Chelsea captain, Cesar Azpilicueta has opened up to the media about the instances during the Crystal Palace match where he was communicating in French to support Thiago Silva and Edouard Mendy in the backline.
Goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was playing his first Premier League match for Chelsea while it was the second appearance for Thiago Silva in the Chelsea shirt following their arrival from French League, Ligue 1.
Since their arrival at the West London club, both haven’t completely learned English and are still in the process to adapt to the new language in the new club.
It would have been a problem for Frank Lampard as his already shaky defence would have been more affected due to lack of communication but the case wasn’t that. Fortunately, club captain Azpilicueta can speak French while defender, Kurt Zuma is himself a French international so it’s his natural ability to speak.
This didn’t disrupt the communication across the backline as they all used French as the medium to communicate. As per Azpilicueta, speaking French against Crystal Palace in the league match was amazing for the Chelsea defence-line. Coach, Frank Lampard agrees with the club captain too when asked about it.
“Yes it’s true, we were communicating in French,” said Azpilicueta to the official Chelsea website.
“I speak French, as does Thiago, and obviously Kurt does as well. It was a good way for us to talk at the back. Edu [Mendy] in goal speaks French too, so it was the best way for us.
“We try to help out as much as possible with the players that don’t speak English at the moment and it is no problem for us. Thiago also speaks the same language as Jorginho, so he can communicate with him too.
“I think language is secondary though. Football is a universal game and for people like Thiago, he’s been around the game for a long time and can lead others even without speaking the language so well.
“We want to make the adaptation as easy as possible for the new players and if we have to speak French in defence until the guys understand English, then that is fine.”
Azpilicueta also thinks that in a game of football, language is secondary and as a club captain, he should help and let the new players in the club feel at home.
