Football.London have a really fun interview with Levi Colwill on their site today, where they drilled down into his breakout season so far.
The youngster has been absolutely superb in the Championship with Huddersfield, stepping up from youth football to high level men’s action pretty seamlessly.
As he notes in the interview though, there was an intermediate step, when he was called up by Thomas Tuchel at the end of last season to train with the big boys following an injury to Andreas Christensen.
“It was a big step up from the under-23s; the intensity was a joke if I’m honest,” Colwill explained.
“Everyone is one or two touch. It looks so easy for them. Thomas Tuchel spoke to me and he was really humble, that was quite a calming feeling.
“I feel it helped me loads as when I came [to Huddersfield] for pre-season, I felt ready.”
It shows the value of getting youngsters in to train with the first team, even if the benefits to fans who don’t watch the sessions won’t necessarily be clear.
Time and again we’ve seen problems when highly youngsters go on loan and struggle to get the minutes they need just because they’re still too raw for the men’s game. In Colwill’s case, he had a brilliant bridge between the two, and he is now reaping the rewards with starts every week in the Championship.
