Chelsea FC: Jose Mourinho Thinks Ruben Loftus-Cheek Good Enough For First Team

Chelsea FC have a host of talented youngsters waiting in the wings to move up to the first team. One of those, and perhaps the one with the most potential, is midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Jose Mourinho believes that Loftus-Cheek is talented enough to play for the Chelsea FC first team but he does not want to take the chance of playing him in such a high pressure situation.

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The 19 year old was named to the bench for the Premier League clash against West Ham but was not brought on during the match. There was a moment when Kurt Zouma was receiving medical attention that some believed Loftus-Cheek would be brought in as a replacement but obviously that did not happen.

Jose Mourinho believes that Loftus-Cheek will get his chance to make an impact next season and says,”I had Ruben Loftus-Cheek on the bench and I have to say that, in my opinion, next year, this kid will be a big surprise in the Premier League.” Unfortunately for Ruben, the Blues are in the middle of a title run and Mourinho cannot trust such an inexperienced player to handle that sort of pressure.

Mourinho said, “This season, if I was not playing for the title and if we were not playing with the pressure we have when you are playing for the title, this kid would already be on the pitch. But it’s step-by-step and today was again a day for (Kurt) Zouma to help John (Terry) and (Gary) Cahill in a game when (Diafra) Sakho and (Enner) Valencia are very difficult opponents.”

It is hard to argue with Mourinho’s logic in this case. With so few games remaining on the schedule, at least in the Premier League, every match will feel like a cup final. Dealing with the pressure of playing a regular match for Chelsea FC would be hard for any player but the added pressure of the title run-in may be too much for a youngster.

If a player like Loftus-Cheek made a critical error in a big game it could destroy his confidence and we all know how important that is to any footballer. Mourinho has brought in youngsters this season like Dom Solanke and Loftus-Cheek and exposed them to what life is like in the first team. However he has played them in low pressure situations such as when the Blues are comfortably ahead in the Champions League.

Loftus-Cheek was brought on in a tense match against Manchester City several weeks ago but it was more of a time wasting tactic than anything else. Still, he was able to experience the atmosphere of a big-time Premier League clash even if it was just for a few moments.

On the flip-side of that logic, there is the question of if these players do not get exposed to this pressure, how will they learn to deal with it? Just being around it and experiencing it from the bench may be enough for some players but others may need direct exposure to these big time moments.