Former Chelsea star Joe Cole believes it was a mistake not to replace Levi Colwill and has made a comparison to John Terry.
Chelsea lost Colwill to an ACL injury before the start of the season, and despite public pleas from Enzo Maresca for a new centre back, the club didn’t grant him his wish.
The Blues have had issues at centre back at the start of the season, with both injuries and costly mistakes, which have caused the club to drop points.
Joe Cole make Levi Colwill and John Terry comparison
Colwill was pictured in the gym earlier this week as he continues his rehab, but whether he features at all this season remains to be seen.
The Cobham graduate was arguably Chelsea’s best defender towards the end of the campaign, and put in some brilliant performances in the last five or six games and throughout the Club World Cup.
Throughout his absence Enzo Maresca hasn’t found a settled centre back pairing, which is something he must do sooner rather than later.
Chelsea clearly miss Colwill, and Cole believes it was a mistake not replace him as he made a comparison to club Legend Terry.
“I think losing Levi Colwill just before the start of the season was massive,” he told TNT Sports.
“The last five or six games of the season, he looked like, you know, when centre halves look like they’ve got to that level and you go, ‘They get it.’”
“It happens with all the great centre halves, like Rio [Ferdinand], from the player who was at West Ham to the player who went to Leeds and then went to Manchester United, John Terry eventually.
“Levi Colwill for the six games was like, ‘he’s there now, he’s going to be top,’ so that was a big blow. Not replacing him was a massive blow.”