It has not taken long for Levi Colwill to become indispensable to Chelsea.
He has been ever-present under Mauricio Pochettino since returning from his loan at Brighton and has been one of the standout performers so far this season.
Colwill has been the solution to a problem for Chelsea. The centre-back has been used out of position at left-back ahead of Ben Chilwell, Marc Cucurella and Ian Maatsen, and is set to continue playing there after Chilwell was ruled out until December with a hamstring injury.
Pochettino initially faced questions about his use of Colwill following the player's starring displays in central defence under Roberto De Zerbi last season.
But, like Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta, Pochettino believes Chelsea will benefit from playing a central defender or midfielder at full-back.
Pochettino's 4-2-3-1 formation moves into a back-three when Chelsea, who face Burnley tomorrow, have the ball.
Colwill moves from left-back to his favoured centre-back role in a back three, allowing him to use to ability to build attacks from the back.
His role also provides protection for 39-year-old centre-back Thiago Silva, who understandably lacks pace.
The fluid approach is described as "controlled disorder" in Pochettino's book Brave New World, in which he said he wants "so much movement that it distresses the opposition".
Injuries, a lack of goals and the general instability at Chelsea have made the tactical progress made by Pochettino seem slower. But the Argentine is sticking to his guns and there were clear signs of things clicking in Monday's 2-0 win at Fulham.
Colwill advanced down the wing like a traditional full-back to set up the opener for Mykhailo Mudryk. The 20-year-old has also shown real leadership on and off the pitch since returning to Chelsea, who fought hard to keep him this summer amid bids from Brighton and interest from Liverpool and Manchester City.
Colwill signed a new six-year contract in August which, despite a transfer splurge of around £400million, felt among the club's most important business of the summer.
His development has not gone unnoticed by Gareth Southgate and Colwill could now help solve a problem for England. Injuries have ruled out Chilwell and Luke Shaw for games against Australia and Italy.
Colwill could be used at left-back, in what would be another show of his growing importance for club and country.
Asked if Colwill was an option to start at left-back against Australia next Friday and a Euro 2024 qualifier with Italy the following Tuesday, Southgate said yesterday: "Yeah, very much.
"We're conscious that most of his football has been as a centre-back and I think it's his preference, in his strongest position. But equally we're without a lot of experience at left-back and he's playing there regularly.
"We've got some other centre-backs that can fill in at full-back areas as well, so it's an area we need to find out a little bit about one or two players because that depth in that position, in particular, in the Premier League is not strong.
"Levi we really like. He had a fantastic season last year with Brighton, excellent Euros with our Under-21s, he's adapting well to life back at Chelsea."
