Trevoh Chalobah has admitted he was struggling with anxiety towards the start of the 2021/22 season.
The 23-year-old made his breakthrough into the Chelsea senior side around that time. Chalobah made his Premier League debut against Crystal Palace last August in the opening game of the season and scored a tremendous goal.
The Cobham graduate showed great form under Thomas Tuchel, who was eager to hand the young defender a chance. At the start of November, Chelsea confirmed Chalobah had agreed a new long-term contract with the club.
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However, while everything seemed good on the surface, Chalobah was actually dealing with mental health problems behind the scenes. The pressure of playing for the at-the-time European champions and in front of over 40,000 supporters every week can get to anyone.
"Football is like this, mentally," Chalobah explained on The Residency podcast. "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 if he gets anxiety before a game nowadays, the Chelsea defender replied: "No, I've dealt with it [now]. This was the start of last season.
"The first few weeks were tough but I managed to pull through it. It was just talking to my family, really – just talking to people. My family; we're very close, we're always talking."
It's positive to see a professional footballer openly admitting his struggles with performing at the elite level. Thankfully Chalobah has seemingly put his troubles behind him and that is evident with how he's playing this season so far.
Chalobah has arguably been Chelsea's best defender since Graham Potter took charge last month. Potter, who spoke about the form of the Blues defender recently, was very complimentary about him and described him as a "soldier".
"He's been very impressive from day one, as he wasn't starting in the first couple of games but acted perfectly," the Chelsea head coach explained. "He trained really well, very professional and determined.
"He is an impressive character who is very focused on his football. He's very focused on his football, wants to play, wants to help the team, wants Chelsea to win. So, he's great in that regard, and he's a bit of a soldier, he's played all the games."
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