Matt Davies Adams is not a Chelsea fan, but as a commentator for Chelsea TV he’s in a unique position of watching every game and having a very good perspective on things.
He has today been Tweeting about Chelsea’s rumoured consideration of selling Conor Gallagher, which he calls “ludicrous”, given the number of games that Gallagher played last year and given how much he feels like the kind of player the new coach will want to work with and will be able to improve.
Featured in all but 3 PL games last season, runs for days, can score, feels like one of the most Pochy players in the squad and loves Chelsea. Would be ludicrous to offload him other than for a crazy offer, IMO. https://t.co/RFWgv0Kxpd
— Matt Davies-Adams (@MattDaviesAdams) June 20, 2023
We totally agree, and it’s that kind of appeal to his potential under Pochettino that we really want to focus on. There was a sense that at Spurs Pochettino was able to make the most of players who were not totally polished technically or in some other way, but were determined and committed all the time.
Gallagher is just one of those types, and if you want to start to build a strong dressing room culture, a home grown midfielder full of heart and passion is surely what you’re looking for. We can easily see him becoming a talisman in the heart of an industrious setup under our new head coach.
Davies-Adams mentions a “crazy” offer being the only justification for selling Gallagher and we’d have to agree. Given Mason Mount is going to leave, it increasingly looks like Gallagher will be the chosen one to continue.
“Runs for days” and “not totally polished technically” sounds like the description you’d normally hang on an American, lol! Why are these the best reasons to keep Gallagher?
Certainly he’s got energy and he likes to get forward, but what he’s shown far too frequently in his young career are lapses in focus and composure. He gives up balls in bad positions or blows his defensive assignment and gives up goals or bad fouls (collecting boatloads of YCs). Can he grow out of it? Maybe. But why keep him purely for sentimental reasons (and let’s face it, that is what’s at the heart of SuperFrank’s argument) if there are other young, dynamic players who already demonstrate the mental qualities Gallagher thus far lacks?