Chelsea’s Cobham-charged title challenge can prove the doubters wrong for good
https://theathletic.com/2909124/2021/10/24/chelseas-cobham-charged-title-challenge-can-prove-the-doubters-wrong-for-good/
Remember when people said the only reason Chelsea’s academy players were getting game time was because the club had been given a transfer ban?
It was an accusation mainly expressed by opposition supporters during 2019-20 — Frank Lampard’s first season in charge. However, some of the cynicism came from within Chelsea’s fanbase, as well as pundits working in the media.
Chelsea weren’t able to spend in the summer of 2019 after breaking FIFA’s transfer rules regarding the recruitment of young players. To compensate for the disadvantage, Lampard bolstered the squad from the youth ranks.
The feeling among the naysayers was that the moment Chelsea would be able to spend again, the club would return to their old ways and ignore the quality they develop themselves in their Cobham academy.
It demeaned the courage of Lampard’s team selection and the ability of the personnel he picked during that campaign. Players such as Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount were chosen ahead of more experienced and costly players because of how good they were, not as a box-ticking exercise.
In the first nine Premier League fixtures under the former England midfielder, academy players made 34 appearances out of the possible 126 (11 starters and three subs) available. A return of 27 per cent.
That youthful exuberance was a major factor in Chelsea going on to secure a top four finish and qualification for the Champions League. A very notable achievement, which Lampard should be given credit for.
But when Chelsea broke their club spending record to sign five players in the summer of 2020, investing in excess of £200 million, the critics saw it as a sign that their negative forecast was going to be proven accurate. The lack of appearances for Fikayo Tomori and Callum Hudson-Odoi, plus Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s departure on loan to Fulham, provided some early evidence of that prediction coming true.
Lampard’s sacking in January and the appointment of Thomas Tuchel appeared to be another setback for the youngsters. Hudson-Odoi was the only academy graduate to start the German’s first game at the helm against Wolves, with Mount and Abraham named on the bench. Andreas Christensen didn’t even make the 20-man squad.
Tuchel didn’t negate Lampard’s work though. Notably, Mount, Christensen and Reece James all featured in the Champions League final victory over Manchester City in May.
However, the lack of appearances for Billy Gilmour, Abraham and Hudson-Odoi provided cause for alarm. The first two left in the last transfer window to get regular first team football (Abraham on a permanent basis to Roma, Gilmour on loan to Norwich). Tomori, who had gone to AC Milan on loan at the start of the year, joined the Serie A club on a permanent basis. Just as worrying were the departures of the next set of quality homegrown players in Marc Guehi, Tino Livramento and Lewis Bate because they couldn’t see a pathway into the senior team.
But one of the reasons those three didn’t see a possibility to make the breakthrough was because of the academy graduates already ahead of them in the pecking order. Tuchel hasn’t abandoned what’s gone on before and has added Trevoh Chalobah to the group, as well as reintegrating Loftus-Cheek.
An indication of this is that after nine Premier League fixtures this season, 32 out of the possible 126 appearances have been made by academy players (25 per cent). That is just two fewer than under Lampard a couple of years ago.
Significantly, in Chelsea’s last two Premier League matches, five homegrown players have been given minutes. Of the starting XI for Saturday’s 7-0 thrashing of Norwich, four came from the academy. Five of the seven goals were scored by homegrown talents (Mount with a hat-trick, Hudson-Odoi and James with one each), and three of the goals were assisted by academy players (Mount, Hudson-Odoi and Loftus-Cheek). Their contribution is undeniable.
It’s not just going forward too. They have all played their part in Chelsea boasting the best defensive record in the Premier League. The clean sheet against Norwich was the club’s sixth of the season and they have conceded just three league goals so far — and only one from open play.
Asked whether this was another special day for the academy, Tuchel told the Fifth Stand App: “Yes. This shows and proves the quality of the academy. I’m very happy to have players from there, what they are doing is amazing. The door is always open and it has to be like this. It makes the club special if you have boys from the academy on the pitch. When they are decisive like they were (against Norwich), it is even better.”
Chalobah is the only youngster Tuchel has promoted himself thus far and he is benefitting from the experience the others have already earned over the years. As Mount, Christensen, Loftus-Cheek, James and Hudson-Odoi are all internationals it is not a huge gamble to play them now. One suspects it won’t be long before Chalobah gets rewarded for his form by England to complete the set — and head coach Gareth Southgate was at Stamford Bridge to witness the Norwich rout.
The last time Chelsea won the Premier League in 2017, homegrown players weren’t much of a factor. Nathan Ake, Ola Aina, Nathaniel Chalobah and Loftus-Cheek registered two starts and 19 substitute appearances between them. Even one of the club’s greatest academy graduates, former captain John Terry, only had a minor role (six starts, three subs) in what was his last campaign.
There is a long way to go, but Chelsea are showing the qualities required to win the title again — it would be their sixth Premier League crown in 17 years and a seventh championship overall. But should they succeed, it would be the first in the Roman Abramovich era where the academy has played such a major part.
Succeed and Tuchel’s sextet might just silence the doubters for good.
