Opinion: Jude Soonsup-Bell should start for Chelsea against Brighton

If there’s one lesson Frank Lampard taught Chelsea fans during his time as manager, it’s that age does not matter when discussing players that come out of the academy. The club legend handed debuts to a plethora of players from Mason Mount to Ian Maatsen and everyone in between. Each of these individuals have excelled at their current clubs—whether it be in SW6 or elsewhere, such as Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori in Serie A—regardless of their age or experience. Simply put, when playing for the Blues, you are ready if you’re good enough. Look no further than Trevoh Chalobah to see this in action as he is the latest Cobham graduate to break into the first team.

Thomas Tuchel handed senior debuts to a trio of talented youngsters in the recent Carabao Cup quarterfinal matchup at Brentford. The squad depth was thin due to a mix of COVID-19 and injuries, which meant that Xavier Simons, Jude Soonsup-Bell and Harvey Vale were called upon to, if nothing else, eat minutes. They all performed quite well on the night given the circumstances. While none of their outings were particularly spectacular, they’ve shown the gaffer that they can be relied upon in the future should their names be called. This is exactly why Soonsup-Bell should lead the line for Chelsea during the Blues’ match against Brighton on Wednesday evening.

Jude Soonsup-Bell should start for Chelsea against Brighton on Wednesday

The Brighton bout is wiggled into a weird period in the season for Tuchel’s men. They are just returning to London following a trip to Birmingham on Boxing Day. The biggest month of the season—one that very well could decide whether or not Chelsea is a serious title contender—is right around the corner and yet, there is a game to be played beforehand. It’s important that the German manager keeps his side focused, as this is a Premier League game after all, but at the end of the day it’s difficult not to have one eye on Liverpool already. The Blues simply cannot afford to lose a number of players ahead of that contest, which is why Soonsup-Bell should be called upon.

Romelu Lukaku played 45 minutes against Aston Villa just days after returning from COVID-19 isolation. Callum Hudson-Odoi went the distance under the same circumstances. Kai Havertz and Timo Werner are still waiting to hear about whether or not they can make the matchday squad after their respective stints in isolation ended earlier this week. This means neither should be starting the game, their appearances should be limited to brief cameos. Therefore, without risking the long-term health of Lukaku once again, the Blues are limited in what they can do up front.

Christian Pulisic could start as a false nine once again—as he’s done in weeks past—but that means Chelsea will struggle for a large portion of the game to develop any meaningful attack. The American is far more effective when he can play in a wide position anyway. We’ve seen this numerous times as he failed to get involved against Everton, Wolves and Aston Villa from the center forward position. On the flip side, Soonsup-Bell is an actual striker. The 17-year-old doesn’t have a ton of experience in the professional game, but he knows how to play the position better than his 23-year-old counterpart. Although he may not have lit the world up from the Brentford Community Stadium in the EFL Cup, he got into many good positions on the night. This allowed the Blues to attack with more pace and fluidity as the wingers could run into pockets of space in the final third. Ross Barkley and Vale couldn’t do the trick, maybe regular starters could though.

There will be a lot of people who hate the idea of giving a starting nod to Soonsup-Bell. They’ll claim he did not do enough against the Bees to warrant a start. To those people I say that this isn’t a merit-based opportunity, rather a circumstantial one. Supporters have watched Tuchel try and shove a square peg into a round hole for a majority of the month of December. Pulisic has done nothing to warrant a start as a false nine, it’s time for a new experiment against Brighton.

Who do you think should lead the line for the Blues against the Seagulls? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!