Facing the common complaint of failing to give Chelsea youngsters a chance, Antonio Conte has stated that the Blues youth are simply not ready for senior football.
Chelsea have for long been sending out armies of young players on loan each season. Last season the number of loans was around 40 and the figure for this campaign should come close to matching it. It has been a source of frustration for Blues fans but Antonio Conte simply doesn’t think many youngsters are ready for first-team football.
"I put Paul Pogba at 18 into the Juventus team, for Claudio Marchisio. But you must have players who are ready to play regularly with Chelsea, a great team…Don’t forget my first game in Serie A, I was only 16. I’m the first person open to do this because another coach did this with me. But, I repeat, you must have the possibilities to do this. Not to invent them. – The Telegraph"
Those are some very strong words from the Chelsea boss. Conte is not putting up with the criticism of his youth management. In his opinion, no Blues youngster (bar Andreas Christensen) is good enough to play for the senior team and he won’t risk the club’s success by promoting them.
Given his background as a quality player of the game, his words carry more weight than those of previous managers. Moreover, he was indeed given his Serie A debut as a teenager, meaning that he would likely be more keen to reciprocate to the current crop.
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This statement also lays bare the difference in standards set by fans and the coach. The majority of Chelsea fans felt that Nathaniel Chalobah and Nathan Ake were ready for regular first-team football. Conte, though, sold them.
The Blues are currently scrambling in the transfer market to increase their squad depth before the deadline. This is largely due to the departures of Chalobah and Ake, as well as loans of Kurt Zouma, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham (to name but a few).
However, by the sounds of it, Conte would not have played any of those players had they remained at Stamford Bridge. He would still be looking for outside reinforcements, leaving the youngsters to waste away on the sidelines.
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What do you think of Conte’s comments? Do you agree with him? Or is just more hot garbage from a Chelsea manager? Let us know in the comments below!