After the final whistle was blown against Barrow, the first people to greet our victorious Blues were those players not in the matchday squad, as club captain Reece James led most of the remaining group in congratulating their teammates on a job well done.

The sight of James waiting by the tunnel at Stamford Bridge has been a constant theme during his time on the sidelines and on Tuesday night he was joined by not only senior pros like Marcus Bettinelli and Tosin Adarabioyo but the majority of the Blues squad (see below).

But as one journalist highlighted to Pedro Neto during his post-match interview, that isn’t the case at every club.

‘It is togetherness,’ Neto explained. ‘If we want to achieve something and you want to arrive at the level of the teams that are on the top then we have to act the same way; all together and all with the same goal, working hard together.’

One of the other keys to success this season, in Neto’s opinion, is the fierce competition for places in this squad.

Against Barrow, Enzo Maresca made 11 changes to the team which beat West Ham United 3-0 on Saturday yet could still call upon four senior French internationals, three players from Portugal’s last squad and Ukraine’s Mykhailo Mudryk, not to mention one of the standout players from the Championship last season, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and young talents Filip Jorgensen and Cesare Casadei.

The attacking unit of Christopher Nkunku, Joao Felix, Mudryk, Neto and Dewsbury-Hall would strike fear into many a Premier League defence, and they produced a performance against Barrow which highlighted why each player must continue to perform at a high level if they are to retain a place in the starting XI.


One of the many players to impress at the Bridge on Tuesday night was Neto, who scored his first goal for the club after selflessly being set up by Mudryk.

Neto said: ‘With the amount of quality we have here, no one can sleep. As the head coach has said, everyone will not play every game, so we have to work hard and continue to do it every week, in every training session, and every game.

'That is the mentality I hope will take us to the top.’


Neto acknowledged his best is still to come, which is hardly surprising considering he headed to Portugal’s Euro 2024 camp having only played 12 minutes since early March – on the final day of the season – due to a hamstring injury.

The 24-year-old also didn’t sign for Chelsea until August 11, meaning he did not have pre-season to adapt to Maresca’s style of play and his teammates, like most of the squad.

Neto has featured in seven of our eight games so far though – starting in four of them – and said: ‘I am settling in really well. I needed time and the pre-season because I went to the Euros without playing many games so I am working hard to get into my best shape.

'I will continue to work to bring happiness to this club and take the club to where it deserves to be.’


He added: ‘I continue to work [on my fitness] and I continue to work on my confidence, my football and the adaptation. I hope to [reach my top level] as soon as I can.’

Maresca has explained that he sees Neto competing with Noni Madueke for a starting role on the right flank, but the Portuguese has shown his flexibility by featuring more often on the left flank this term, with Jadon Sancho only signing on transfer deadline day.

Neto arrived at Stamford Bridge after an impressive five-year spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he scored 14 goals and created many more during 135 outings.


But for those Blues fans who maybe haven’t seen much of Neto, what makes him stand out compared to his teammates? What is his USP?

‘Everyone has their own characteristics,’ came the reply. ‘I would say that I like to play one-versus-one, I am fast, I like to create the game, and I like to create for the other guys.

‘I will not change my way of playing. I want to enjoy the game even more. At the moment I am not at my [best] level, but I am getting there and I know I will arrive at my top form and I will enjoy it.’

With the togetherness in this squad and the support of teammates like those on the side of the pitch on Tuesday night, you can expect Neto to be terrorising opposition defences in no time.