The life of a Chelsea loanee: Matt Miazga looking for the next step after making history with Vitesse Arnhem

The 2016/2017 season was one of firsts for Matt Miazga and Vitesse Arnhem.

For Chelsea’s young American centre-back, it marked the first time he had ever lived on his own. For the Dutch football club, it marked the club’s first major trophy in its 125-year existence.

The Independent spoke with Miazga, who is currently in the United States competing in the Gold Cup with the national team.

When you arrive at Papendal, Vitesse’s state of the art training centre, one of the first things you’ll notice is a massive wall engraved with hundreds of names of players who have contributed to Vitesse over the years. Miazga’s name is among them, and well-deserved, given his key role in helping Vitesse win the KNVB Cup – the club’s first-ever major trophy – last season.

He played every minute in four of the six cup matches (including the semi-final and final) and was substituted on for the other two. When Miazga was on the pitch, Vitesse conceded just two goals.

That manager Henk Fraser would love to have Miazga back at Vitesse this season is a testament to the impact he made last season. However, Fraser is keenly aware that Miazga will likely be at a new club.

“I would love to come back to Matt this coming season, but I think that's almost impossible,” says Fraser.

“He had an excellent year at Vitesse, and has developed very well here. Matt is well-liked at several big clubs and is also in the American squad for the Gold Cup. I expect him to grow again to a higher platform.”

Miazga credits his time at Vitesse with helping his technical skills and especially his passing and build-up play, which had previously been a noted weakness in his game. Fraser has also noted his improvement in these specific areas over the course of last season.

He also gave glowing reviews of both the club and the city of Arnhem, which has become the norm for Chelsea loanees. This is not a small thing, as every player must explicitly agree to join a new club on loan. The feedback from Chelsea teammates will no doubt hold significant weight. Indeed, Fankaty Dabo and Charlie Colkett have already agreed to become the 22nd and 23rd Chelsea players to go on loan to Vitesse since 2010.

Both Dabo and Colkett have specifically pointed to the glowing recommendations their teammates have shared with them about Vitesse. “They’ve literally only had good things to say,” said Dabo. Colkett echoed Dabo, saying “they said how much [Vitesse] would suit me and how good the experience was.”

A member of Chelsea’s ruthlessly efficient loan army last season, Miazga shared some insights into how the club manages its loanees on an operational level.

For example, every loanee downloads a custom app, which Chelsea uses to send bespoke tactical and statistical analysis to each player immediately following their matches.

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Each loanee is in regular contact with Chelsea technical coaches, Eddie Newton and Paolo Ferreira. Additionally, given the close relationship between the clubs, Eddie Newton travels to Papendal every three weeks for a coaching session with the Chelsea loanees. Following the coaching session, Newton will also review match film with the players.

Oh his goals for the upcoming season, Miazga prioritises playing time and the opportunity to continue his development. With Miazga currently behind Gary Cahill, David Luiz, Cesar Azpilicueta, Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen and new signing Antonio Rudiger in Antonio Conte’s back three, playing time in Chelsea’s first team does not seem likely for Miazga this season. As a result, he will be loaned out again this season to better ensure that he gets the playing time he needs.

“I am focused on the Gold Cup right now, but I have to report back to Chelsea in a few weeks and then we’ll sit down and discuss the plan for the season.”

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The Gold Cup, which has no bearing on World Cup qualification, is an opportunity for national head coach Bruce Arena to work with Miazga and other younger players that aren’t automatic selections for the starting XI (players such as Michael Bradley, Geoff Cameron, Christian Pulisic, John Brooks and Fabian Johnson, whose spots in a World Cup squad are virtually assured, have been intentionally rested by manager Arena for the Gold Cup).

Similarly, it is an opportunity for Miazga to impress Arena. While it is early days, it appears to be so far, so good on this front.

Arena, who is in his second stint as the manager of the national team, having rejoined less than a year ago after previously managing the squad from 1998 through 2006, is bullish on Miazga’s career for both club and country.

“He has a great future,” Arena told The Independent. “This is the first time I’ve worked with him, and he continues to grow physically. He’s gotten better at passing and is a good communicator on the field.”

As for Miazga’s club career, Arena heaped praise on Chelsea’s handling of Miazga through the loan system, saying that “they have done a great job moving him to different teams to get experience.” Just as Miazga did, Arena highlighted the importance of him playing regularly this season to put himself in the best possible position to first, be selected, and then, to help the US squad perform well next summer at the World Cup (the US, by the way, still needs to secure positive results in September and October’s qualifying matches to guarantee itself a spot in Russia next summer).

If and when Miazga does graduate from the loan system to the first team – and Arena thinks that it’s a matter of when – “he has a bright future at Chelsea.”