Chelsea reality check: Teams built around academy grads do not win titles

When Chelsea are not quite lighting the world afire, there are three reactions: Buy someone, play the youth, or why in the world did (insert young player who left here) not get a chance? The first contradicts the next two, but the most baffling is the last one.

Scores of players have gone through Chelsea’s academy. More have come from other academies to Chelsea at a young age. And there is a certain type of tinted glasses that people like to wear when these players go elsewhere and do well, especially in the short term.

Many will say they deserved a chance and that Chelsea was foolish to allow them to leave. But here is the thing. Not all of those players “deserved a chance.” Few of them did, in fact.

Looking at a list of the older ex-Academy players, how many would be major players at Chelsea right now, even with the chances they have been given elsewhere since? Would Patrick Bamford, Patrick van Aanholt, Daniel Sturridge, Christian Atsu, Oriol Romeu, Ryan Bertand, Jeffery Bruma, Thorgan Hazard, or Josh McEachran offer anything to Chelsea right now? Did they offer anything to Chelsea when the left?

The answer is almost universally no. Only Sturridge, Romeu, and Bertrand have any argument. But after a fast start at Liverpool, Sturridge proved himself to be a glass cannon. And though Romeu and Bertrand are good, they simply are not top quality.

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The younger players that left are harder to determine yet, but they all left without much of a fight. Nothing in the career they chose will be handed to them, but far too many expect opportunity when they have done little to earn it. Rhian Brewster and Dominic Solanke fall into this list. Rather than earn a spot, they demanded it. When it was not guaranteed, they departed. None of them had shown enough when they left to make Chelsea regret it.

The other side of the young players list includes those who did show promise, but circumstances prevented them from breaking through when they believed they should. This is the list that Chelsea fans should be a little hurt by, at least if thought about in a vacuum. Bertrand Traore, Nathaniel Chalobah, Nathan Ake, Mohamed Salah, Kevin de Bruyne, and Romelu Lukaku fill this list. Time may show that Chelsea should not worry about some of them, but experience has already made some sting.

But that last list runs into its own issues for a club like Chelsea. Chelsea has the money to spend on players who are ready. They do not need to rely on a youth system like Tottenham does. And they also have the pressure that they must win trophies. They cannot scoff at silverware – trophies are necessary for the survival of every manager at the club.

This hurts the youth, yes, but those are the demands from the board above and the fans below. Everyone wants to play the youth, but they want to win even more. Occasionally, these two things can collide and coexist. Sir Alex Ferguson was the master at that balancing act, but other clubs that have tried it have failed.

Antonio Conte has shown more inclination to use the youth than any manager since Carlo Ancelotti. The pace is going to be slow because the players have to earn it, and not give up when they think they should be farther along than they are.

Conte, for his part, simply needs to find the right solutions that allow the team to win while playing youth. He has done this in the cups and when he can. But he knows it will not matter if the team is playing youth and losing. He is in the business of results, and if the youth cannot provide results then they will not play.

Fans, for their part, simply need to understand the factors at play and not get upset when Charly Musonda or Ethan Ampadu is not playing. Or get upset when someone like Nathaniel Chalobah or Nathan Ake leaves. The players made the decision to leave rather than compete for a spot. Both likely would have played far more had they stayed. They declined.

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So now the weight drops on a new class of Musonda, Ampadu, Kenedy and others to remain patient and take their chances when they come. And for Chelsea, to continue to make the best decision they can for the clubs success.