Chelsea: Three things to look for in increasingly must win matches

2. At what point are the kids alright?

Thomas Tuchel is supposed to be a manager that is good at integrating youth. Christian Pulisic can count himself among the many that were given a chance by Tuchel. At Chelsea, that number is practically nothing. Chalobah is the closest Tuchel has gotten and that was after years of loans.

In the current injury/Covid crisis, Tuchel has had two choices: play the depth of the squad or give a kid a chance. He has consistently chosen the former, which isn’t necessarily the wrong choice in a vacuum. But with every passing game that Ross Barkley is played with a foot and a half out the door, heads are scratched. For every game Saul Niguez digs his hole deeper, heads are scratched. And that’s not to mention the sometimes truly head scratching decisions to move players out of position rather than just look towards the academy for a natural replacement.

Can these kids do worse? No one will know until they are given the chance. When they aren’t given the chance, it is assumed it is because they are not ready. And the cycle goes on and on. Meanwhile, Saul will continue to play for reasons beyond understanding when it has been made abundantly clear that he isn’t the guy and he won’t be staying.

At some point, Chelsea will have to count on their academy and debuting players without a former Chelsea player at the helm. Tuchel has that pedigree. He has a huge squad that isn’t living up to its billing. It’s getting closer to the time where the kids have a better chance of saving things than the pros.