“You need to knock him out,” Pereira’s team told him ahead of the final round. Adesanya failed to make his advantage tell, struggling to take him downs both fighters left some energy in reserve. Worn out from the extended grappling, Pereira significantly slowed in the fourth round as Adesanya began to open up and land combinations. Adesanya briefly stood up and delivered one brutal kick to the chest before the round ended. Adesanya tried to turn his rival onto his back on the floor, a mistake – but Pereira abandoned the leg lock he was gifted, while also failing to regain his feet. Source: FOX SPORTSĪdesanya ended up on top of his rival after Pereira badly defended a take-down attempt one minute into the third round, and the champion dragged his rival back down to the ground to deliver ground-and-pound – his first career UFC take-down.Īdesanya used brilliant wrist control to pin down his rival while laying in left hooks from the back. Pereira landed a head kick and multiple body kicks as Adesanya looked to wrestle far more than he typically would – but it was Pereira who claimed a take-down just before the second round ended, with the buzzer stopping him from doing any damage.Īdesanya landed a belting left hook. But Pereira landed a pair of left hands on his own as Adesanya was stuck against the cage. It's not often Mourinho speak in those terms about youth players, but when he does, the regard in which they're held is clear.Adesanya was struggling to deal with Pereira’s hard jabs in the second round, but replied with a strong right hand midway through the round. "He comes from West Bromwich, so it’ll be special for the kid to play in that house-the boy deserves it." "Against West Bromwich, especially because they’re safe and nobody is waiting for a result, I’ll play some of the kids, including Izzy Brown," said the Chelsea boss in his pre-match press conference. Without getting carried away, Brown is looking like he's in the middle of that cycle, and Mourinho's noticed it. It's all about steps-the cliched stages of walking, running and then making it a sprint. He blew Shakhtar Donetsk away in that aforementioned UEFA final, and now he has his eyes set on doing something similar with the Chelsea first team. Here was a player in the zone, a player primed to cut it with the rest. Whether you’re an unknown first-year scholar or a player who's having the future pinned on him, Chelsea’s youngsters need to have that professional attitude.īrown has it, though, and travelling from Switzerland to London and back again had no impact on him. Then comes the need to be a professional footballer. Regardless of talent, there needs to be a show of willingness to put in the graft for the development squads, an effort to commit to the greater cause of the academy’s success. Loic Remy had pulled up with a calf injury a day earlier and Chelsea needed numbers on the bench, given Diego Costa’s ongoing hamstring struggles.īeing a youth-team player at Chelsea requires one to wear many different faces. That match-winning brace came 24 hours after warming the bench for Jose Mourinho when Chelsea defeated Queens Park Rangers 1-0 at Loftus Road. ![]() ![]() He’s been a key figure in Chelsea winning back-to-back FA Youth Cups, and he also scored twice in this season's UEFA Youth League final. We’ve seen Brown in awesome form for Chelsea’s under-18 and under-21 teams. He may well be young, but here is a player who knows he is good enough to cut it at Stamford Bridge. There are always exceptions to the rule, but where Brown is concerned, he moved for the right reasons. The most high profile of those is Martin Odegaard of Real Madrid-the Norwegian attacking midfielder who left Stromsgodset for the European champions in January.Ĭynics will say the lure of riches is what attracts these players most, not the opportunity of playing football after all, the impression is that first-team chances will be hard to come by while they could be a big part of the team had they remained at their first club. ![]() Across Europe, we’re witnessing a number of young players leaving comfortable surroundings to test themselves at the continent's mammoth clubs. ![]() And it gives Brown the chance to show the Baggies what they’re missing.īrown’s move to Chelsea isn’t unique.
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