Oliver Glasner shares his honest opinion on Trevoh Chalobah debut after Crystal Palace 0-1 Liverpool.
Trevoh Chalobah finally made his Crystal Palace debut in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat against Liverpool.
The man born in Sierra Leone arrived on loan from Chelsea on August 31st – transfer deadline day – but has been forced to wait for his first appearance after as abdominal injury in his first training session at Copers Cope.
Chalobah impressed Paddy McCarthy in that session with a wonderful goal, but has been unable to build on that moment due to fitness issues.
On Saturday – however – the Crystal Palace No.27 was able to make his debut at Selhurst Park, as the Eagles suffered a narrow defeat to Liverpool, which leaves us 18th in the Premier League.
After the game, Oliver Glasner shared what he thought of Trevoh Chalobah.
Oliver Glasner impressed by Trevoh Chalobah debut
Many have criticised the 25-year-old for ball watching as Diogo Jota snuck into the box to put Liverpool ahead on Saturday.
It was – admittedly – poor defending, although Glasner put the mistake down to a lack of game time.
As quoted by Edmund Brack of the South London Press, the 50-year-old said: “When he’s in a rhythm, he defends it. I don’t know the last time he played over 85 minutes.
“He had no pre-season with Chelsea. When he arrived, he got injured, and now he has trained for two weeks. With this, I thought he played really well. He won a lot of battles and showed he is a very good player.
“In this situation (against Jota) he didn’t have the rhythm. If he made one step earlier to the ball, he clears the situation. I’m not blaming him. I’m really pleased with his performance today.
What the statistics say about Chalobah’s Crystal Palace debut in Liverpool defeat
Chalobah’s lack of awareness for Jota’s goal is the main talking point, but let’s see how the Chelsea loanee performed aside from that careless moment.
As SofaScore shows, the central defender was tidy in possession, completing 23 of his attempted 25 passes with a 92% accuracy.
Chalobah also made two interceptions, one tackle and one clearance, on a day where he showed promise, but an obvious rustiness after a period on the sidelines.
Hopefully, the man who grew up in Lambeth can avoid any injury setbacks in training during the international break, and can build on his debut next time out against Nottingham Forest.
