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https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2021/07/20/
conor-gallagher-on-loan-lessons--adding-to-his-game-and-impressi

Conor Gallagher on loan lessons, adding to his game and impressing Tuchel

20 Jul 2021


After two seasons out on loan, Conor Gallagher is back at Cobham and eager
to use the opportunity to impress boss Thomas Tuchel at close quarters…


https://i.imgur.com/f08fJTN.jpg


The latest graduate of our Academy to make the step up to the Premier
League, Gallagher spent 2020/21 at the Hawthorns with West Brom, making 30
appearances in the top flight as the Baggies battled for survival.


Despite an impressive individual campaign, including goals in back-to-back
games in early winter and winning the club's Young Player of the Year
award, the team eventually lost their fight against the drop. However,
Gallagher's reputation was undiminished and he has returned for pre-season
at Chelsea with renewed enthusiasm to make a positive impression.


'It's great to be back,' he says as we catch up with the young midfielder
in between a double-header of training sessions.


'I'm enjoying seeing some old friends who I've grown up with through the
Academy and to train under the manager has obviously been great as well.
The sessions have been tough but really good so I've enjoyed the first few
days.'


Gallagher's progress over the past two years has been sure but steady,
from struggling against the drop with Charlton Athletic in the
Championship to pushing for the play-offs with Swansea City, and then
gaining his first experience of the Premier League in the Midlands.


https://i.imgur.com/xzAxQex.jpg
The midfielder featured in our friendly against Peterborough at the weekend


At each stage, there has been a step up in expectation and quality, no
more so than now as he gets to work alongside the likes of Hakim Ziyech,
Callum Hudson-Odoi, Tammy Abraham and Christian Pulisic in training at
Cobham.


'You always want to work with the best and obviously there's some great
players here in training,' he explains.


'That only helps me improve, to train with such good players. Even though
it's only been a few days so far, I feel like it's helped me a lot so
that's been good.'


https://i.imgur.com/51QdXce.jpg
Gallagher has been training with the group at Cobham for the past week


The 21-year-old is the type of player who always catches the eye, as much
for his all-action style in the middle of the pitch as his long blond
hair. He has represented England up to the Under-21 age group and won the
World Cup four years ago with the Under-17s.


His manager at that tournament, Steve Cooper, was the man who brought him
to Swansea midway through the 2019/20 campaign, and is one of four very
different coaches he has worked under during two years out on loan.


From the no-nonsense Lee Bowyer and the familiar face of Cooper to Slaven
Bilic and Sam Allardyce at the Hawthorns, Gallagher has certainly been
exposed to varying methods of coaching and man-management during his time
on the road.


'I've loved every loan I've been on and every game I've played,' he notes.
'It's been great meeting new people, playing with a load of different
players and under different managers. It's all about getting different
experiences.


https://i.imgur.com/WGlMtAl.jpg
Going up against fellow Premier League midfielders has been a learning curve


'With Sam at West Brom, it was more about the dirty side and doing that
well, whereas at Swansea it was about runs in behind and creating chances.
Each manager has helped improve different areas of my game, which has been
so valuable for my development.


'I've definitely improved as a player in the past two years and a lot of
that is down to the four managers I've played under and their different
styles of play. I've just loved every minute of it and I want to push on
even more now.'


Pushing on requires self-reflection and an appreciation that every
21-year-old midfielder has the capacity to get even better. At the same
age, N'Golo Kante and Jorginho had not a single top-flight appearance
between them, an indication of Gallagher's current standing, though he
acknowledges the fact that the hard work has only just begun.


If he is to break into the squad under Tuchel and feature for the club
he's been training with since the age of six, he must add nous to his
dynamic game, though his identification and acknowledgment of areas to
develop bodes well for further progress.


'I think of myself as an all-round midfielder,' he states. 'I like to play
box to box and just be busy on the pitch, try to create chances and do my
defensive work as well.


'I feel like I can play anywhere in midfield, whether it's deeper or
further forward. I'm happy to do whatever and I'm good enough to do that.
I know defensive intelligence is something that I can improve on so I've
been working on that last season and now during pre-season. I've been told
I need to get better at that so I'm focusing on it.


'I'm only 21 so I feel like I've gained a lot of experience already and
developed a lot as a player. It's still just the start because I'm nowhere
near where I want to be. I know I can go even further.'


With 77 senior appearances already under his belt, there is nothing
stopping the boyhood Blue from continuing that impressive ascendancy.

--


Burrell: "If the Gods are fucking you, you find a way to fuck them back.
It's Baltimore, gentlemen. The Gods will not save you."

- The Wire Season 3 Episode 3

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