Courtois, Lukaku and Chalobah.

[coombsie]

Having watched these lads from afar over much of this season, I am left in no doubt that they ALL have a part to play in the First Team Squad. It would freshen things up and be like three brand new signings. I am not saying that they should or colud play every game, but if we continue to rotate, they are a lot bteer than some of the players, sure now to leave.

 

Petr Cech needs competition and he hasn't had any. Has that affected his performance? probably not much, but he is not getting any younger, I think Courtois would run him very very close for a starting spot.

 

Lukaku is a missing link. When United and City each had four strikers to choose from, we had one for much of the Season and two after January. This is not enough and although we will be linked with Schurlle, Cavani, Falcao and Rooney, the absolute must have, is already ours, bring Lukaku back ASAP.

 

Chalobah is young and still has much to learn, I'm not sure the Club or the player properly understand what his best position is, but is he better than several of the First Team Squad? Yes he is and Jose (if it is to be the man) will surely realise this.

 

[gibletmc]

will be an absolute crime if we dont bring back lukaku to the bridge. 17 goals playing for west brom and considering he hasn't started that regularly for them is an incredible return for a 19 year old. Chelsea have had a bit of a habit of not giving the youth a proper chance like they get at United. Look at McEachran, he was touted as being the next great technical English midfielder like wilshere but ever since Ancelotti left he hasn't been given chances, hope he comes back to the fold. Would be great to have a player in our first 11 from the youth academy besides Terry. Bring back Lukaku, McEachran and Chalobah Jose.

[Stim]

will be an absolute crime if we dont bring back lukaku to the bridge. 17 goals playing for west brom and considering he hasn't started that regularly for them is an incredible return for a 19 year old. Chelsea have had a bit of a habit of not giving the youth a proper chance like they get at United. Look at McEachran, he was touted as being the next great technical English midfielder like wilshere but ever since Ancelotti left he hasn't been given chances, hope he comes back to the fold. Would be great to have a player in our first 11 from the youth academy besides Terry. Bring back Lukaku, McEachran and Chalobah Jose.

 

Pray tell uniteds youth that has been given a chance lately. Welbeck/cleverly all did their loan spells.

[gibletmc]

I was more referring to the fact that United have a good history over the last 10 years of buying or producing good young players and giving them regular chances e.g. Phil Jones but I suppose this season we have given Oscar a regular first team spot so perhaps you have proven me wrong

[Stim]

Difference between us and united is that Oscar doesn't get accredited to us playing a youngster. Phil Jones played a full season at Blackburn before moving to united for big money. Smalling was at Fulham. They buy young players and for some reason its proof of their amazing academy. They are living off the merits of giggs and scholes

[Samdwich]

The only thing I disagree with is Courtois coming back. Keepers don't get rotated so he'll just be rotting on the bench. As for Cech not getting competition - notice how last season his performances picked up again after a few years of being good but not the best? Coincided with Courtois making waves at Atletico.

[gibletmc]

You raise a good point. Anyways, hope that Chalobah, McEachran and Lukaku go on to really cement themselves as a part of Chelsea success in years to come.

[evissy]

Not playing enough youth is down to constant managerial changes. At Utd the young lads are acclimatized to SAF way of playing and UTD way of playing from young age, same as Barca.

If a youngster gets through our system he is super-lucky and super-gifted.

Lukaku can be brought back if he faces less competition than Torres, Ba and Cavani for example. Torres is a big stumbling-block in front of him.

[CunningStunt]

Courtois should go out on loan again. 

 

I wouldn't mind seeing Chalobah back as long as he is given opportunities in the first team. I wouldn't mind if he was loaned out again but I'd like it to be to a PL side, particularly Watford if they come up.

 

Lukaku should be our first choice next year assuming we don't sign one of the elite strikers in the world.

 

KDB is the main man though. He should be in the first team next season imo. 

[gibletmc]

Lukaku has proven that he can perform against top PL sides this season and really should be given a chance, it also always comes across that he wants to try and emulate his hero Drogba at the Bridge. Think signing Schurrle will be very sensible, great winger and can also play through the middle. Far better then Moses. Would love to see KDB back but I fear he is a very similar player to Mata and Oscar.

[cfcblue]

all should be in the squad next year and getting games ... if they were Man Utd players Fergie would integrate them into his Man Utd line-up, sooner rather than later ...

[terraloon]

Lukaku along with either Ba or Torres and a.n. other should be the 3 strikers in the squad next season, Courtois is too good a player not to start as the number one so I very much doubt he will be at SB for as long as Cech is also in the squad. My guess is Courtois will remain on loan either where he is or in the EPL next season. Come end of the 2013/14 season I would expect  if we still own both players we will cash in on Cech.

 

Chalboah needs another season loan getting games under his belt not at Championship level but in the top league. It seems to me that WBA have done very well with Lukaka I guess in the main down to Steve Clarke who is a very good coach so for me that would be the perfect destianation for either him or Ake and in 12 months they should be ready for a squad place just as I beleive De Bryne is although I suspect he is being used as a bargaining chip in Germany

[Stim]

all should be in the squad next year and getting games ... if they were Man Utd players Fergie would integrate them into his Man Utd line-up, sooner rather than later ...

 

After loans at sunderland etc.

[Uno]

I dont think Josh will make it at Chelsea unless he wants to be a bit part squad player. Dont bite my head off, this is just my opinion. I think Chelsea fans rate him so highly because they are just dying to see another youth player come through. I think he is an ok player but good enough to start with us even in a year or two. Im not so sure. Of course he could really kick on and prove me wrong. I truely hope he does.

[Blueblur]

You raise a good point. Anyways, hope that Chalobah, McEachran and Lukaku go on to really cement themselves as a part of Chelsea success in years to come.

 

Problem is McEachran is horse sh*t.

 

Chalobah has a good future ahead of him and Lukaku is bossing it...but Josh has sort of failed on loan at 'Borough.

Edited May 20, 2013 by Blueblur

[Cam]

It's a bit of a shame...he was so promising...but I started having concerns when he was unable to do anything at Swansea...and negativity has built with this loan spell too.

 

It's looking like he won't progress as much as we thought he would.

[Nick05]

Courtois can stay at Atletico for another 2-3 season, he's only 21 and GK's can easily play well into their 30's so he could be at the Bridge for a decade even if he arrives at the age of 24 - 25. Besides, first team CL football and regular trophies is very good exposure.

 

Cholobah needs to be brought back this season. No dicking around with another loan spell. The pivot will be set with Mikel, Romeu, Chalobah, Luiz, Ramires and Lamps to choose from. Not to forget that Ake can play there as well.

 

As for Lukaku, I dont think I need to state how big an addition he will be.

[TrueBlueBIH]

Problem is McEachran is horse sh*t.

 

Chalobah has a good future ahead of him and Lukaku is bossing it...but Josh has sort of failed on loan at 'Borough.

 

Has he? He played in 38 games and had 3 assists,he was not impressive like Lukaku or Courtois but far from a bad season for Josh.

[Uno]

If Watford should go up then Chalobah should go there on loan again imo.

[Nibs]

Problem is McEachran is horse sh*t.

 

Chalobah has a good future ahead of him and Lukaku is bossing it...but Josh has sort of failed on loan at 'Borough.

 

No need to look any further for utterly cretinous post of 2013.

[big blue]

Problem is McEachran is horse sh*t.

Chalobah has a good future ahead of him and Lukaku is bossing it...but Josh has sort of failed on loan at 'Borough.

he has incredible touch vision and passing. hes still only 20, not all players develop straight early.

I actually think he'd be better playing here with quality players around him, because his game is possession, and he lacks the ability to scrap it out in midfield, which is needed at most english clubs.

I think its pointless trying to get him to be more combative by sending him on loan in championship, he reminds me of a young iniesta, and you can guarantee if he was at barca he'd be hailed as the next bg thing.

when weve got players like marin and beneyoun in the squad, why cant mceachran get 20 odd appearances next season.

[Charles Ryder]

Courtois believes in Chelsea youth policy

 

 

In the bowels of the Bernabeu in the early hours of last Saturday morning, Atletico Madrid players were filing on to the team bus that would take them to their post-Spanish Cup victory celebrations.

 

The 6ft 5in frame of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois had stopped to speak first in Spanish, then in French and finally in English about where he will be playing next season.

 

Jose Mourinho, who has never hidden his preference for big, commanding keepers, had moments earlier declared: “His club will decide where he plays next season; and his club is Chelsea.â€

 

When Courtois, who only turned 21 last week, addressed the burning question he focused not so much on when he will return to Stamford Bridge, more on just how good Chelsea’s young side will be when he finally arrives. “Chelsea have the young players that maybe in two or three years’ time can win everything,†he says.

 

Two days after Courtois made it three major trophies inside two seasons at Atletico Madrid, his friend Romelu Lukaku scored a hat-trick for West Bromwich Albion against Manchester United. Born a year and two days after Courtois, he is another who is ready to be recalled when Chelsea see fit.

 

The club also have Kevin de Bruyne, 21, on loan at Werder Bremen and Brazilian Lucas Piazon, 19, at Malaga.

 

When Courtois returns he will have fellow Belgian international Eden Hazard, 22, waiting for him as part of a squad that includes Oriol Romeu, 21, Oscar, 21, Ryan Bertrand, 23, Victor Moses, 22, and Juan Mata, 25.

 

“I signed with Chelsea, not just because it is a big club but also because of its commitment to young players,†Courtois says. “I want to be part of Chelsea history.â€

 

When exactly he can start doing that will be down to the new manager. “There are lots of rumours; well, one rumour in particular,†he says, regarding the identity of the new man in charge at Stamford Bridge.

 

Mourinho was the manager he left trophyless with two extraordinary extra-time saves in the Spanish Cup final. “He is a fantastic young goalkeeper with massive potential,†Real Madrid’s outgoing coach said.

 

It has been well documented that Courtois wants to stay another season in Spain but that desire comes only from the fear that if he returns to London next season he will spend too many games on the bench in what is a World Cup year.

 

“If the new manager says, ‘I want Courtois as my first choice’, that is how it will be,†he says. “But Petr Cech is a world-class goalkeeper who plays every game at such a high level.

 

“Chelsea have always been very fair with me and they are also smart people and they know that I need to play. I don’t know where that will be but I do know I have proved myself in the two years I have been here [in Madrid].

 

Until they are reunited, Chelsea’s Belgians are in phone contact. He says: “If Lukaku scores a goal then I send him a message and if Hazard wins something then I congratulate him.

 

“I had to charge my phone as soon as I got off the pitch after the final, otherwise it was not going to make it through the night. It was some week with Chelsea winning the Europa League and then me getting a Spanish Cup-winner’s medal.â€

 

Mature beyond his years, Courtois did let his guard slip in the celebrations that followed the Cup win, offending some Real Madrid fans with an insult when he took the microphone to address the celebrating Atletico Madrid supporters.

 

He will only have gone up in Atletico supporters’ estimations for that. They have dubbed him “San Courtois†– a play on the “Saint Iker†nickname of Real Madrid’s keeper Casillas.

 

The young Belgian is in line to win La Liga’s Zamora prize for the keeper who has conceded the fewest goals this season. He said: “They will put ‘Courtois’ on the trophy but really I would prefer that they put Atletico Madrid because there have been games when we have defended so well I have hardly touched the ball.â€

 

His team-mates do not want him to leave. As the Atletico full-back Felipe Luis passed him en route to the team bus after that victorious final he reached up to pat him on the head and shouted: “He is the best in the worldâ€. Most commentators in Spain agree that he soon could be. And, as Mourinho has already pointed out, he belongs to Chelsea.

 

 

 

 

 

link

Edited May 22, 2013 by Lofty 1905

[Butterhampton FC]

Didnt get a chance to see Josh at all during his loan spell this year. How did he fair? Could he really make an impact on the squad or are we all just hoping that he does since he came through the youth setup? That being said, I thought he showed great promise under Ancelotti and then when he was shown the door it seemed that everyone at the club forgot about him

[jack_super_class]

Didnt get a chance to see Josh at all during his loan spell this year. How did he fair? Could he really make an impact on the squad or are we all just hoping that he does since he came through the youth setup? That being said, I thought he showed great promise under Ancelotti and then when he was shown the door it seemed that everyone at the club forgot about him

 

From what i have heard and read he started the season off really well with Boro but faded badly,was struggling to get in the starting eleven at the end of the season.His chances of being in the first team squad next season are slim,would expect another loan.

[Coxy15]

all i will say to anyone writing mceachran off already is Ian Wright didnt turn pro until he was 22, and stil scored over 100 goals for the arse. some players develop late, others like rooney are premier league quality by the time they are 17. give him more of a chance to grow physically and get some premier league playing time