“Has he played football before?”, “Championship level player” - Chelsea fans call Blues star ‘overrated’ after 2-1 pre-season defeat to Real Madrid

A section of Chelsea fans slammed Levi Colwill after his performance in their pre-season friendly against Real Madrid. The Blues lost 2-1 against the Spanish giants at the Bank of America Stadium in North Carolina on Tuesday, August 6.

Lucas Vazquez opened the scoring in the 19th minute before Brahim Diaz doubled Real Madrid's lead eight minutes later. Noni Madueke got one back for the Premier League side in the 39th minute but they couldn't find the equaliser. The game also brought an end to the pre-season tour of the US for both sides.

A section of Chelsea fans online slammed Levi Colwill's performance in the game. The defender played the entire 90 minutes and made three tackles, two interceptions, and one clearance. He won 3/5 duels, completed 52/57 passes, and lost possession seven times.

A fan wrote on X:

"Another useless and overrated player throughout the 90 minutes of action is Levi Colwill"

Another fan asked:

"Has levi Colwill played football before?"

Another declared:

"Levi Colwill is a Championship level player. He's shocking."

"Levi Colwill not caring, not running back and not trying to help the defense their is a summary of his attitude man," another fan wrote.

"Levi Colwill should start packing his bags too for 2025," another tweeted.

"Levi Colwill is shambolic," another fan wrote.

Colwill came through Chelsea's academy and has so far made 32 senior appearances at the club.

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Enzo Maresca on Chelsea's high defensive line after Real Madrid defeat

The Spanish giants had 57% possession against the Blues on Tuesday and had 14 attempts on goal with three being on target. Chelsea, meanwhile, had nine attempts with three being on target.

Blues manager Enzo Maresca has identified their high defensive line as one of the main areas that need improvement. After the defeat against Real Madrid, he said (via Chelseafc.com):

"It is a habit. We are not working on playing with the defensive line higher. It is a habit from last year or from years ago. I don’t know. But we are trying to drop the defensive line by four or five metres so we have the advantage and don’t concede the balls in behind.

"Last season we conceded many goals with this problem and hopefully we can solve this problem very soon."

The west London side will now host Inter Milan at Stamford Bridge in their final friendly on August 11. They will then host Manchester City in their first 2024-25 Premier League game on August 18.