吉爾莫：中場哪個位置都好 努力訓練求機會 - 切爾西足球俱樂部 Chelsea Football Club

https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2021/01/10/
billy-gilmour-on-fighting-back--looking-forward-and-finding-conf

Gilmour on fighting back, looking forward and finding confidence in the Cup

10 Jan 2021


Our young midfielder talks tactical adaptations in midfield, working hard
to come back from injury and making a mark in the FA Cup ahead of our
third round tie against Morecambe...


https://i.imgur.com/CRvxr01.jpg


Six months on from a season-ending knee injury, Billy Gilmour is back and
looking to establish himself once again as a starter under Frank Lampard.


The midfielder featured in four of our six matches following the
post-lockdown football restart in the summer, with his starring
performances against Liverpool and Everton before the mid-season pause
evidently not forgotten by his manager as he started against Leicester
City and Crystal Palace.


However, it was at Selhurst Park that he damaged the meniscus in his knee,
which required surgery, and the road to recovery has been challenging for
a young player experiencing his first serious injury in football at the
same time as a global pandemic and living on his own for the first time.


'It was difficult,' Gilmour admits in an exclusive interview ahead of our
FA Cup tie against Morecambe this afternoon. 'After having the operation,
I just missed football so much and wanted to get back as quickly as
possible. I'd never had that time away from it before and especially
during lockdown, I couldn't really do anything.


'I had just moved into my own place and you want to do stuff around the
house but you can't when you've only got one leg and you're hopping around
on crutches. It was the worst feeling ever but the physios really helped
me a lot to get my leg and knee stronger. I still need to keep on top of
the exercises to make sure the knee stays mobile and strong but it's
completely fine now.'


The teenager was eased back into action at the start of this season,
getting minutes with the development squad before making his return as a
late substitute in our impressive Champions League victory in Seville.


His first start came the following week against Krasnodar and Chelsea
supporters were reminded of his prodigious talent as Gilmour ran the show
in a box-to-box midfield role. It was a more advanced position than he has
usually been deployed in by Lampard, requiring a slightly different set of
attributes, though the Scotland Under-21 international felt more than
comfortable.


'When you're playing deeper, you're more likely to go and receive the ball
from the defenders, dictate play, create opportunities and also protect
the defence,' he explains. 'It's similar in the number eight position but
you're doing it in a more attacking sense where you need to make the box
and make more forward runs.


https://i.imgur.com/kNfvGOI.jpg
Evidence of Billy's more advanced role against Krasnodar, his only start
of the season so far


'I don't really have a preference. I enjoy playing both positions. I'll
happily do whatever I'm asked to do because I know that I've done both in
my career so far.'


It was in the FA Cup last term that Gilmour really made his mark, coming
off the bench in the fourth round at Hull City before excelling with a
controlling midfield display against Liverpool that earned him the man of
the match accolades at full-time.


Pundits and punters alike praised the dynamic young Scot in the aftermath of
that game and he admits it was an individual performance that stirred his own
self-belief of being able to compete with the very best.


'I loved the game,' he says. 'It really gave my confidence to go and push
for more minutes and more experience with the first team. Everything just
went right for me - I was getting on the ball, playing well and we beat a
top team with top players. I'm a big believer that if you train well,
you'll always get your opportunity and then you have to take it.'


https://i.imgur.com/6I8bH4c.jpg
Gilmour's all-action display against the Reds last season won him plenty
of fans


Morecambe's visit to the Bridge is our first FA Cup action at home since
that early March midweek, just days before the UK lockdown came into
force and changed the outlook of 2020 completely. Yet a new year brings
new hope and a new start in the famous old competition. For Gilmour,
there is anticipation and awareness of the side currently sat seventh in
England's fourth tier.


'It will still be a difficult game,' emphasises our number 23. 'They'll
be coming to try and sit in, make it tough for us and they're going to
work hard so we need to be on top of our game.


https://i.imgur.com/9M8Dsyh.jpg
The young midfielder pictured in training ahead of today's Cup tie


'Hopefully when we get the chances to score, we'll be clinical in front of
goal. It has been difficult lately, we've not been performing the way we
should be but we've been working hard. All the boys and all the staff are
together, we're training well and we all know what we need to do.'


Lampard has suggested that Gilmour and some of his fellow Academy graduates
could be in line to feature against the Shrimps, with a number of possible
debutants having been involved regularly in training in recent days.


For most of them, experience against senior opposition has been limited to
the occasional runout in the EFL Trophy, in which Chelsea Under-21s are
involved. Yet Gilmour does not believe his own jump straight from the
Academy into the first team squad, bypassing the loan experience that many
players benefit from, has been anything but smooth and, so far, successful.


'I've enjoyed my own pathway,' he adds. 'Of course, I need to get more
first team experience but I'm still young, I'm still learning and there's
plenty of time for that.


'I just work hard every day in training and try to take my opportunities.
I love being around the boys, I love training with team and I love working
with the gaffer so hopefully that just continues.'


Likewise, Chelsea fans have loved watching him burst onto the scene in
royal blue and will no doubt be eager to see him back in action again this
afternoon.

--


Hoddle: 'Matthew will be sitting up there looking down now and

loving Chelsea being winners. He'll just love Chelsea winning.'


--