LEGENDS are in short supply at Chelsea right now — but in Ben Chilwell they have a solid vice-captain and leader.
To the extent that, at 27, he is one of their oldest players — and with that comes the task of leaving his young team-mates in no doubt about job requirements at Stamford Bridge.
‘Captain, Leader, Legend’ is a phrase synonymous with Chelsea’s iconic former skipper John Terry. And a banner with that simple message hangs on permanent display at the ground.
Terry was the embodiment of what was once a football factory for trophies which is now finding silverware harder to come by.
It says so much about modern Chelsea that Chilwell signed less than four years ago but is now considered an elder statesman and one of only a few players with a trophy to his name.
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And even with nearly three years until his 30th birthday and not a grey whisker in his well-trimmed beard, the left-back admits he is starting to feel like a father figure
Chilwell said: “There are occasions where I actually do feel old. Even in the gym before we start the sessions and all the younger lads are messing about.
“That used to be me messing about and sometimes I am sitting there feeling a bit too tired to be getting involved. I’d love to, but I don’t have the energy.
“Those are the moments where maybe I just feel like yeah, maybe I am a bit more mature than I was a few years ago. I’d still love to be one of the kids but I just don’t have the energy to join in 24/7.
"When I joined Chelsea, I came in as one of the younger players and pretty much in the last few years it has flipped to being one of the older players.
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“I still like to see myself as a young player, still trying to grow and learn. But I have taken on the role as one of the more experienced players and as one of the only players here that has won trophies it is important for me to try to emphasise how important it is at the club to all the new players why silverware is so important.
“I guess it is such a young team now I am one of the more experienced players. It’s definitely something I have welcomed and try to take on as much as possible.
“When you join the club, there’s a lot of outside noise that Chelsea wins and in the past has won a lot of trophies.
“That’s not something we need to be drilling into the boys. It’s more the levels and the standards that are required. As soon as that’s nailed, with the talent that we have, the trophies will follow.”
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Only Raheem Sterling, 29, and 39-year-old Thiago Silva are older than Chilwell in Chelsea’s squad.
Slowly and unsteadily, Chelsea’s young squad is finding its feet. Two steps forwards and one back.
But there is tangible progress under boss Mauricio Pochettino. If there was not, they would not be playing in their first cup final for nearly two years tomorrow.
They have not managed more than three wins on the trot this season.
Just over three weeks ago, they were spanked 4-1 by tomorrow’s opponents Liverpool.
But earlier this month, they crushed Aston Villa — one of the season’s form teams — 3-1 away.
Pochettino is piecing things together but his predecessor last season, Frank Lampard, Chelsea’s record goalscorer who spent 13 years winning trophies there, noted that the ferocious competitive streak in the dressing room had evaporated since his day.
I’d still love to be one of the kids but I just don’t have the energy to join in 24/7.
Ben Chilwell
Chilwell said: “I can see why he said that but it wasn’t intentional or something we wanted to happen but a lot of circumstances contributed to that last season.
“When I joined we had a lot of leaders here. We knew the standards. As a new player, I knew what was expected in training or in a game.
As a senior player, I have to take on that role of setting the standards every day. In the Premier League now there are no easy games. 38 tough games and the cups.
“You can’t have weeks in training where you just get through the week and turn up at the weekend. You can’t get away with that in this country.
“It’s important that myself and the other leaders, whether old or young, lead the way. We have seen that a lot of the young boys have stepped up this year. Maintaining the levels that are expected at Chelsea. That is important.”
Pochettino is reviving the mothballed sense of competition within the camp in his own way — with a recent example from last weekend just to underline it.
Chilwell said: “Er, the Man City game when I didn’t play the ball over the top to Raheem Sterling. The ground was packed and I still heard him from the touchline.
“He is a very demanding manager, which is what you want of course. There will be training sessions and games where personally you think you have done well and then he will pull you in and tell you what you could have done better.
“Then there will be other games when maybe you didn’t think you did very well and he does. It’s a balance really.
“Nobody gets ahead of themselves if they have a few good games, likewise, if things aren’t going our way he keeps the spirits high.
“There’s an accountability. It’s not all dressing it up and making it look better than what it is. He keeps spirits high and lets you know if you are not up to standard.
“He knows the players he can dig out and he knows the ones he needs to put an arm around. That’s the sign of a good manager.
“Not everyone has the same personality — some need digging out and some need an arm around the shoulder
“If I am not good in training or not up to standard I would expect the manager to have a word with me whether that is just me and him, or in front of anyone. It is fine with me
“It doesn’t fire me up, I just expect it if I am not up to standard in training or in matches.
“I wouldn’t want to be able to get away with it. I don’t welcome it but I accept it.”
