Bakayoko says he's enjoying his life at Chelsea
‘This is a new world for me, be that on the pitch or in my personal life, it’s all new,’ he tells the official Chelsea website. ‘It’s a new country and obviously I’m learning a new language, but more than anything on the pitch I’ve already learnt so much and gained so many new experiences. I’m playing with great players, I’m playing for a great coach, the fans have been brilliant and it’s nice to be a part of the whole family that is Chelsea.
‘I’m playing in one of the best leagues in the world and in a huge stadium, which is obviously much bigger than the one I was used to. It’s something I think about every day, the fact that I’m a Premier League player, and I want to improve and progress to make sure I’m a Premier League player for many years to come.’
Bakayoko explained the difference between France where he played for Rennes and Monaco with England.
‘The key differences are certainly the speed, intensity and physicality of the game over here,’ he says. ‘In France you’re playing against teams where maybe physically players aren’t at that level, whereas here I look around and everybody is the same as me physically, or even stronger, which means you have to work harder.
‘The French league is great, some people may say it’s not the same standard as England but that’s not strictly true because there is a lot of very good football over there.
‘Away matches here are tougher. You can play any team in the Premier League and you’re always going to have difficulties, which is a good thing. It’s important to challenge yourself like that because that’s the way you’re going to progress as a player.’
Since coming into the team Bakayoko, an athletic and commanding presence in midfield, has performed in a couple of different systems, partnering N’Golo Kante in a 3-4-3, as well as playing in a 3-5-2 for certain other games, most notably the big away wins at Tottenham and Atletico Madrid.
‘It’s something that we work on a lot in training,’ Bakayoko says. ‘The coach is keen for us to understand his different systems, whether that’s 3-4-3 or 3-5-2, and we’re obviously trying to reach those expectations he has for us. After training we try to put it into effect in the matches and I think up until now it’s been working well.
‘Every system we use has its benefits but of course we still need to work hard and fine-tune certain things, that’s something we’re doing. N’Golo and Cesc Fabregas both know their roles very well, they’ve been here longer than me and I’m still learning little by little. I can’t say I have a preference in terms of the role I play, sometimes 3-4-3 is good for a match and sometimes 3-5-2 works well.’
Comments
Post a Comment