The Dearth Of Youth At Chelsea FC

I read a recent article by joetweeds on Ruben Loftus-Creek and Chelsea FC’s midfield conundrum (I recommend you read this article) and it really got me thinking about how poorly Chelsea’s youth prospects have been handled by the club since Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003. Player development has been thrown to the back seat in favour of trophies, with the club making one expensive signing after another over the years.

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While it has ushered in a relatively successful period (in fact the most successful in the club’s history), I cannot help but feel frustrated at the number of fantastic talents that have lost their way at the club. Players like Miroslav Stoch, Joshua McEachran, Scott Sinclair, Gael Kakuta etc are some of the youngsters who had earlier shown some promise, but then declined for one reason or the other.

In fact, Carlo Ancelotti was probably the only manager since Abramovich bought the club to give youth a chance. Under him, Josh McEachran and Fabio Borini emerged and were given time on the pitch to show their talents.

Over the last 3-4 years, Chelsea have taken to buying some pretty talented youngsters (Pasalic, Courtois, Zouma, Van Ginkel, Wallace, Piazon, Bamford, Bertrand Traore etc) and sending them out on loan to relatively mid-table sides in other leagues to gain much needed match experience. Vitesse Arnhem have been the major beneficiaries of this policy in recent times as several Chelsea youngster have found their way there in recent years.

Under Jose Mourinho, however, the club has found a way to turn these youngsters into cash cows to help the club adhere with FFP, as was witnessed with Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, as well as selling off relatively unwanted players. To be frank though, I do not believe that FFP has been the main motivation for many of these transfers, at least not with Mourinho in charge.

Juan Mata, De Bruyne, David Luiz, Lukaku, Andre Schurrle and Ryan Bertrand were sold solely because they did not fit into Mourinho’s plans for the squad and were valuable enough to be able to raise money to sign the kind of players he wanted. Willian, Cuadrado, Costa and Matic were bought for huge fees as well, but only Costa and Matic have proved to be massive upgrades on the players that were allowed to leave. But I digress…

My major concern has to do with the current performances of some of the club’s youngsters, both at the club and on loan, as well as the ones that were sold off and are doing very well elsewhere. To start with, Kevin De Bruyne has been an inspiration at Wolfsburg, so much so that Manchester City are reported to be willing to spend 35 million pounds to secure his signing for next season, according to the Daily Mail.

He currently tops Bundesliga’s (and Europe’s) assist table and has added goals to his game as well. He has been a revelation in the Europa League as well. This was the same lad whom Mourinho sold for 18 million (and was lauded for his financial acumen) because he could not find a place for him in the team, despite him having an impressive loan spell at Werder Bremen and showing his exceptional talent in pre-season.

Aug 4, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Chelsea midfielder Kevin De Bruyne (15) controls a ball against AC Milan during the first half at Metlife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Romelu Lukaku hasn’t been at his very best at struggling Everton, but has shown a recent upturn in performances, especially in the Europa League. He had earlier shown what he is really capable of with impressive loan spells at West Brom and Everton, although in his case I believe his ego was the main reason for his sale, not his obvious abilities.

But for me, the worst of them was the sale of Ryan Bertrand to Southampton. A British lad who had been at the club since the age of 16 when he joined in 2005, he spent 5 years going on loan before becoming a first team player and understudy to Ashley Cole. But once Cole had lost his place in the team in 2013/2014 season, Bertrand must have been pretty incensed to witness Cesar Azpilicueta, a right-back by trade, moved to play at left-back, which prompted his insistence on going on loan to Aston Villa.

I personally feel Bertrand should have been given his chance in the first team. Unfortunately, he has currently been signed by Southampton for 10 million pounds after initially joining on loan and has been pretty impressive, as Chelsea witnessed to their detriment in last week’s 1-1 draw against Southampton.

Patrick Bamford (or Bamfordinho, as he is being called at the moment) is showing his stuff at Middlesbrough in the Championship and his goals may ultimately lead them to promotion. He has already scored 17 goals for the team (no penalties, mind you), many of which have been quality strikes.

While the Championship may not be considered on a high scale, players like Rickie Lambert, Danny Ings and Charlie Austin have taken the EPL by storm after showing their capabilities in the Championship and Bamford is continuing the trend… after all, he has scored impressive strikes against Liverpool and Manchester City this season!

Tomas Kalas, Kenneth Omeruo and Nathaniel Chalobah (for Reading) are also doing same at that level. Mohamed Salah has taken the Serie A and Europa League by storm at Fiorentina with 6 goals and 2 assists in 8 appearances. Montella has given him the freedom and game time which he failed to get at Chelsea to devastating effect.

Bertrand Traore is also running things at Vitesse Arnhem while Victor Moses has emerged as a star player at Stoke City, such that it is considered a disaster by the club every time he gets injured. These are just a few of the reported 30 players currently out on loan at various clubs in various leagues.

By CFC Unofficial (Debs) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsIn the club’s academy, Dominic Solanke has been scoring goals on a regular basis for the club’s youth teams (with 31 goals in 28 appearances), both locally and in Europe, as well as the English under-18s. Isaiah Brown and Ruben Loftus-Creek are also some of the top talents in the academy as well, while Nathaniel Ake has been in and around the first team this season, getting the odd cup game.

Chelsea’s youth side have won the F.A. Youth Cup twice in the last 4 years and only recently just qualified for their fifth final in the last 6 years, making them probably the most dominant youth side in England. They have also put up an impressive run in the Europa Youth League as well, and are through to the semi-final after a 2-0 victory against Atletico Madrid.

Mourinho’s decision to let Salah and Schurrle leave reduced the squad strength to a large extent. Even the purchase of Cuadrado has not helped to cushion the effects and has seen the side struggle recently mainly due to the fatigue brought on by lack of rotation. Chelsea have used the fewest number of players in the EPL this season due to the team’s relative small squad size and Mourinho’s unwillingness to rotate players.

Fabregas, Oscar, Ivanovic and Matic are key players who have not been at their best in recent games, yet have continued to play because Mourinho doesn’t trust his options on the bench! He has also taken to using players off position, even when options are available. Filipe Luis sits on the bench while Azpilicueta, a right-back by trade, fills in at left-back!

Zouma was given the opportunity to show his quality and grabbed it with both hands, with impressive performances against Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham (where he played as a defensive midfielder!). Ruben Loftus-Creek may be young, but his huge frame and deft ball-control should be enough to get him a place in the team alongside Nemanja Matic to give Fabregas some time to rest, even if it for a few minutes per game. That would help him get enough first team experience and integrate better with the squad.

Nathaniel Ake has put up some impressive performances when he has been allowed to play, albeit against lower league opposition in cup games, but has not seen action in over 3 months. Lewis Baker has been in and around the first team as well, but has only made just one substitute appearance, despite being one of Chelsea’s best set-piece prospects in a long time, and has eventually gone on another inevitable loan spell. How exactly are these players expected to develop with the team if they can’t even get few regular minutes on the pitch?

May 25, 2013; Bronx, NY, USA; Chelsea Midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek takes a photo with a fan after being taken out of the game against the Manchester City during the first half at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Andrej Kramaric’s decision to join Leicester City instead of Chelsea FC is just an indication of how things are likely to go for Chelsea in the future if the club doesn’t change its current youth recruitment policy.

I agree that the pressure of winning trophies could be a major reason why coaches find it difficult to use the young players, but Sir Alex Ferguson developed one of the greatest English sides in history mainly from Manchester United’s academy because he was given the time to build from the bottom up and was confident in his ability to make it work.

The arrival of FFP should be the biggest reason for Chelsea FC to develop talents for the first team, instead we keep seeing them getting sold off to fund the signings of expensive players that may or may not be able to integrate with the team or adapt to the rigours of the EPL. Andrej Kramaric’s decision to join Leicester City instead of Chelsea FC is just an indication of how things are likely to go for Chelsea in the future if the club doesn’t change its current youth recruitment policy.