Chelsea defender says that he ignored the tactical instructions of his manager Mauricio Pochettino in order to be able to score his first goal in a Chelsea shirt last night.
The defender went charging up the pitch to get involved in an attack when his side were 5-0 up against relegation battlers Everton. And then after a bit of a ping pong session in the box, Gilchrist stormed in to smash home his first goal for the club that he has supported since birth.
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It was an incredible moment for the young academy captain who has been heavily involved in the Chelsea first team setup under Pochettino this season. The Argentine seems to really like Gilchrist, but the young Englishman revealed that he ignored the instructions of Pochettino!
‘I think the celebration speaks for itself,’ he said after the match as cited on the Chelsea website. ‘It was a crazy moment for me. I’m over the moon and so happy to get my first goal for the club.
‘When I came on, the manager said to me: “same again, keep it simple”, but I wanted to run forward and score!
‘It came across in slow motion and then it all happened so fast. I tried to make as good a connection as I could, and that’s what I did.
‘It was a crazy moment for me. I’m over the moon and so happy to get my first goal for this club.’
Gilchrist also went on to speak about what it means to him and the rest of the academy to see a player from that setup doing well in the first team.
‘I feel it gives everyone hope and for the fans, seeing one of the Academy players come through, like Conor, Reece [James] and even the lads younger than me on the bench, it makes the Academy side of things really proud.
‘It makes me so proud to be out there with the boys. I’m trying not to smile when I’m on the pitch. I need to stay focused and carry on playing.’
Alfie believes the performance against Everton can give the side a lift and set the tone as we attempt to close that gap during the coming weeks.
‘Seeing the boys out there battling, that’s how we need to be,’ added Gilchrist. ‘For me to come on and score, that topped it off.
‘We did great in all areas of the game. I thought we battled well, in particular, and we need to carry on like that.
‘It’s a big result for us and gives us confidence going into the following few games and the future. It was a good result for us yesterday.’
Gud