“The big question will be to what extent I am convinced a 19 year-old is going to keep out of the team one of the seniors who have got us to the World Cup.â€

 

So said Roy Hodgson, a few days after Guy Fawkes night celebrations and the announcement of his latest England squad. An appropriate time to consider a bonfire of vanities, I thought, before hastily returning to far more important Chelsea matters. Then it occurred on me that Hodgson’s problematic bringing-in of the ‘bright young things’ was nothing compared to Jose’s current dilemmas regarding promotion of juniors into the first team squad and the easing out of seniors therein, never mind that ever-present need to maintain a ’patriotic’ spine, which was once a given for our international team, or at least it was until the media began an unedifying process of pushing Brussels-born Adnan Januzaj’s claims for selection, for no other reasons than he’s good and plays for Manchester United.

 

But I digress, unlike an array of Chelsea TV pundits who have, of late, raised the ‘English core’ issue, no doubt in anticipation of our old guard (Frank, JT and Ash) going sooner rather than later, thereby leaving Gary Cahill in splendid isolation, looking around like a patriotic panda, all boggle-eyed and anxious for a mate. The issue is also clouded by an apparent ‘creaking’ of old bones in recent times, as evidenced by Jose being unhappy with Ashley’s form and Frank starting to flit in and out of [what used to be for him] regular first team employment on favourable pattern of play terms. However, for a great many fans that situation is far from ‘splendid’ and would instead verge on the unacceptable. Hence this topic is designed to crystal ball-gaze into our future, an effort to alleviate such fears, looking at who is edging into contention at a 19-year old level and upwards, albeit with due apologies to those Shed Enders who may feel this narrowing of the player field is both unwarranted and discriminatory.

 

That said, and before outlining my own views on specific [English] players believed to be contenders, I think it might be as well to simply provide a list of those who fall within the category in question - the first team squad members not already mentioned (there are only two of them) together with those who are out on loan, and finally the ’qualifiers’ from the Under-21 squad. These names are as follows:-

 

Current 1^st Team Squad - Ryan Bertrand and Jamal Blackman

 

Out on Loan - Sam Walker, Todd Kane, Nathaniel Chalobah, George Saville, Patrick Bamford, Sam Hutchinson and Josh McEachran

 

Under-21s - Mitchell Beeney, Ben Killip, Billy Clifford, Fankaty Dabo, Alex Davey, Kevin Wright, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Jon Swift, Dion Conroy, Lewis Baker, Alex Kiwomya, Isiah Brown

 

I'll admit at the outset that for the purposes of this exercise my ’spine’ consists of a maximum of five players (any more would begin to constitute a body) and a minimum of three, the goalkeeping position always being part of the latter set-up. At Chelsea, this in itself causes an immediate problem, with Thibault Courtois almost certain to be No.1 post-Petr, unless within this list there lurks a high flyer in every descriptive sense of the words. For instance, will Jamal Blackman challenge for top spot or can Sam Walker, Mitchell Beeney and Ben Killip supplant his ambition if, or when, he decides to pursue his career elsewhere? For remember we must, despite the FA’s departed David Bernstein’s efforts to stifle it with his witch hunt treatment of JT, a Chelsea player’s ambition should still encompass international recognition, whether the organisation running it is respected or not.

 

And lest we forget, by dropping Joe Hart from their latest mid-week Champions League team, Man City went in with an [un-rebuked] all-foreign X1, as would have Arsenal, had Gibbs (as per usual) succumbed to injury well before Christmas. Okay, the FA have yet to pick up and run with this particular fireball of controversy, but you can bet your bottom rouble they would do in the future if it were us and Jamal Blackman turned out to be a cracking keeper and a genuine England prospect. So my hunch is that some sort of Courtois/Blackman rivalry will materialise, probably inside the next five years, and Jose will have his first ‘patriot’ call to make when the pressure [for Jamal to play more first team football] is applied by an increasingly Union Jack-ish FA under Greg Dyke.

 

Moving on swiftly, with that fell swoop accounting for as many as four potential spinal chaps, we now come to the rest of the defence and here, even to my jaundiced eye, the position is only marginally better. Todd Kane continues to impress at Blackburn and for my money is another Ron Harris in the making. However, he will be looking at Ryan Bertrand’s current pecking order position at left back (an ironic position in the circumstances) and realising he is now behind an in-favour Dave, with no quarter or kudos given for being part of a [potential] future home grown vertebrae. At this point it is interesting to take a quote from yesterday’s article by Jeremy Wilson in The Daily Telegraph, under the heading ’Saints revival puts England on path to success’ in which he charts Southampton’s stunning start to the season and the young English players flooding into their first team. It reads as follows:-

 

“The point that is repeatedly made by those young players [coming through the Academy system] is how critical it is to know that Cortese [the chairman] and Pochettino [the coach] are so committed to their pathway to the first team.â€

 

Now I’m not for one moment suggesting that the Saints situation is directly comparable to ours - for a start they have no world class ’old bones’ to ease out, nor existing top four status to protect - but Jose’s task is not too dissimilar to that of his fellow countryman and a sustained Bertrand benching, when there are no English ‘qualifiers’ as advanced as Ryan around, does not really bode well, spine-wise. Moreover, other defensive candidates are nowhere near his level, a quick scan of the Under-21s, which is all anyone can make at this stage in their careers, telling me that only Alex Davey has what it takes to be a central defender in the JT [old school] mould and he alone has the quality to progress. Whether this will equate to an eventual permanent position at the heart of our defence alongside Gary Cahill is another matter entirely, but, taking an optimistic view, I wouldn’t rule out the possibility.

 

On to our midfield which, by common consent, has been the most unproductive of [home grown] patches in recent years. Here we find Josh McEachran treading water, as opposed to any well-worn path into the first X1, together with Nathaniel Chalobah and George Saville at different stages of a loan-ism approach that is seemingly doing Josh no favours when it comes to legging him up any ladder of success. On a happier note, the latest bright sparks to emerge from the Under 21s are Lewis Baker and Jon Swift, who are mighty impressive and as a result I’m praying that at least one of them gets a run out against Sunderland in the League Cup, if only to restore my belief in the club’s genuine desire to see some of these kids anywhere near a first team breakthrough.

 

Finally, we have reached the frontline and, while Under-21 Alex Kiwomya is good, loaned out Patrick Bamford is even better, being the only visible home grown, system-benefiting boy on our books at present. Admittedly, a lot of money has been invested in this lad, but it looks well spent. Indeed, too well spent to allow another Romelu Lukaku story to develop to our detriment. The claims of Isiah Brown are strong as well and a comparison of the respective learning curves of both suggests that next season should provide a golden opportunity for Brown to follow the same path as Bamford, thereby ensuring the latter’s return to our fold as fourth striker for the first team squad next season… or would this be just wishful thinking on my part?

 

Truth be told, with Chelsea’s past developmental track record, who knows where Bamford and the rest will end up. Promotional precedents from the youngsters playpen are getting ever more conspicuous by their absence as the years roll on at Chelsea and on making a full circle return to complete my English spinal tapestry I’m guessing it will be a long wait before we see the likes of Blackman, Kane, Chalobah and Bertrand join Cahill in an all-English defensive unit. Likewise, the odds of Saville, McEachran, Baker and Swift creating a steady supply of chances for Bamford any time soon appear slim to none and to imagine the prospect of all of them appearing in the same Chelsea first team borders on being described as the musings of a madman. And anyway, as mentioned earlier, almost a full team of English players coming through the system in this way certainly constitutes a body that will never materialise.... will it Jose?

 

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Lovely post! It is something im sure all Chelsea fans want to see. Not much gives us more joy than seeing a youngster given some game time. The problem is if Jose were to give some of these kids game time it means that one of the older players would be left on the bench or not even make the bench. That would give Jose a massive headache.

While its all well and good wanting to see youth come through the system and make a massive claim for a starting spot in the first team the club and board demand to be highly successful and playing the youth instead of a player who has been around the block a few times is a big risk to take.

This season i dont think we will see any youth take part in first team games as Jose will want to win everything he can get his hands on. Next season maybe we may see the League cup become a chance to test the young blood.

We'll probably see one or two defenders get a chance, if we're lucky. Apart from that I just don't see it happening any time soon, not now that we have such a big squad.  This was the season for all that but we didn't plan ahead it seems. 

I think the potential is there. Terry, Lampard and Cole will all need to be replaced within the next few years and each one could be replaced internally. I'm looking specifically at Chalobah, Loftus-Cheek and Bertrand.

Bertrand won't replace Cole, we'll end up buying some foreigner to replace him, sadly.

Admittedly I haven't seen much of him, but Swift to me looks like a good young player. Have we given up on McEachran then?

From the sounds of it Josh isnt having the best season at Waford. I dont think he will make it at Chelsea.

Admittedly I haven't seen much of him, but Swift to me looks like a good young player. Have we given up on McEachran then?

 

The heart says no the head says yes.

I think the potential is there. Terry, Lampard and Cole will all need to be replaced within the next few years and each one could be replaced internally. I'm looking specifically at Chalobah, Loftus-Cheek and Bertrand.

 

I agree, I also think that Isaiah Brown has a chance, he looks a great prospect. If Bertrand doesn't make it I personally think that we will end up signing Luke Shaw.

If Bertrand doesn't make it I personally think that we will end up signing Luke Shaw.

That's my view too, it'll be either one of the other. It means an uncertain future for van Aanholt though.

I remember watching McEachran feature Ancelotti and was surprised by how good he looked, what happened?

Edited November 13, 201312 yr by BavarianAfrican12

I remember watching McEachran feature Ancelotti and was surprised by how good he looked, what happened?

 

Well Ancelotti got sacked and the new regime came in and despite a decent showing in pre-season they thought what was best for Josh's development was to let him sit on the bench and watch. Then send him out on loan to a club that didn't need him.

 

 

I think we all have to be realistic. With our ability to go out and buy just about whoever we want, unless the academy produces the next Messi, it doesn't matter how good we think they may be, they won't be given a chance.

To be fair Josh has had a couple of loans now and not set the world alight on any of them. Last season he started well but then dropped off. This season he started some games and now is mostly on the bench.

It happens in football, someone you think will be a star just doesnt have enough to keep them going up and up. You look at Frank, he worked so hard to make himself the player he is/has been. I dont think i have seen or heard of another player who has worked as hard as Frank. Maybe Beckham could argue with that.

For me Josh is an ok player and will make a living playing football but not in the premier league. I honestly think he will be a championship type player.

I do believe that people here have blue tinted glasses on when looking at Josh. We all so badly want a youth player to come through and really stake a claim to a starting spot. The last player to really do it was JT, you could count Huth as well, he played a fair few games i guess. We have Ryan but he cant get a game so im not counting him.

Josh did play well under Carlo in easy games, games where we would/should control from start to finish but i think his time on loan has shown us that he isnt quite up to the standard we need.

I do believe that people here have blue tinted glasses on when looking at Josh. We all so badly want a youth player to come through and really stake a claim to a starting spot. The last player to really do it was JT, you could count Huth as well, he played a fair few games i guess. We have Ryan but he cant get a game so im not counting him.

 

 

But the fact remains that the club handled his development badly. At a crucial stage, bad decisions were made. Some players can bounce back and be stronger, some have their confidence hit and it effects them.

 

But this isn't just about McEachran. As I've already said, for any of our academy to break through and feature regularly for the first team they are going to have to be truly exceptional. We can all get carried away by the likes of Josh, Ake, Chalobah, Swift, Loftus-Cheek, Boga, etc etc, etc but none of them will be given a chance when the club make it clear they will not entertain failure of any description. It's sad, but it's a fact.

Edited November 13, 201312 yr by Nibs

You are right I can't argue with that at all.

Good article Dorset.

 

Frankly we've an issue in this regard. In Carlo's last season he said he wanted several young players to actively be a part of the first team squad. That ended the moment he was sacked, and it has never really re-emerged. Partly I'm suggesting because we won a European Cup and were in a better position to buy players, and secondly because FFP hasn't really bitten as hard as anyone thought it would.

 

In my view it's the one black mark on our team at the moment. We've won two FA Youth Cups now in the past five seasons, and not one of those players has been deemed good enough to play. We bought Marco van Ginkel from Vitesse on the strength of his play there, and yet noone would be surprised if Lucas Piazon who is tearing the place apart there at the moment, is deemed to be not good enough for us at the end of the season.

 

In my view this club needs to see McEachran, Chalobah and Piazon (at least) be a part of the first team perhaps not as key stars but certainly as solid contributors to the squad in the next season and a bit. 

 

There is always pressure to make top four and compete for trophies but let's be honest and say that it's not as if some of the passengers in the squad in recent seasons couldn't have been easily replaced by the three above or by Matic or Stoch or Borini. And don't get me started on Sturridge....

Edited November 13, 201312 yr by Spiller86

I think the boards plan was to have Carlo for a good few years and have him bring through the youth. After the 1st year we got rid of a lot of the older players and didnt replace them. This was partly the reason we sucked in the second year and Carlo was given the boot. Then the board had a change of heart and went for a young manager and gave him a bit more backing but not enough when the time came that he needed it. The Robbie came along, no money to spend in his first half season and we won the CL and FA cup. That summer we made some very good young signings which again seemed to have a change of thinking by the board. This time though was to have a young team which is bought instead of brought through. Now we have Jose and he just wants to win. I think in time if the board dont get itchy trigger fingers again then we could build a great team and even bring through some youth but i wouldnt expect it in the next season or two.

Good point about Carlo, Uno.

Also, Spiller, I 100% agree with your remarks about the academy and van ginkel.
 

We definitely need to give kids more of a chance. Look at Berinho at WBA (a lot harder to make the grade at Chelsea, I know), nobody knew who he was at the start of the season and he already looks like a decent prem striker. Think aswell, he need didn't get a game for WBA until he was 20, that means it is probably premature to write off players like Josh. All our youth players have been deemed some of the best of their age when they were 13 and have since proved with 2 youth cups, 1 youth cup final and a next gen final. It's like our youth team is people like us, they are decent footballers, some of who could become great with the right guidance and right amounf of playing time.

I would love nothing more than our 17th-25th men to be made up of youth players, gradually blooded into the team and bench. One can dream.

Not sure why we bought Van Ginkel as our holding mid (I believe he played there for us, no?) when we have promising youth already in Aké and Chalobah. :| 

The idea of Gary Cahill as a 'patriotic panda' made me laugh for longer than I care to admit...