Neil Humphreys: Blues' Billy Gilmour could be genuine midfield great
Chelsea teenager looks like a young Roy Keane
The kid has already dominated Roy Keane's tea break. He now looks ready to dominate Chelsea's charge for the Champions League.
Last week, Billy Gilmour forced Keane to sit up and take notice of the teenage sensation. Perhaps it takes a world-class midfielder to know another, or at least see his potential.
No one disagrees with Keane's gushing assessment now.
CHELSEA | EVERTON |
4 | 0 |
(Mason Mount 14, Pedro Rodriguez 21, Willian 51, Olivier Giroud 54) |
Last night, Gilmour, 18, made his full English Premier League debut for Chelsea and was a brute among men in their easy 4-0 victory against Everton.
Keane had earlier insisted that Gilmour had caught his eye following his star turn in Chelsea's FA Cup win over Liverpool last week.
The kid had stopped him sipping his tea and eating his chocolate biscuits. That's how good he was.
But the teenager still had to deliver in his full EPL debut. He had to prove that the Liverpool performance wasn't a fluke. He had to show that potential could be converted into pedigree.
And he did. He delivered in spades.
Thanks to Carlo Ancelotti's static 4-4-2, Everton's forwards rarely retreated, ensuring Chelsea had an extra body in midfield and Gilmour had the freedom of Stamford Bridge to strut his prodigious stuff.
When Ancelotti took over at Chelsea in 2009, Gilmour was in the equivalent of Primary 1. Now he's a primary midfielder, playing a key role in three of their four goals.
In the 14th minute, he rolled a pass to Mason Mount, who played a delightful one-two with Pedro Rodriguez before swivelling and finding the bottom corner.
Seven minutes later, Gilmour sprung a fresh attack, slipping in Olivier Giroud in a wonderful counter-attack that culminated in Pedro's finish.
As he sauntered, Chelsea swaggered.
Willian smashed in a third in the 51st minute. And Giroud added a fourth just moments later, after Gilmour played a neat give-and-go with Willian.
His dominant display was certainly helped by Ancelotti's tactics. The Italian clings to his 4-4-2 model like a middle-aged man refusing to give up on his Star Wars models and he only contributed to the rise of Gilmour.
RACE FOR EUROPE
Before kick-off, the clash was optimistically billed as a race for Europe, with both Chelsea and Everton eyeing European spots.
There's more chance of Everton reaching Europe through hitchhiking.
The amiable Ancelotti received a warm reception on his first return to Stamford Bridge since winning a double with the Blues, but it was rather like greeting a friendly, bumbling uncle.
Ancelotti was harmless. Everton were hopeless. Gilmour was imperious, running a kilometre more than anyone else in a Chelsea jersey.
The Scottish midfielder has already turned Keane into an awestruck cheerleader. He turned Everton's midfield inside out.
Comparisons to Gilmour's manager, Frank Lampard, are understandable. He evokes memories of the gallivanting Lampard, dashing forward at the Bridge, always the rampaging boy in blue.
But Gilmour looked more like his biggest fan, holding off markers and charging away from the centre circle. The youngster looked like a young Roy Keane.
He already has a year on Keane, who joined Nottingham Forest at 19. Gilmour feels right at home in Chelsea's midfield. He isn't 19 until June.
So much time is on his side.
The same cannot be said of Lampard's front three. Pedro, 32, Giroud, 33, and Willian, 31, all scored, but they have a combined age of 96 and are unlikely to be around next season.
Chelsea's future rests with young men like Mount and Gilmour.
Lampard promised to go to the nursery, rather than rely on over-ripe apples, but there's no doubt that Gilmour's progress has been accelerated out of necessity. Jorginho and N'Golo Kante are both missing.
But it's only a matter of time before Gilmour makes his regular selection a necessity. European qualification may rest on his slender shoulders, but he's ready to bear the burden.
He already belongs in the EPL. Next season, he may well belong in Europe.
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