Debutant defender feeling confident after performance
- Ben Chilwell reviews Middlesbrough game
- Leicester City loanee happy to have made debut
- Defender believes results will come for HTAFC
An encouraging performance from the team on his league debut against Middlesbrough has left defender Ben Chilwell feeling positive about the future at Huddersfield Town.
The left back impressed everyone at the John Smith’s Stadium with a 90 minute display that belied his tender years following his Youth Loan move from Leicester City until early January 2016.
Despite the plaudits he received, the England Under-20 international believes he is capable of better and was quite self-critical when speaking to htafc.com after the full time whistle on Saturday.
“I thought I did well in the first half and not as well in the second half, but I still thought I was pretty decent for my first game,” Ben admitted.
“In the first half I could have had a few assists as I got forward well and got some crosses in, but in the second half the winger came a lot tighter to me and I didn’t have the chance to run at him.
“To be honest, my final product wasn’t as good in the second half; a few crosses went astray. I was pretty disappointed in my last act, as the free kick was pretty rubbish! I wanted to keep up my form of the first half, but I didn’t really manage it.”
The most disappointing aspect of Saturday for Chilwell was the result; a 2-0 reversal that didn’t tell the whole story of the game.
Ben continued: “The result is the most important thing and obviously that didn’t go our way. It was a weird one, because to play against a top team like Middlesbrough and batter them, as we did in the first half especially, the result was disappointing. If we had taken one of the first half chances, I think we would have gone on to win the game.
“After the game, the Head Coach told us to take the positives from it. If we go forward like that against other teams, we are going to take our chances. That is what we have to work on, but the results will come through our football. If we play like that week in and week out, we will be fine.”
Ben feels experiencing football in the Sky Bet Championship is a great next step in his promising career and admitted that his first taste was markedly different to the underage football he is used to:
“This was miles different; it is so much more physical. Today really brought home the physicality of it all.
“The will to win is miles, miles higher. At the end of the day, this is everyone’s job here and they all want to win. Under-21s football is more about developing players, but the livelihood at this level is to win. Coming into an environment where winning is everything is something I needed to do.
“Now I’m playing football in the Championship, so I can’t fault anything. I was nervous coming into the game with it being my league debut, but I really enjoyed it after soaking up the first few minutes. All my family came down and today was a massive step in the right direction for me.”
Part of his learning experience has been adapting to Head Coach David Wagner’s signature style, which often sees him as one of the highest players on the pitch!
“Playing football like we did today suits my game. I’m high up the pitch, getting forward and getting as many crosses in as possible, which is what I want to be doing for the whole game.
“The training is intense, but it’s really good; none of the players are complaining, because we’re playing a completely different system and we need it to understand the style of play. Everyone has been enjoying it, as a lot of it has been on the ball.”
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