“People think we’re super humans”- Chelsea defender opens up on battle with anxiety early in his career

Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah opens up on struggles under Tuchel amid Potter turnaround

Speaking on The Residency Podcast (h/t Football.London), Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah opened up on struggling to deal with anxiety towards the end of last season under Thomas Tuchel amid his recent turnaround under Graham Potter.

The 23-year-old made a breakthrough in the Chelsea senior side last season, making his debut in the opening game against Crystal Palace and scoring a goal to go with a solid performance.

The defender showed great form and promise under Tuchel, who played him as often as possible, even in some of the bigger games. However, while everything seemed rosy on the TV, the Englishman was dealing with mental health issues off it. The pressure of playing at the highest stage with extreme pressure on a weekly basis got to him.

Here’s what Chalobah revealed about his anxiety issues (h/t Football.London):

“Football is like this, mentally. People don’t know what players are going through. We’re humans, people think we’re super humans and we don’t get affected by what people say, by what people do.

“Playing for Chelsea last season, at the start of the season I suffered with anxiety. Playing at a big club, in front of 40,000 [supporters] every week, obviously I was used to it going on loan but it’s different when you’re playing for your boyhood club at a big Champions League-winning team the year before.”

When asked whether he has gotten over those issues now, the 23-year-old responded affirmatively, saying the problems he had were of last season. The Englishman referred to how talking to the family and staying close to them helped in the recovery.

It is heartening to see a player ready to open up about his mental struggles and tell people just how tough it is to sustain the levels at the top. Good to know that Chalobah has recovered from it and is doing well on the mental side of his life.

His performances since coming back into the team, under Graham Potter, following the injury to Wesley Fofana, have been exemplary, to say the least. The Englishman has probably been Chelsea’s best defender in the last few weeks.

So much so that if he gets selected in the England squad for the World Cup in Qatar, nobody would be surprised. Potter praised the player’s attitude on and off the pitch and called him a “soldier”.

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For Chalobah now, having gotten over that dark period, he would be looking to continue doing well for the team and staying close to the family to help him stay fit mentally.