“He took responsibility” – Graham Potter singles out Chelsea midfielder for praise in Manchester City defeat

Graham Potter singles out Lewis Hall for impressive Chelsea display

Speaking after the game between Chelsea and Manchester City as quoted by Football.London, Chelsea boss Graham Potter singles out Blues youngster Lewis Hall for an impressive display in his side’s 2-0 loss to Manchester City in the Carabao cup.

Chelsea got knocked out of the domestic English competition after losing to Pep Guardiola’s side with goals for Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez enough to send Potter’s side packing. However, it was a performance with quite a few silver linings for the London club.

Amongst those positives was the performance of Blues youngster Lewis Hall. The 18-year-old central midfielder showed why he is highly regarded as the next big thing coming out of the Cobham academy with his display last night against City.

Hall held his own against a strong midfield like Man City’s and did not look overawed by the situation. It showed that the teenager had a cool head on a relatively very young shoulder. He showed a lot of composure with his passing and had a good overall display.

In 21 games across all competitions for the youth sides for the Blues this season along with the odd appearance in the domestic cups like last night, Hall has managed to score five goals and provide five assists until now. It shows that the teenager also has the numbers to back his quality.

Speaking about the game against Manchester City, Potter singled out the teenage sensation for special praise following that game.

“I really enjoyed his performance. He took responsibility, took the ball in tight areas, attacked the box, and could’ve scored a couple of goals on another day. So it was a really nice performance, a mature performance I thought”

Hall has shown Potter why he can be trusted with a role in the first team but he may be too young to make the jump yet. The teenager will not get regular game time and it is best for him that he continues with the youth team and keeps developing.

Players like Jorginho (Transfermarkt) and Kante (Transfermarkt) have their contracts expiring come the end of the season and if the established duo indeed end up leaving the club, then Potter can look at Hall as an option to occupy one of those roles.

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It’s too early to think about all that though. Hall had an impressive showing last night and if he can continue on a similar note, he will get a first-team chance, sooner or later.