“He’s going to need another step” – Chelsea defender must keep improving if Blues want to compete with top teams | OneFootball

Levi Colwill was the centre of attention for Chelsea yesterday after a great showing against Nottingham Forest in our Champions League decider, capping off a really steady improvement over the last few months.

He scored the goal, but there was much more to the performance than that. He was at the heart of a defence which stayed strong and stout when they needed to, and really gave Forest and their home crowd very little to get excited about.

Colwill given huge praise for improving form

Levi Colwill celebrates a massive goal for Chelsea. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

That was just what they were saying on the London is Blue podcast’s match review today, with presenter Nick Verlaney picking him out for particular praise:

“A toast to Levi, a player who needed to step up, I think. And did step up. Obviously the goal was huge but I think if you look at some of the physically demanding player that he’s come up against over the last 8 or 9 weeks. He’s dealt with it incredibly well after some early wobbles this season,” Verlaney said.

“The goal today was fantastic [reward]. There were a few times that Forest were able to get in behind, even though we were playing a back four – back five setup at different moments, and he was there to clear the ball.”

More to come from Colwill – and Chelsea will need it

But as well as the positives and the praise, there’s also more to come from the academy talent, as was also noted:

“Huge growth from him, he’s going to need another step next year in the Champions League to deal with some of the incredible talent that is going to be in that competition, and there’s going to be some new challenges thrown at him next year. I think there’s going to be a little bit more expectation on him as a leader of the team, but man, huge, huge, huge performance from him.”