Chelsea: Zola reinforces Maurizio Sarri’s bias towards age over ability

Gianfranco Zola effectively ruled out Callum Hudson-Odoi from Chelsea’s starting XI against Manchester United. Zola did speak a word about the youngster’s performances, only his status as a youngster.

While Maurizio Sarri is making the case for his own sacking, Gianfranco Zola is seemingly taking himself out of the running to succeed Sarri, even if just on an interim basis. Either that, or Zola is such a dutiful servant of his doomed superior that he parrots Sarri’s thoughts to the detriment of Chelsea FC.

In his press conference for Chelsea’s FA Cup tie against Manchester United, Zola said Callum Hudson-Odoi is always on the edge of the first team. He then added few 18-year olds are involved at a top team like Chelsea.

Clearly, this raises a host of questions. Let’s start off with: What is a “top” team “like Chelsea?” By all quantitative and qualitative measures, Chelsea are a Europa League quality team and will remain that way for at least one more season. This is a matter of squad, coaching, motivation, transfer ambition and history. A club cannot drop in and out of the Champions League and call themselves a Champions League-level club. Those yo-yo’s are Europa League-level clubs. Chelsea is such a club.

So in that sense, Zola is right, but in a self-owning way that is more appropriate to ChelsTwit than the dais at Stamford Bridge.

Jadon Sancho and Vicinius, Jr., play for Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid, respectively. They are unequivocally Champions League clubs. So is Bayern Munich, the club that promised Callum Hudson-Odoi regular minutes had he made the move in January. Yes, Gianfranco Zola, clubs of Chelsea’s level do not give 18-year olds regular minutes. Clubs at a higher level do.

The other question is what do Maurizio Sarri and – since he stepped in it – Gianfranco Zola look for in a player. Is a player’s age more important than his performances in training and games? Sarri’s history over the last four years suggests it is.

As we detailed last May, Sarri has a pretty firm cutoff at age 23. Below that age, players are lucky to pick up a handful of minutes in any competition. Andreas Christensen and Ruben Loftus-Cheek follow on from Amadou Diawara and Marko Rog at Napoli.

Teenagers are in an even worse spot. Last season, Sarri did not give a single Serie A minute to any teenager. No wonder Zola and Sarri think Hudson-Odoi’s 74 minutes in the Premier League are nicotine-laced manna from heaven.

The strict age limit reinforces the lack of competition within Sarri’s squad. Callum Hudson-Odoi should have Pedro and Willian looking over the shoulder. He should be forcing them to work harder, train harder, show more passion and motivation than ever before. They should straggle off the pitch because they had to go to the well to outwork him. Hudson-Odoi should be a daily reminder of the ravages of age. Willian and Pedro should look at Hudson-Odoi and remember the old-timers that they once displaced from the lineup at Shakhtar Donetsk and Barcelona, and that should drive them to fight for their place or call their agent.

Ethan Ampadu could – on strictly football merits – replace Jorginho, David Luiz or Andreas Christensen at any time. But he is not old enough, so Jorginho’s sinecure is even more secure. David Luiz’s status as the teacher’s pet makes his place in the XI unassailable. And Andreas Christensen is out chasing shadows.

If Callum Hudson-Odoi or Ethan Ampadu are simply not good enough to play for Chelsea FC, then they belong on the bench. As youth players, they deserve the chance to train and learn instead of being sold, as would befit an older underperforming player.

But neither Sarri nor Zola have spoken to the youngsters’ abilities. They have not made the case or even passing reference to their shortcomings in the technical, tactical or physical aspects of the game. They have not given one reason besides date of birth for those players to be out of the XI or matchday squads. Hell, the talking point from the Sarritologists throughout January was how Sarri prefers to work with young players because they are more trainable and bring fresh, clean slates to the pitch. Which youth players? Which ones from where?

What little competition exists at Cobham these days excludes the players who arguably have the most motivation to fight the hardest. Sarri and Zola place the highest value on the least important number in any player’s stats page.

Only the passage of time will bring Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ethan Ampadu into a Maurizio Sarri squad. By that time, either they or Sarri will be many years into their careers elsewhere.