Chelsea: Playing young players should not be a risk nor a chore

For the first time in the Roman Abramovich era, Chelsea did not have a single player make his senior debut in any competition. This is not Maurizio Sarri’s worst act of mismanagement, but it is significant nonetheless.

Since this is the season of defining things down, let us congratulate Jamie Cumming, George McEachran and Marc Guehi for their debuts on the Chelsea first-team bench over the course of the 2018/19 campaign. And, of course, let us commend Maurizio Sarri for showing the vision and leadership necessary for each of these young men to have a kit made with their temporary numbers on it.

This was a good season for Chelsea’s academy, even if not for Chelsea’s youth. Ruben Loftus-Cheek finally broke through as a Chelsea regular, even if it did take too long into the season. If Loftus-Cheek plays 10 minutes in the Europa League – which, even under this regime, should not be a question – he will exceed his total minutes from last season on loan at Crystal Palace.

Andreas Christensen took a step backwards, given the switch back to a four-man defence and Maurizio Sarri’s crippling preference for David Luiz.

And, of course, Callum Hudson-Odoi took his place in the top tier of football. After debuting last season he amassed 1,167 minutes in 2018/19: ahead of Davide Zappacosta and all the players Maurizio Sarri truly detests. If not for his injury Hudson-Odoi might have overtaken the Blues’ two half-season strikers.

But none of this is particularly praiseworthy, not even in this era of low expectations.

Loftus-Cheek was one of Crystal Palace’s best players last season. Christensen had two full seasons as a regular at Borussia Monchengladbach before being a major part of Chelsea’s squad last season. And anyone who watches Hudson-Odoi play for 10 minutes – anyone who watches just a compilation of his first touch, perhaps – can see how talented he is and inquire about his age later.

No particular vision or managerial acumen was necessary to identify their talents, recognize Loftus-Cheek’s and Christensen’s experience, or see how and how much they could contribute across four competitions. Sarri did not stake out a brave, controversial position, risking the club’s success and his future on an outcome in which only he had confidence.

Sarri simply made use of some of the best players he had. In conventional parlance, that’s known as managing a football team.

The involvement of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Andreas Christensen does nothing to make 2018/19 a productive year for Chelsea’s youth. Loftus-Cheek and Christensen are both 23 years old. Christensen is younger by about three months. No player older than Callum Hudson-Odoi but younger than Andreas Christensen – that’s a range of four years – had a single minute this season.

Ethan Ampadu is a few months younger than Hudson-Odoi, and he had 283 minutes. No one younger than Ampadu made it off the bench, not even for stoppage time.

Maurizio Sarri’s decision to add Marc Guehi to the squad for the season finale falls under what we could now call the Gary Cahill Principle: why have him in the squad if you have no intention of using him?

Sarri clearly did not put too much into this game, nor did he have any reason to do so. The result would land Chelsea in either third or fourth place and Leicester City in ninth or tenth place. Nothing of much importance to anybody rode on the outcome. Sarri thought the same way, else he would not have given Davide Zappacosta his first Premier League start of the season; not have given Willy Caballero his first league start not related to Kepa Arrizabalaga’s attitude, er, miscommunication; nor have Chelsea play in a 4-2-3-1.

Maybe Sarri changed his mind with the game still goalless well into the second half, when he sent on Eden Hazard and Olivier Giroud. Or, more likely, he never planned to send Guehi onto a Premier League pitch. In his usual survivalist mode, Sarri bought some temporary good will by having a true youth player on the teamsheet, but then in usual foot-shooting mode, did nothing with him.

Sarri would have taken no risk by keeping one substitute in his back pocket for Guehi. Chelsea would not have lost the game had Guehi come on in the 90’+2, 90′, 87′, 85′ or anything of the other game-times teenagers have debuted under Antonio Conte, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti or any of the others besides Andre Villas-Boas.

And even if they had lost the game, so what. It probably would not been directly because of Guehi.

And even if it was, so what. Let David Luiz cheer him up after the game (the sort of good-natured leadership he was extended for, right?) while Cesar Azpilicueta helps him learn from what he did wrong, and he’s a better player for it.

Giving Guehi, McEachran or any other youth player a brief run-out at the end of a game somewhere along the line would not have changed the course of the season, nor of a tournament nor of that player’s career. It’s a nearly risk-free gesture, and calling it a gesture in no way diminishes its importance.

Carving out these appearances shows the coach is thinking about the future of the club. He is showing there is, in fact, a route from the academy to the first team, and it goes through him. It lets the player know “I’ve got my eye on you, and someday it won’t be the 88′ of a pointless game when you line up in the technical area.”

It’s also a nod to the fans, who are often invested in players for years before they enter the first team. That many fans said “Guehi? I would have thought Daishawn Redan” shows just how much these young Blues matter. Fans like to know that the manager shares their interest in the people who make up the club, as well as its future.

But the future of the club, the emotional investment of the fans, the cohesiveness of the club and any other concerns beyond the concrete range of the moment have never been of interest to Maurizio Sarri. He knows he won’t be at Chelsea when Guehi or McEachran reach the age where he would consider them, so why bother with a gesture now? Besides, if Ethan Ampadu and Gary Cahill were undeserving of his attention throughout the season, why should these others even further down the pecking order.

Most coaches would wonder how they could be more like Antonio Conte, Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti (or Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp or…). Maurizio Sarri seems set on moving in the opposite direction at every chance. Let’s see how that works out for him.