Chelsea star Levi Colwill is showing a worrying trend with one aspect of his defending, according to Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville.
On Friday night, the Blues suffered a humbling 3-0 defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion as they missed out on strengthening their hold of fourth place in the Premier League table.
Enzo Maresca conceded after the match that Chelsea had produced their worst performance of the season, the Italian openly questioning the desire of his players.
While Brighton's first goal can be put down to the brilliance of Kaoru Mitoma, the match-sealing third was a consequence of Colwill losing the ball.
After being eased out of possession, the England international remained on the ground appealing for a foul that was never going to be awarded, eventually sprinting back into the penalty area only for Yankuba Minteh to slot home.
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'Colwill has a bad habit'
That scenario transpired less than two weeks after Colwill reacted similarly in a game against West Ham United, being shrugged off the ball on the touchline and making another speculative call for a foul rather than take responsibility as the Hammers broke clear and scored.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Neville highlighted both instances, acknowledging that the 21-year-old was showing the wrong mentality.
The former defender said: "Colwill has got to get stronger, he's got to get stronger. He's getting overpowered quite easily in games that I've seen recently. Two or three games that I've seen recently, he's been bullied in that channel.
"Also, that one [Brighton's second goal] was a really bad one for him in that he also gives the ball away. But he then sits on the floor, turns around and looks. He spends two or three seconds on the floor. Just get up and sprint back! So that's a bad habit.
"Look, he's still young and he's got a lot of learning to, as have a lot of the young Chelsea players that are playing in these types of positions.
"But they've got to get stronger in their bodies, they've got to get really physical and aggressive. That's tough when you're a young centre-half that maybe hasn't developed as fully as you should do yet, but he's learning on the job and it's hard work for him at the moment."
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Too much too soon for Colwill, young side?
With Wesley Fofana out of the team, Colwill has looked far less assured at a time where he has essentially become Maresca's first-choice centre-back.
A total of 23 starts have been made in the Premier League, yet he has helped Chelsea to just one clean sheet in 10 matches since Fofana's hamstring injury.
Despite his status as an England international, there are reasons for Colwill to be withdrawn out of the spotlight in the short term, even moving him back out to left-back to hand Marc Cucurella a break from action.
That said, with a trip to Aston Villa to come next weekend, it would be a surprise if either materialised for such a big game.
Darren Plant
