PloKoon13 Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 (This is from an Chelsea under-16s blog) Frank Nouble - forward Frank Nouble, born 24 September 1991, is a fast and tricky striker that currently plays for the Chelsea youth team. He is still a schoolboy but he has already featured for the under 18's this season scoring a goal in the process. Frank was a key figure in the under 16's last season and he scored a hat-trick in a match against the St Gallen youth team in The Swiss Under 16 Cup. His pace and trickery makes him a nightmare for defenders to deal with. His 6ft 4in frame and his ability to hold the ball up does not make it any easier for defenders. His pedigree is already being noticed at the under 18's level even thou he could still be playing at the under 16's. This season he has made 1 start and 3 sub appearances for the under 18's scoring 2 goals. He has form a formidable strike partnership with Adam Phillip in the junior ranks. He is also comfortable as a left sided winger and he has already made his debut at reserves level in a match against Birmingham reserves. Ivorian born Frank Nouble is multi- talented as he also compete's in junior inter school athletic events. He is also tipped for a great future in atheletics as much as in football. Pace... left-footed, and able to hold the ball up? Sounds good! Milan Lalkovic - forward Milan is a young striker for the Chelsea under 16's youth team, he drew comparisons to Barcelona's Bojan due to his style of play and eye for goal. He was first spotted in a youth match between Slovakia and Hungary where he impressed the staff watching and was subsequently invited to a trial at the club. He didn't do his chances any harm by reportedly scoring 4 goals in 1 youth match, he was invited for four trials in all and after the fourth trail his dad said "A week before the last visit in London we already knew that we would move there and stay on a permanent basis from 1st July," the player’s father told SITA. "Chelsea director of youth development Frank Arnesen announced it to us" He is already earning rave reviews and he is already playing for the slovakian under 17 team at his tender age.He was part of the chelsea youth team that played in the 2007 Northern Ireland Milk Cup, where he bagged a couple of goals. Despite Chelsea only reaching the quater-finals, Milan Lalkovic impressed the tournament organizers enough to win the player of the tournament alongside two other players.Milan will undoubtedly be in the under 18 team soon, as his talent surpasses his age category already. This guy seems to be somewhat of a prodigy! Can him and Stoch form some sort of partnership?
PloKoon13 Posted January 14, 2009 Author Posted January 14, 2009 Can I add that Nouble scored for us in the FA Youth Cup against Walsall tonight... as well as against DC United's Youth team a couple of weeks ago.
just Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 I hate these type of threads. Can you please change the title of the thread to: "Two promising youngsters who we may as well forget about because they will never be given an opportunity to play with our first team no matter how good they are."
dkw Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 I hate these type of threads. Can you please change the title of the thread to: "Two promising youngsters who we may as well forget about because they will never be given an opportunity to play with our first team no matter how good they are." or maybe we could change the thread to "some good news that others will just turn around and slag" or maybe "two players who we hope will do well at the club but people on here will just come on this thread and post they wont make it as usual without actually saying anything useful at all" nouble looks petty impressive, hes a big old unit and is pretty quick. not really head much of lalkovic but what i have heard is promising.
The Moos Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 Don't know anything about Lalkovic apart from the fact that his name sounds funny and makes me laugh out loud... Nouble is good though. Young but already a big strong lad. A bit like Drogba and he has proved already that he can score.
just Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 or maybe we could change the thread to "some good news that others will just turn around and slag" or maybe "two players who we hope will do well at the club but people on here will just come on this thread and post they wont make it as usual without actually saying anything useful at all" or maybe, "Two promising youngsters who are going to be out on loan for the next three seasons, who will eventually come back and sit on the bench watching the likes of Florent Malouda for a year, before finally being sold to Port Vale"
g3.7 Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 I like nouble a lot... think he has a lot more going for him than sinclair or stock for example. pretty sure he's right footed though. and definately sure he's one of about 400 players in our youth team able to depress me less than malouda does.
Scott Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 "Promising youngsters that will go on loan 5 or 6 times before being sold to a lower league/foreign club"
dkw Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 "Promising youngsters that will go on loan 5 or 6 times before being sold to a lower league/foreign club" how about you actually take a part in the thread instead of just posting sh*t like this.
just Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 how about you actually take a part in the thread instead of just posting sh*t like this. Com'on dkw. It's only a bit of a laugh. We're not exactly famous for giving youngsters a chance are we?
dkw Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 Com'on dkw. It's only a bit of a laugh. We're not exactly famous for giving youngsters a chance are we? maybe not, but do we need every single thread to degenerate into this? if i post something about a young player at chelsea i wouldnt mind a few people having a decent discussion about the player for once instead of becoming a slag chelseas youth policy off session.
Ruh Buh Juh Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 There's another forward that's looking good too - Fabio Borini
dkw Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 There's another forward that's looking good too - Fabio Borini he`ll never play for the first team....... hes the one im most excited about after kakuta to be honest. i dunno why but the fact weve got a young italian striker whos banging in goals in the youth team is pretty cool. only problem is as soon as he gets anywhere near the 1st team he`ll be dubbed "the new zola" and thats some reputation to live up to.
loz Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 On dkw's point it is a bit weird that the whole 'youth will never get a chance' argument is suddenly being made so vocally. Ranieri was the lat manager who entertained the idea of giving young players a decent run out and yet we have heard very little complaints about it in the past 4 seasons.
mad_mac Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 So, someone come on and talks about a couple promising youngsters, and another poster says "they'll be loaned out for 3 seasons then sold!" and you wish folk would stop being so critical of the youth policy. Then RBJ comes on and mentions Borini and the first words you say are "he'll never make the first team!" Sorry mate, but that is quite a contradiction Scott
dkw Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 So,someone come on and talks about a couple promising youngsters, and another poster says "they'll be loaned out for 3 seasons then sold!" and you wish folk would stop being so critical of the youth policy. Then RBJ comes on and mentions Borini and the first words you say are "he'll never make the first team!" Sorry mate, but that is quite a contradiction Scott its called sarcasm mate..... thats one thing that really bugs me loz, no one seemed bothered about a lack of youth players when jose was here and we were winning leagues. strange how now its a lot of peoples main bugbear.
mad_mac Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 On dkw's point it us a bit weird that the whole 'youth will never get a chance' argument is suddenly being mad so vocally. Ranierie was the lat manager who entertained the idea of giving young players a decent run out and yet we have heard very little complaints about it in the past 4 seasons. Yeah the whole deal of youth being used wasn't exactly top of Jose's list! It has been a problem for a while now, so it's not suprising that we are so sceptical!
Scott Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 Well it's been 10 years since JT broke into the first team so maybe we are due a youth product to pan out. I also feel we haven't given our youth enough chances. But facts need to be faced, it's not going to happen under Roman. Chelse Young Players of the year: 1996 - Jody Morris 1997 - Nick Crittenden 1998 - John Terry 1999 - Sam Dalla Bona 2000 - Rhys Evans 2001 - Leon Knight 2002 - Carlton Cole 2003 - Robert Huth 2004 - Robert Huth 2005 - Robert Huth 2006 - Lassana Diarra 2007- Mikel Obi 2 in 12 years were good enough for Chelsea and only 4 English that's the reality.
mad_mac Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 Sorry Dave, missed the sarcasm! I do remember stating, especially during Jose's reign, that I wish he'd give some of the youth players a run out. Particularly in cup games, or when the opposition was dead and buried. But back then he only had 5 subs too. It's just frstrating that we have 7 subs now, and still the benches are filled with defenders, or youth team players who get about 10 minutes max at the end of the game. I think what is troubling me the most, is that there is now a real probability of some youth players making it into the first team, and yet they are not being used. If we are not to be a buying club anymore, then why are we bringing in players like Miniero? Surely it'd be more beneficial, and a real confidence boost to the youth team set up as a whole, if we were to not sign miniero and instead use someone from the YT set up! If we are to be more frugle in the transfer markets, then I'd at least like to see us try and utilitize our youth players as an option insead of buying. It'd be good to see a blend of buying and nurturing. I also think, when Jose took over, we were still a buying team, so it was much easier to look at other "world class" footballers (a term often banded about in the forums) to fill our voids. I just hope now, we look at the options under our noses first. Everton did it, and they got Rooney Scott
just Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 On dkw's point it is a bit weird that the whole 'youth will never get a chance' argument is suddenly being made so vocally. Ranieri was the lat manager who entertained the idea of giving young players a decent run out and yet we have heard very little complaints about it in the past 4 seasons. Fair point Loz, but I think there is a reason for young players not being given a look-in then. A reason other than the huge success we were enjoying under Jose. Before Roman's buy-out of the club it was widely accepted that our youth set up and youth scouting system had been ignored and under resourced for a long period. As a result of that poor infrastructure and under investment the talent simply wasn't there. Indeed, after he took over, I remember it was widely reported in the press that this would be one of Roman's major priorities in the future. And to be fair he did invest. Huge sums were spent improving the facilities and in bringing in people like Arnesen to capture the best young players available. And things such as the TV "Football Icon" series did alot to showcase our new youth set-up. I'll be honest Loz, all that excited me. "At last", I thought, "we are bringing in top quality talent not just from our own back yard but from all over the world." Surely, it would only be a matter of time before we got to see some of those kids given a go? But it simply hasn't happened. Not even against weaker opposition, or in early rounds of competitions such as the Carling Cup. Now, if we were winning every week and still enjoying the succes we had under Jose maybe it wouldn't be such a disappointment to many that these kids aren't getting a look in. But, when you look at how we have struggled this season it's soul destroying to see an average performer like Malouda getting a regular start when you feel a Katuka, Stoch or Sinclair could possibly do a much better job given the same opportunities. To be honest it's got to the stage where I laugh at it now. What's been the point? Our current youth policy is all smoke and mirrors. Why invest all that time, money and effort if we are never going to give these lads a chance to step up and find out if they're good enough? Another thing to consider is that maybe Roman's committment to scouring the world for the best new talent is already waning somewhat given the recent announcement of the cuts to our oversea's scouting network.
BlueBeard Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 :D Excellent post, just, I was going to post something similar but you put it far more eloquently than I could have B)
loz Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 Don't get me wrong Just - I am as pro the idea of us taking a chance on some of these kids as you are and I have stated on many occasions (like you did) that I don't believe for one second they would be any worse than some of the performances put in by the regulars. I also agree that our youth set up had been ignored for far too long by the time Jose took over and as a consequence he wasn't exactly overflowing with options however he did still have some. Diarra is the obvious one, we lost him because he rarely got any playing time until he was 21 and his contract was running out (and even then he was largely played out of position). Glen Johnson was almost totally ignored by Jose despite us paying good money for him - he found central midfielders chosen ahead of him. When we looked a little short of cover Jose signed Maniche - he played three league games for us - surely we could have coped for three games by playing Diarra. As I said I do recognise that it is probably more justifiable for Scolari to play youngsters now and I wish he would however I don't think he is massively more guilty of it than Grant and Jose however they escaped criticism for it.
just Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 (edited) I think it's much more of a crime now Loz. Not only because of the situation we are currently in but also because of the number of kids we have who look to have genuine quality about them. We didn't have that under Jose. Many of us have seen these youngsters quite a bit on CTV, or playing out on loan, and recognise the potential some of them have. Mancienne, Stoch, Katuka, Sinclair. There are probably very few Chelsea fans who come on these forums and don't know a little bit about them. Now whether any of those lads are able to transfer that promise and potential into consistent performances for our first team I don't know. But neither will anyone else unless we give them chance to step up and show what they can do. I'm not saying we should be throwing them in en-masse or sticking them in against the likes Man U or Juventus. But we should be using them against the Southends and the Burnleys, and if we ever again happen to find ourselves 3-0 up in EPL game with 25 minutes left, let's throw on a Stoch or Katuka for the experience and development factors rather than a Belletti as the safe bet, (said with no dis-respect intended to Belletti). Make no mistake, holding these kids back for too long can be just as damaging to them as throwing them in to early. I have not a single doubt in my mind that this has happened to Scott Sinclair the way has been used over the last two seasons. I saw enough of him to form an opinion that he was an exciting player with promise. Pacy, natural width, ran at defenders. He did pretty much all that was asked of him during his loan spells. I think a few of us had hopes for the boy. But then to come back here, be stuck on the bench and be given the odd 4 or 5 minutes at the end of a game, if he was lucky. How the hell is anyone meant to show what he can do in those circumstances? What does that do for his confidence and self-belief? I know, it kills it. Who knows, perhaps he would have flopped. He might not have been good enough. But we'll never know because he wasn't given that chance. And it's all the more galling because the type of player we are crying out for this season is the kind who is pacy, and runs at defenders! I guess in this argument you're either the type who thinks these kids should be held back as long as possible for their own protection, or you're the type who thinks give them a go. I'm definately the latter. Age shouldn't come into it. Was it Brian Clough who said, "if you're good enough, you're old enough"? Well I share that view. Pele played in a World Cup Final at 17........... and scored two goals. If he was on our books now he'd probably be on loan at a League one side. Edited January 15, 2009 by just
dkw Posted January 16, 2009 Posted January 16, 2009 I think it's much more of a crime now Loz. Not only because of the situation we are currently in but also because of the number of kids we have who look to have genuine quality about them. We didn't have that under Jose. Many of us have seen these youngsters quite a bit on CTV, or playing out on loan, and recognise the potential some of them have. Mancienne, Stoch, Katuka, Sinclair. There are probably very few Chelsea fans who come on these forums and don't know a little bit about them. Now whether any of those lads are able to transfer that promise and potential into consistent performances for our first team I don't know. But neither will anyone else unless we give them chance to step up and show what they can do. I'm not saying we should be throwing them in en-masse or sticking them in against the likes Man U or Juventus. But we should be using them against the Southends and the Burnleys, and if we ever again happen to find ourselves 3-0 up in EPL game with 25 minutes left, let's throw on a Stoch or Katuka for the experience and development factors rather than a Belletti as the safe bet, (said with no dis-respect intended to Belletti). Make no mistake, holding these kids back for too long can be just as damaging to them as throwing them in to early. I have not a single doubt in my mind that this has happened to Scott Sinclair the way has been used over the last two seasons. I saw enough of him to form an opinion that he was an exciting player with promise. Pacy, natural width, ran at defenders. He did pretty much all that was asked of him during his loan spells. I think a few of us had hopes for the boy. But then to come back here, be stuck on the bench and be given the odd 4 or 5 minutes at the end of a game, if he was lucky. How the hell is anyone meant to show what he can do in those circumstances? What does that do for his confidence and self-belief? I know, it kills it. Who knows, perhaps he would have flopped. He might not have been good enough. But we'll never know because he wasn't given that chance. And it's all the more galling because the type of player we are crying out for this season is the kind who is pacy, and runs at defenders! I guess in this argument you're either the type who thinks these kids should be held back as long as possible for their own protection, or you're the type who thinks give them a go. I'm definately the latter. Age shouldn't come into it. Was it Brian Clough who said, "if you're good enough, you're old enough"? Well I share that view. Pele played in a World Cup Final at 17........... and scored two goals. If he was on our books now he'd probably be on loan at a League one side. and that there is exactly the problem. scoalri will see these young players much more than us and will know if there ready for the massive step up, and it is a massive step up. and from what ive seen i dont think any of them are anywhere near ready/good enough. certainly not sinclair who has still to impress me in the ressie games or loan teams ive seen. i dont think stoch is the answer either, both players suffer from the same head down running problem. plus im almost certain throwing them in now when were n turmoil would do them no good at all. i have no problem at all about debating these points, the only thing i will say is im sick of nearly every single thread being hyjacked by this frigging argument. if you wanna debate the merits of our youth system then start a thread and keep it all in there please.
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