I understood the expectations and pressure to finish top 4 and those are reasons not to promote our promising youth. Top players were always bought and it hindered our youth chances. Jose has come back and is quoted saying he want stability and he wants to help the youth system. BUT it is stil the same thing. We have players like Lukaku, Moses, Schurrle, KDB etc. that need time and chances to play. They can become real stars. We want to bring in Rooney or somebody else and it will limit Lukakus chances. If we bring in Willian (who I personally think is extremely overrated) it will be a complete slap in the face to our young midfielders, especially Moses, who worked his ass off in the preseason and scored 10 goals for us last year. Not to mention it is frustrating for players on loan like Piazon and others who will probably never get a chance. This policy has to change in order to get stability and encourage youth players.

I understood the expectations and pressure to finish top 4 and those are reasons not to promote our promising youth. Top players were always bought and it hindered our youth chances. Joose has come back and is quoted saying he want stability and he wants to help the youth system. BUT it is stil the same thing. We have players like Lukaku, Moses, Schurrle, KDB etc. that need time and chances to play. They can become real stars. We want to bring in Rooney or somebody else and it will limit Lukakus chances. If we bring in Willian (who I personally think is extremely overrated) it will be a complete slap in the face to our young midfielders, especially Moses, who worked his ass off in the preseason and scored 10 goals for us last year. Not to mention it is frustrating for players on loan like Piazon and others who will probably never get a chance. This policy has to change in order to get stability and encourage youth players.

I agree plenty of young talent at chelsea. Is Jose the man to bring youth from the academy? I'm not sure to be honest. Remeber Liverpool v Chelsea at anfield Jose played essien and Paulo at center back instead of throwing a young center back from the youths in he could have been a hero. We still got bet anyway.

Yet at Madrid he quite happilly threw Varane into the first team and at the ripe old age of 19 professed that he was " The best Centre Half in the world ".

Wonder if Nathan Ake will get a similar accolade this year.

Yet at Madrid he quite happilly threw Varane into the first team and at the ripe old age of 19 professed that he was " The best Centre Half in the world ".

Wonder if Nathan Ake will get a similar accolade this year.

I'd be only delighted if Jose trusted the youth in the academy just saying in he's last stint he never really dipped into the academy instead he wanted Moby for the likes of Ben hiam surely we had a youth player better then him. Anyway time will tell. Just don't see tje point in pumping millions into the academy if we don't use it. Some top young players at the club let's wait and see I guess.

Look at it this way, in an ideal world we'd have two good players for every position. We typically play with 3 attacking midfielders behind the striker, and we have 6 players (Hazard, Oscar, Mata, Moses, Schurrle, De Bruyne) for this position.

 

Admittedly, yes, this is our strongest position already, and putting more money into that area of the team seems strange, considering there are a couple of arguably 'thinner' areas that are in greater need of strengthening.

 

However, I expect that Jose will have us playing a very intense 'high-pressing' game, with the 3 behind the striker being very active defensively, closing down all over the pitch. Allowing the opposition minimal 'free time' on the ball, even in their own half, has been a formula for success with Barcelona and Bayern in recent years, and I suspect Jose will be looking to adapt our play similarly.

 

Already the workload on the players behind the striker is high, when you consider that usually the wider men will be asked to track back and form a 4-5-1 defensively, or the number 10 will be asked to drop deep to form a 3 man midfield when possession is lost. So typically these players will be covering the most distance on the pitch. And that's not even mentioning their main role; the attacking build up. Mourinho will demand fast, intensive attacking play. Played well, it's probably the most demanding position on the pitch.

 

Add to the fact that we'll soon see 2/3 games being played in a week, with plenty of travelling in between, it's understandable that Mourinho will want a maximum number of players available for his highest intensity position. Why shouldn't they all be high quality? We'll probably see at least two attacking midfield substitutions per game (barring injuries/red cards), because he'll want the players in these positions as sharp and energetic as possible. We'll also likely see a lot of rotation in this position, because there's no way players will stay at 100% when the games come thick and fast. The way I see it, we're not going to sacrifice much quality regardless of what combination of our attacking midfielders we play, and surely that's a good thing?

 

Willian increases our options. And when injury, fatigue, suspensions etc. start to kick in, we'll be thankful for the quality options available, rather than questioning the need for some.

 

Our youth will get the same opportunity when they're ready, and from what I've seen of Mourinho (particularly at Inter), I'd say he's a very capable judge of when young talent is ready to step up. Our young talent won't be forgotten, experience gaining loans is just part of the process, and with the unforgiving nature of Premier League football, I'm happy our youth will be given time to gain this experience under less pressure, before being rushed into the main spotlight.

 

/ramble

The way of Chelsea fans -  Moan, moan, moan. Despite being lucky enough to be a Chelsea fan in our most successful era, with our most successful ever manager back at the club.

 

SpadeFX above hinted at the workload our players will be under, but we also need to consider the type of players we have in that attacking band and the type we need. Frankly I don't think Moses fits in and I think Schurrle was a direct and more versatile upgrade on him. I like Moses and think he's a good option to have, but our squad is pushing on.

 

There are areas I'd rather we'd spent that money on, but that doesn't make it an unwise investment, nor does it mean that our best player is leaving. In that attacking midfield trio we can start with Hazard, Oscar and Mata and bring on Schurrle, Willian and De Bruyne. That's a squad to be wary of. Any one of our second choices have the ability to change a game and it's not much of a drop in quality to bring any of them on.

 

Bring on the season I say.

How many of those young players we've neglected have gone on to become top class players?

It's the reality of being a top club, you play the best players and if you aren't up to standard you're not going to get games based on the hope that you might do something unexpectedly amazing.

The WAY OF CHELSEA isnt the best ...In the past have been more than happy to buy NAMES for shirts that in my opinion have past their best days...We have great youngsters that given regular play NOW will make them big players in 2 years time....Alas these lads are consigned to ?

How many of those young players we've neglected have gone on to become top class players?

It's the reality of being a top club, you play the best players and if you aren't up to standard you're not going to get games based on the hope that you might do something unexpectedly amazing.

 

Agreed. Cold hard truth is that none of them turn out to be good enough, and if the manager doesn't think he can rely on them then he has no incentive to play them.

Look at it this way, in an ideal world we'd have two good players for every position. We typically play with 3 attacking midfielders behind the striker, and we have 6 players (Hazard, Oscar, Mata, Moses, Schurrle, De Bruyne) for this position.

 

Admittedly, yes, this is our strongest position already, and putting more money into that area of the team seems strange, considering there are a couple of arguably 'thinner' areas that are in greater need of strengthening.

 

However, I expect that Jose will have us playing a very intense 'high-pressing' game, with the 3 behind the striker being very active defensively, closing down all over the pitch. Allowing the opposition minimal 'free time' on the ball, even in their own half, has been a formula for success with Barcelona and Bayern in recent years, and I suspect Jose will be looking to adapt our play similarly.

 

Already the workload on the players behind the striker is high, when you consider that usually the wider men will be asked to track back and form a 4-5-1 defensively, or the number 10 will be asked to drop deep to form a 3 man midfield when possession is lost. So typically these players will be covering the most distance on the pitch. And that's not even mentioning their main role; the attacking build up. Mourinho will demand fast, intensive attacking play. Played well, it's probably the most demanding position on the pitch.

 

Add to the fact that we'll soon see 2/3 games being played in a week, with plenty of travelling in between, it's understandable that Mourinho will want a maximum number of players available for his highest intensity position. Why shouldn't they all be high quality? We'll probably see at least two attacking midfield substitutions per game (barring injuries/red cards), because he'll want the players in these positions as sharp and energetic as possible. We'll also likely see a lot of rotation in this position, because there's no way players will stay at 100% when the games come thick and fast. The way I see it, we're not going to sacrifice much quality regardless of what combination of our attacking midfielders we play, and surely that's a good thing?

 

Willian increases our options. And when injury, fatigue, suspensions etc. start to kick in, we'll be thankful for the quality options available, rather than questioning the need for some.

 

Our youth will get the same opportunity when they're ready, and from what I've seen of Mourinho (particularly at Inter), I'd say he's a very capable judge of when young talent is ready to step up. Our young talent won't be forgotten, experience gaining loans is just part of the process, and with the unforgiving nature of Premier League football, I'm happy our youth will be given time to gain this experience under less pressure, before being rushed into the main spotlight.

 

/ramble

 

Ive never seen a team keep so many quality players satisfied and not itching for a transfer.

 

If we presume hazard, mata and oscar are in the first 11, that leaves at least one from Willian, Schurrle and KDB not even on the bench. These players could be starting week in week out for a CL club, yet plenty of times they wont even be on the bench. Why should they stay at Chelsea?

Ive never seen a team keep so many quality players satisfied and not itching for a transfer.

 

If we presume hazard, mata and oscar are in the first 11, that leaves at least one from Willian, Schurrle and KDB not even on the bench. These players could be starting week in week out for a CL club, yet plenty of times they wont even be on the bench. Why should they stay at Chelsea?

I really think we need to get over the idea of a 'First 11' we play over 60 games a year most years, no one player should have to play that many games.

Rather Jose than Benitez.

I really think we need to get over the idea of a 'First 11'

 

Tell that to the likes of Kdb or Oscar or whoever else gets left out for the big matches

 

You think wilmots will give a flying f**k kdb stomped all over the championshiip sides in the capitol one cup?

Well CL on a Tue/Wed then a EPL game on the weekend means rotation will be part and parcel.

Everyone will get a chance.

Tell that to the likes of Kdb or Oscar or whoever else gets left out for the big matches

You think wilmots will give a flying f**k kdb stomped all over the championshiip sides in the capitol one cup?

Its amazing how often you seem to be able to see if Into the future. You must win the lottery every week.

Its amazing how often you seem to be able to see if Into the future. You must win the lottery every week.

 

He did the same thing with the whole Schurrle-KDB saga.