Cesar Azpilicueta has started Chelsea’s last 5 games, taking him above Dennis Wise in the club’s all time appearance list.
That’s an unbelievably impressive achievement for someone who arrived already in his 20s, and the club spoke to him ahead of today’s game on various topics, including the prospect of taking on Aston Villa today.
In quotes on the club’s official website, the defender warned his teammates that they were in for a serious battle today:
“Since [Gerrard] came in, they got great results and a fresh manager is always a fresh start for the players with new ideas,” Azpi said in quotes picked up by the Chelsea official website.
“He has showed the manager that he is, setting up a team that is difficult to beat.
“We know what it means playing on Boxing Day. It’s a special day for everybody so hopefully we can go there and play a good game because we know that we have to show the consistency.
“It will be a tough game but hopefully we can be at our best and get the three points,” the Chelsea captain concluded.
Gerrard himself won’t be on the touchline for the game, after testing positive for Covid, but his team know they won’t be playing on Tuesday, so they will be able to give 100% while Chelsea are more restrained.
The good news is that Azpi always gives 100%, no matter where or when or who he’s facing. He never would have made it to 450 appearances without that being the case.
