“He just told me…” – Josh Acheampong on how Enzo Maresca prepared him for Palace test | OneFootball

Chelsea’s team for yesterday’s game had a major question mark in the middle of defence.

With Levi Colwill out for the season, Wesley Fofana only fit for the bench, and Tosin Adarabioyo and Benoit Badiashile missing the game too, it fell to Josh Acheampong to play in central defence with Trevoh Chalobah.

The teenager not only had to contend with the physical specimen of Jean Philippe Mateta, he also had to take over Colwill’s role as the player who started moves out from the back.

Maresca lets defender go into game with a clear head

Speaking after the game, Acheampong explained how his manager had prepared him to be thrown in at the deep end:

“The manager didn’t really put too much pressure on me,” Acheampong explained after his third Premier League start.

“He just told me to play my game and do the best I can. He told me that Mateta is strong so to be ready and prepared for it. I was definitely expecting a battle with Mateta and I had to be ready for it. There were a lot of one-v-one situations but it was okay.”

Acheampong is now up to 15 senior appearances for the Blues, with the majority coming in the Conference League last season.

Acheampong stats show exceptional performance in numbers

Josh Acheampong’s stats against Crystal Palace.

Acheampong’s levels overall were superb yesterday. BBC writer Nizaar Kinsella pointed out some of his best stats from the game in a Tweet today.

“[Acheampong] registered 93.5% pass accuracy, had 108 touches and 93 passes in total. He also had the most duels, duels won, aerial duels, aerial duels won and most tackles won yesterday,” Kinsella pointed out.

Replacing Colwill is not going to be easy, and there are not many players in the league who could do it, but for a 19 year old stepping up to play in a relatively unfamiliar position, Acheampong did a superb job, and hopefully will get more chances to grow into the role.