Friends off the pitch. Perfectly suited on it. Axel Disasi and Benoit Badiashile have not yet had the chance to renew a defensive partnership forged in Monaco, but the wait is nearly over.
The pair played 65 times together between Disasi’s move to Monaco from Reims in August 2020, and Badiashile’s transfer to Chelsea at the start of this calendar year.
Disasi followed the same path to Stamford Bridge in August and the pair have been speaking about the prospect of working in tandem once more as Badiashile’s return from injury grows ever closer.
‘Me and him complement each other really well,’ Disasi says.
‘I’m perhaps more of a duels player, while he likes to receive the ball and start up attacks. But it’s not a case of him not being a duels player and me not being a receiver of the ball. These things, they just work well. We feel great together.’
‘By playing and playing together, you learn how to react to things and see things a little bit better together,’ adds Badiashile. ‘It’s one of those things that becomes easier.’
It is obvious how close their bond is from the way the pair speak and interact with one another. They are more than team-mates, they are mates, and they say their friendship came naturally once they had met in the Principality.
Disasi jokes Badiashile needs to score more goals. Benoit pokes fun at Axel’s over-exuberant celebrations. ‘They show he doesn’t have the knack for scoring!’. One goal apiece so far in blue. The contest is very much alive.
When Disasi was approached by Chelsea, the first person he called was Badiashile.
‘I had some questions about the group and he turned round and straight away said it’s one of really good quality,’ Disasi reveals.
‘He told me about the project, and even though it’s a project, it’s still a really good side. He also said how he had already been convinced by the project and how everything was going well for him.
‘Since I’ve arrived, everything he’s said has been true. Yeah, it’s been a little bit shaky but it is a project and I’m in the same boat as him now, as from everything I’ve seen since the start of the season, it’s been really encouraging.’
At Cobham and in matches, both players have had the privilege of learning from one of the masters in the art of defending. Clearly, the brilliance of Thiago Silva bodes well for the next generation of Chelsea defenders.
‘When I arrived at the club, one of the first things I said was it was an honour to play alongside a legend like him,’ recalls Badiashile.
‘He was a defender who I already watched a lot when he was at PSG,’ adds Disasi.
‘What he was doing there had a huge impact on me. Now being next to him in training, he’s someone who talks their role really seriously. When you see someone working at the age of 39 like that, it shows someone who is very professional and intelligent in his way of playing.’
Badiashile continues: ‘Day to day being next to him, I ask him an enormous amount of questions to the point where I must get on his nerves a little. It’s because, as Axel said, he’s so intelligent and he’s someone extraordinary for someone of his age.
‘It’s such an honour to work with someone of that class. Everyone who works with him benefits from him and it helps us go to the maximum level.’
Defensively, only Arsenal and Manchester City have been more miserly than the Blues this season. Greater room for improvement lies in attack, although six goals in our past two league games suggests a corner has been turned.
With a tough run on the horizon, including fixtures against the current top three, Chelsea have the chance to firmly establish our credentials, to show we belong, as Badiashile believes we do, with the best. He dismisses any talk of a transitional season following the influx of new arrivals.
‘You can’t have one at a club like Chelsea,’ the 22-year-old states. ‘It’s impossible.
‘Everything that is important about a club is winning. You hear things about it being a year to get to know each other and develop together but no, because you’re at a club where the results come before anything.
‘This still isn’t a transition season because there are still so many games to compete for titles.’
And before long, Badiashile and Disasi will be able to resume their central defensive partnership to help us try and achieve the titles they so crave.
