“The market is open but we are happy with what we have. We feel that our squad is what we want. We don't want a squad of only end-products, we also want to bring to the first team three, four or five under-21s and develop players, so we are happy with the balance that we have.â€

 

Jose Mourinho 23/7/14

 

 

I don’t know about your shell-likes, but these words are music to my ears. Reminiscent of hearing a catchy song for the first time and knowing, instantly, a chord has been struck. The hook line is simple enough - ‘we also want to bring into the first team three, four or five under-21s’ - but such is the resonance, the sweetness of vibe in this phraseology, I couldn’t help but hum the tune for the rest of the day. Okay, there is many a slip of disc between its making and any actual top-of-the-table hit - it’s one thing listening to Jose going all acapella on us, but Shed Enders have had similar youthful themes tripping through their minds for many a year now without a full blown orchestra ever being around to support it big time, the best we’ve had to date being JT doing a regular solo tour, which was once backed by the dulcet tones of Jody Morris and precious little else.

 

Still, I’m already hearing the optimists trill in barbershop harmony, at least Jose is singing from our hymn sheet, banging the drum on behalf of the kids, performing all the necessary antics expected of a one-man-band boss that’s contractually obliged to end up shaking a leg, clashing a cymbal, and winning a title in the process. Truth be told, it is those very antics and the embarrassment they can cause that’s prompted Chels managerial stage fright in the past and will, no doubt, do so again in the future. It might even do so this season, although I’m praying this time will be different, the metronome will tick and Mourinho will be true to those honeyed words of his. For they are ’honeyed’ in something far more satisfying than the financial [stereotypical football] sense, and here comparison with the likes of Real Madrid does not and, should not, go amiss...

 

No matter the cost, or Platini’s powder-puff restraints, or Le Professor’s accusations of financial doping [albeit primarily levied against other clubs] a well-heeled Real Madrid somehow manage to always rise above any vestige of criticism in their kleptomaniac desire to steal a march, then pay as much as they can for it. Indeed, as I type, dear old Carlo Ancelotti is at great pains to explain away the latest shiny object, James Rodriguez - even more expensive than Diamond Geezer - as one ’for the future’, acquired much as you would if you were as rich as Croesus and purchased the most coveted tin of spam ever produced during the War years, intent on building up your hunkered and bunkered supplies, despite the rationing going on elsewhere.

 

Will anyone in the game ever get around to censuring this cack-handed approach to spiralling football inflation? Not Sky, obviously, as they newly-chorus a closer union with La Liga in an attempt to counter the drowning-out it’s getting from BT’s Oompa-pa Premiership Band, SSN’s ludicrous posturing over our summer transfers (money going out is all that counts, apparently, and £50m coming in for David Luiz is irrelevant) being one quite farcical example of the creative accountancy practices they‘ll adopt on screen when it suits. Nor, it would appear, are any of the English hacks too worried about the cost of living in general, more especially up north, as they plead with Louis Van Gaal to ape Abba with a lusty rendering of ‘Money, Money, Money’ in the best possible tasteful [statement-of-intent] way, naturally.

 

But, I digress. This topic should really be all about Jose actually reaching the point of no return (and at last getting some) on the kids we’ve previously left bobbing helplessly just beneath the first team surface for so long. This can only be achieved by inclusion in the first team squad, a promotion that should thereafter morph into performance on the pitch as soon as possible. A recouping of funds is all Roman has seen up until now and he, I’m sure, will be as pleased as the rest of us to hear Jose’s refrain. Nobody wants to sing praises too early along this particular production line, however, and due to past disappointment I’d like to skip beyond under-21’s verse three, get a confirmation choir to sing out verse four, then move on Swift-ly, Aker-ly, Baker-ly, Bamford-ly, on and on, before finishing, Zouma-rily, delivering a right old crescendo of noise, should anyone care to listen.

 

And this has to be the last critical point - is anyone out there listening? - or will we end up once again seeing Patrick Bamford knocking ‘em in for fun, for Derby? Does bringing ’em in mean Marco van Ginkel (player of the under-21‘bring in’ parish before injury struck last season) counting as a recruit, or might he make it a round half-dozen? Likewise, keeping ‘em out Jamal Blackman, because, if these two are part of Jose’s thinking, a cynic might view a possible six in the category as pure fantasy, whereas the inclusion of Nathan Ake [with them] justifies his comment and is equally plausible. None of us can say for sure at this stage and, it would seem, neither can the club, as the striker position displayed on the official website is currently in such a state of flux its fluidity is enough to still give Bamford a sniff of first team opportunity, despite Lukaku’s return and Didier turning up on the doorstep.

 

What can be said with certainty, though, is that Jose never sings out as a soloist on any subject without reason and he feels a sensible balance needs to be struck between youth and experience, so perhaps we are genuinely on the brink of a new and youthful dawn. The mantra is clear, but I hope it isn’t the Hare Krishna kind… far too much umming and aahring going on for my liking.

 

.

This should make even better reading Dorset and fellow blues...Jose really is committed to bringing on the youth

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/3-chelsea-kids-dont-play-3927033

It is definitely very promising considering the amount of young talent Chelsea has in the ranks. Of course not all will breakthrough and be stars or even wind up playing for Chelsea but if a third make it and half make it to the Premier League with other clubs (sans LFC, United, Arsenal, Spurs, and/or City) it would be wonderful.

One different note, how come we are not hearing much of Feruz? Is he not playing well to not get any chances? I know he is young but definitely just as old as the kids mentioned. Being in the States I don't get to see the Under 21's a lot and was wondering. Any insight by you guys watching can offer be much appreciated.

It is definitely very promising considering the amount of young talent Chelsea has in the ranks. Of course not all will breakthrough and be stars or even wind up playing for Chelsea but if a third make it and half make it to the Premier League with other clubs (sans LFC, United, Arsenal, Spurs, and/or City) it would be wonderful.

One different note, how come we are not hearing much of Feruz? Is he not playing well to not get any chances? I know he is young but definitely just as old as the kids mentioned. Being in the States I don't get to see the Under 21's a lot and was wondering. Any insight by you guys watching can offer be much appreciated.

Saw something on twitter about Feruz not playing that well and also being overshadowed by the younger Solanke.

Feruz has gone backwards unfortunately...a shadow of the exciting striker of a few years back...maybe another youngster who just struggles to progress due to the intense competition and obstacles in front

Glad to hear that the club is making such noises, and I look forward to hearing more and seeing more throughout the season

Definitely feel more optimistic this season about the youth prospects. I have taken out Chelsea TV to watch the pre-season games and a few of the young lads have really impressed me.

 

Boga, Brown & Zouma have stood out big time and Baker, Chalobah, Solanke, Ake, Christiensen and Bamford have been decent.

 

I honestly think that without a full 25-man senior squad being registered for the league this season, Zouma and Boga will get chances to play. Brown is looking excellent, but perhaps a little too young still. Ake and Christiensen are in the squad I think, but probably only as backup I'd imagine, but they may get late run-outs in matches were controlling.

 

Bamford should go on another loan, ideally in the Premiership, but Championship would be fine as he's probably not quite good enough for the Premiership yet.

 

Swift hasn't really shone for me though - I don't think he's at the same level as the other young lads.

 

Jose has said that some of the young lads will be training with the first team this season, and I actually think this is better than loan deals - we had too many last year and these boys need to get used to playing together at Chelsea.

 

The teenagers Andreas Christensen and Nathan Aké will be part of the first-team squad, while Lewis Baker, Izzy Brown and Dominic Solanke will spend the season training with the seniors.

Mourinho claimed that he would have failed if Baker, Brown and Solanke do not go on to win full international caps for England. Forwards Brown and Solanke were part of the England team that won the Under-17 European Championships this summer.

“My conscience is, for example, to say to you that I think Baker, Brown, Solanke, if in a few years they are not national team players, I should blame myself,†Mourinho said.

“They are part of a process the club started without me. Now, we have players who will be Chelsea players.

"And when they become Chelsea players, they will become England players, almost for sure. I’m not saying we’re doing it just for English football, because it is also about us.

“At the moment, officially in the first team squad, not under 21s coming to join us now and again, we have Christensen, Aké, probably another one because I want to have one more English player.

“Baker, Brown, Solanke and Jeremy Boga. These four are not going to be in my squad because I cannot have 30 in my squad, but these four are going to work with us all season and these four are going to be Chelsea players.

“These three are English – Brown, Solanke and Baker – they have to be Chelsea players and they have to be national team players. They have to.

"And I have this feeling that our academy is bringing players to our level.

“Chelsea will have a strong team with Christensen, Baker, Brown, Solanke, Boga and Kurt Zouma in two or three years, which is the end of my contract.

“English guys or seven or eight guys from the academy – home-grown players. It’s a complete turnaround. At the moment, you look at the Champions League list and John Terry is the only one club trained.â€

This is great to hear, in theory, but will Jose really go through with his words? I hope so! I was hoping he would mention Chalobah and Bamford too. 

Jose is obviously very confident in the abilities of those 3 players.

Talk is cheap at this stage, but hopefully he means what he says.

I'd love nothing more than to see some young players become super stars through our academy.

I think it all depends on if Jose stays with us. I think if he is still here in 5 years time (I hope he is) then we will see some youth coming through but if he is sacked at the end of the season then the whole cycle will start all over again.

Nice to hear him actually say the words about promoting youth but it won't happen.

 

Whether he signs a new contract after his current one expires or not, we'll just keep buying established stars.

This is awesome if he sticks to his words.  I can't see why he wouldn't stick to them either.  He seems confident in these players, and just hearing what he has said about them is going to give them a huge boost as well.  It's really all up to them now to put in the hard yards and prove they are worthy to wear the blue of Chelsea.

Nice to hear him actually say the words about promoting youth but it won't happen.

Whether he signs a new contract after his current one expires or not, we'll just keep buying established stars.

Not every youth player will be good enough to play for our first team. Would you rather we have a weaker first team and play some youth and then risk not winning anything or only put in the youth that are good enough and still go on to have a better chance of winning things?

Not every youth player will be good enough to play for our first team. Would you rather we have a weaker first team and play some youth and then risk not winning anything or only put in the youth that are good enough and still go on to have a better chance of winning things?

 

Obviously no. It's nice to see Ake and Christensen as part our first team squad but the reality is only probably only 1 will be good enough to play even semi-regularly.

I'll be thrilled if academy players form the backbone of our side in a few years' time. I'll also be astonished. The cynic in me says the youngsters are only being added to the squad because with FFP we can't afford to buy the best young English players on the market (like Shaw), and Prem/ UEFA rules insist that we have a certain number of home-grown players.

Name a top team in our league that has a spine of the team built on youth players they have brought through their system?

I cant think of a single team.

Name a top team in our league that has a spine of the team built on youth players they have brought through their system?

I cant think of a single team.

 

Other than Southampton, Man Utd ca 90's and Arsenal over the past 10 years. Admittedly all required substantial in fills from outside and not all the players are born and bred local lads (Fabregas for instance). In fact, name a single team who dont have 3 or 4 player in the squad who arent home grown (except us). For too long we tried to have 2 top players for each postition and bought the reserve. I would much prefer to see us have a core of 17 or 18 top top players and then allow the rest to be filled with U21's, no more Ferreira's or Hilario's taking a bit of spare game time, non home grown slot and experience whilst just depreciating in value.

Name a top team in our league that has a spine of the team built on youth players they have brought through their system?

I cant think of a single team.

 

That's true but perhaps not the way to look at it Uno. Just because it hasn't happened elsewhere, doesn't mean it can't or shouldn't happen at Chelsea.

We want to be the forward thinking, game-changing pioneers!!

 

For me, it would mean so much more if we built a team which included some players who had come through our own system. The more the better but it doesn't have to be the spine of the team but 2 or 3 would be nice.

 

Shame this has come too late for some but we do appear to be on the right track.

Other than Southampton, Man Utd ca 90's and Arsenal over the past 10 years. Admittedly all required substantial in fills from outside and not all the players are born and bred local lads (Fabregas for instance). In fact, name a single team who dont have 3 or 4 player in the squad who arent home grown (except us). For too long we tried to have 2 top players for each postition and bought the reserve. I would much prefer to see us have a core of 17 or 18 top top players and then allow the rest to be filled with U21's, no more Ferreira's or Hilario's taking a bit of spare game time, non home grown slot and experience whilst just depreciating in value.

Southampton arent a top team and a lot of their youth products were brought through when their were in league one and the championship, not when their were in the premier league.

United did it at a time when they had hardly any real competition. Now days 5 teams can win the league and 6 or 7 can really push for top 4. Its different now days.

Arsenal have had a couple but most have been bought a year before going into the first team like Walcott. Kind of like we have done with Zouma. Also Arsenal have won 1 FA Cup in the last 9 years. Finishing 4th was like winning the league to them.

You same name a team without home grown players in, Well most of them do but the likes of City have bought theirs. United's home grown wouldnt get into any of the other top 4 teams. Liverpool have a few who have either been bought or were brought in when they werent really expected to challenge and the other one (Gerrard) was brought through a long time ago now.

My point is there arent really any of the top 4 now that are bringing through youth year after year. Everton are the closest to the top 4 who are doing so and that is because they have to. They dont have the money to go and buy players and also they dont have the expectation of finishing in the top 4 and winning cups each season.

That's true but perhaps not the way to look at it Uno. Just because it hasn't happened elsewhere, doesn't mean it can't or shouldn't happen at Chelsea.

We want to be the forward thinking, game-changing pioneers!!

For me, it would mean so much more if we built a team which included some players who had come through our own system. The more the better but it doesn't have to be the spine of the team but 2 or 3 would be nice.

Shame this has come too late for some but we do appear to be on the right track.

I couldnt agree more. I would love to see some of the youth players be good enough and play for us. It would mean more to them and hopefully some of them would be Chelsea fans so it would mean more to win and hurt more to lose than your normal players. BUT what i wouldnt want to happen is us turn into Arsenal. I wouldnt want us to throw youth in for the sake of it and water down the quality of our team. As wonderful as it would be to see the likes of Baker starting for us it is more wonderful to see us winning the Champions league and the premier league.

Im not saying we couldnt win those with the likes of Baker, anything is possible but i think it is fair to say that its more likely with a player like Fabregas.

Southampton arent a top team and a lot of their youth products were brought through when their were in league one and the championship, not when their were in the premier league.

United did it at a time when they had hardly any real competition. Now days 5 teams can win the league and 6 or 7 can really push for top 4. Its different now days.

Arsenal have had a couple but most have been bought a year before going into the first team like Walcott. Kind of like we have done with Zouma. Also Arsenal have won 1 FA Cup in the last 9 years. Finishing 4th was like winning the league to them.

You same name a team without home grown players in, Well most of them do but the likes of City have bought theirs. United's home grown wouldnt get into any of the other top 4 teams. Liverpool have a few who have either been bought or were brought in when they werent really expected to challenge and the other one (Gerrard) was brought through a long time ago now.

My point is there arent really any of the top 4 now that are bringing through youth year after year. Everton are the closest to the top 4 who are doing so and that is because they have to. They dont have the money to go and buy players and also they dont have the expectation of finishing in the top 4 and winning cups each season.

 

Picking at the bones there mate. At the end of the day their youth products may not be world beaters, but there a damn sight better than anything we have produced over the past 15 years. Off the top of my head looking at players who are Homegrown for the top 7 teams

 

Hart

Richards*

Terry

Smalling*

Gibbs*

Walcott*

Wilshere*

Gerrard*

Ramsey*

Sterling*

Rooney*

 

You could also add Janjuzai*, Jones*, Oxlade-Chamberlain*, Diaby*, Boyata, Raphael, Evans, Cleverley*, Fletcher*, (a glut of also runs un Utd's squad), Lennon, Townsend.

 

All the * denotes a guy I think who could add something to our squad, even in place of someone we already have. Im not saying I would want them but if we look at the amount of players we've have filling the squad (Benny, Ferreira, Bertrand, Mereiles, Mikel, Zhirkov) over the past few years who could have been upgraded by developing a player at at least their level.

 

We wont produce a world class first team player each year, no one does, but if we can get away from buying back ups players, we can concentrate our resources to buying a few top dollar players who actually improve the first team. An you never know, maybe one or two will actually make the grade.

Picking at the bones there mate. At the end of the day their youth products may not be world beaters, but there a damn sight better than anything we have produced over the past 15 years. Off the top of my head looking at players who are Homegrown for the top 7 teams

Hart

Richards*

Terry

Smalling*

Gibbs*

Walcott*

Wilshere*

Gerrard*

Ramsey*

Sterling*

Rooney*

You could also add Janjuzai*, Jones*, Oxlade-Chamberlain*, Diaby*, Boyata, Raphael, Evans, Cleverley*, Fletcher*, (a glut of also runs un Utd's squad), Lennon, Townsend.

All the * denotes a guy I think who could add something to our squad, even in place of someone we already have. Im not saying I would want them but if we look at the amount of players we've have filling the squad (Benny, Ferreira, Bertrand, Mereiles, Mikel, Zhirkov) over the past few years who could have been upgraded by developing a player at at least their level.

We wont produce a world class first team player each year, no one does, but if we can get away from buying back ups players, we can concentrate our resources to buying a few top dollar players who actually improve the first team. An you never know, maybe one or two will actually make the grade.

Most of the players you have named were bought from other clubs when the player was already playing first team football so they shouldnt really count as a youth player.

Its easy for us to go and buy Ross Barkley or Luke Shaw (before he joined united) but they would still stop a youth player coming through our system.

Most of the players you have named were bought from other clubs when the player was already playing first team football so they shouldnt really count as a youth player.

Its easy for us to go and buy Ross Barkley or Luke Shaw (before he joined united) but they would still stop a youth player coming through our system.

 

We havent even managed that unless you count Mikel...

I think its more important that we actually bring them on as subs when we're winning say 3-0 or something similiar. For far too long we've bought on an experienced sub instead of giving the youth a 30 minute run out

 DoubleHelix   

Do

 

Nice to hear him actually say the words about promoting youth but it won't happen.

 

Whether he signs a new contract after his current one expires or not, we'll just keep buying established stars.

Of course we will buy established players, because we are not going to field a complete first team of ex academy players it is unrealistic,

but we will see academy players in the first team & go on to become regular 1st teamers.