3. La Masia? How about La Cobham?
Until Timo Werner’s stoppage time goal for Chelsea, Wednesday morning’s headlines were almost going to be single-handedly written by Chelsea’s academy graduates. There was Trevor Chalobah’s thumping half-volley that opened the scoring, Reece James’ rasping shot from a tight angle that found the bottom corner and Callum Hudson-Odoi’s clinical finish that followed Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s slaloming run through the entire Juventus defense. For all the new signings that Chelsea have been able to bring in for vast sums of money, Cobham’s graduates continue to find themselves in the starting eleven for Thomas Tuchel. There is no bigger praise that can be lavished on Chelsea’s youth products than their ability to compete with the best prospects and players that money can buy.
With Conor Gallagher and, to a lesser extent, Billy Gilmour both impressing on loan, Chelsea’s academic representation looks set to continue for the foreseeable future. This is a credit to the youth coaches that have worked tirelessly to give these players the best possible chance of success within the first-team set-up. More importantly, however, Chelsea has a coach that is willing to place his faith in up-and-coming players. Tuesday’s match marks Chalobah’s 10th start already this season, and his story, together with that of Hudson-Odoi, James and Mason Mount is an inspiration to those that will come after them.
Indeed, as Hudson-Odoi comments in the Juventus matchday program, winning a Champions League with the players he grew up with is an incredible achievement and brings about feelings that few would be able to comprehend. As fans of Chelsea Football Club, are these not the stories we live for?
What lessons did you learn from this one? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter!