My First: Ruben Loftus-Cheek reflects on a selection of firsts from his career in football
Sunday 1 April 2018 07:36, UK
Ruben Loftus-Cheek reflects on a selection of firsts from his career in football on Soccer AM.
From his early days at Chelsea to making his England debut against Germany, the midfielder looks back on some of defining moments in his career...
First Memory
My first memory of football is just playing, proper grassroots on a Sunday in the cold and wet. I played for Springfield in Kent. It was based in Swanley and I played for them for just a year because straight away I ended up playing with Chelsea.
First Hero
My first football hero was Zinedine Zidane just because he was pure elegance on the ball. He made everything look so easy. He was also kind of playing in my position, creating in midfield so he was a big influence on me in my younger days.
First Boots
My first pair of boots were white Adidas Predators. Predators were always my favourite boot. They were white with the black tongue that went over the front.
First Day
I remember it so clearly because I was 14 and I was still at school. It was on a thing called day release so we took the day off school on a Wednesday to train and do sport at Cobham. At the end of the day we got asked to join in with the first team because of numbers. There was a one against one drill and I got partnered with Didier Drogba. I was going one against one with Drogba at 14. I was still young then but I thought I need ed to get in the gym to get like that! His physical shooting and his presence was immense.
First Captain
My first captain was John Terry. Still to this day, I think he's the best captain I've seen. When I first joined the first team changing room at 18 and new signings would come in, he would be the first one to welcome them and show them about. He certainly made me feel like a first-team player when I first moved over. He was a big help.
First Goal
My first goal for Chelsea was against Scunthorpe in the Cup. I started off on the bench and Oscar got injured. I came in from the right, got a good connection on it with my left foot and it went right in the corner. I just ran off in celebration and I didn't know what I was doing.
First Manager
My first manager was Jose Mourinho. On my Champions League debut I got a text two days before saying I had to do the press conference with Mourinho. I had never done a press conference before and it was intimidating. Jose said in that press conference that I might play. It was an academy day so I had a feeling that I might play a part.
First Wow
It was probably Drogba or Frank Lampard. I remember clearly, he was doing shooting practice and he just didn't miss. I didn't recall him missing once. His shots we almost identical, hitting the same spot every time. It was a good experience to see the level it is.
