-year-old Chelsea Academy graduate, and sees not only a spot for him on the team but a great future overall — even while prioritizing winning over pure player development.

“We don’t need to say anything or make a statement. He is our player [and] he is going to continue with us. I am happy with him, his performance was good today, better than what I expected because it is only the first game with us after the season with Brighton. I am so happy, he can be one of the greatest centre-backs in England.”

“[Of course] we are in Chelsea. Chelsea is to win, it’s not about developing players. Of course, we are going to have few numbers of places for them with the possibility and potential to be a senior footballer in this football club. We need to be careful because people expect to win, when you play for Chelsea it’s about winning, it’s not about playing good football only.”

-Mauricio Pochettino; source: Evening Standard

How about winning while playing good football?

Last night, Colwill played 80 minutes of solid ball, except for the somewhat rash penalty he gave away late on, and given our injuries at the position, should have plenty of opportunities to keep impressing in Chelsea blue.