EskWeston

This is a deal that is pretty certain to go through i feel. Although again loaning out would be good for him with Genk in the Champions League, but we are in real need of wingers. Still would be very good to get him signed up to us one way or the other.,

Well this loan always was on the cards, but we definately need some more attacking flair in our team and maybe Davila could have done a job. One for the future though, hope he really does well there to come back next season and make an impact with us.

Once again the discussion of the progression of young players has reared its head on the TalkChelsea forums this week. This time it was in relation to Lucas Piazon, who although cannot play until January is about to come over and spend the time between now and then training with Chelsea. The discussion was mainly around when we would see him in the first team and how he will break through. It is a familiar discussion when talking about Chelsea youngsters and a topic that is not easily answered. I will,however, give my view on this topic. Chelsea have world class training facilities, for both senior and younger players. Our academy is top class and we are producing some real quality players, but many people are confused as to why we have been unable to bring through a youngster to the first team. First of all I would have to say that JoshMcEachran having now made 17 first team appearances at the age of 18 is pretty good and a sign that we are capable of bringing through youngsters. There is an argument however that Josh having proved himself in the first team should have had more than those 17 appearances which is also a fair point. The disappointing thing for me is when our young players arenot given a real chance to improve. There seems to be a feeling among supporters (and within the club it would appear) that youngsters in our first team have to be world class first team regulars or not used at all. We have yet to get the balance right with regards to bringing through players and allowing them to develop in first team games. We have seen numerous games where we have well in front and in control and rather than give a youngster 20 or 30 minutes we have brought on a older member of the squad who could well be starting in the next game anyway, for example Kalou rather than Kakuta, Malouda intomidfield rather than McEachran, Zhirkov instead of Bertrand. It is these opportunities which must be afforded to young players if they are to be integrated into first team football. The loan system can be very good for young players, but itis 50/50. You are totally in the mercy of coaches of the loan team as to howand when the players get played and it can be that the player will get played hardly at all which is a totally pointless exercise. In this country we have areal problem with the development of young players between the ages of 18 and20, the reserve system is no real stage for development, there are too few games and the competitive level is just not there. We will always be behind countries like Spain and Germany whilst their youngsters are given far better environments to develop at these age groups. In my opinion the FA in this country need to take a real hard look at this because it needs something like reserve teams in league football or a serious U21’s league with the same amount of fixtures to mirror first team football (this has been discussed but never materialised) if we are to see a better progression of young players. However I do think that Chelsea need to better develop their strategies when it comes to bringing the players through, giving them opportunities when you can as I have already stated above is a key point forme. But more consideration needs to be given also. At the moment Chelsea have confirmed that they have bid for Porto’s Alvaro Perreira, a left sided wingback. Many people have realised that this will be a huge blow to the development of Ryan Bertrand and Patrick Van Aanholt. It has been suggested that Perreira would operate more as a left winger than a full back which would not impact Bertrand and Van Aanholt. However, there is no doubt in my mind that were Perreira in our squad and Ashley Cole got injured for a few weeks it would be Perreira that would step in and not the young left backs we have. It could be argued that maybe Bertrand and Van Aanholt are just not good enough but when called into the first team they have proven that they can contribute a lot to the team and not look out of place. Also new contracts for them both would also seem to indicate that Chelsea DO see them as being good enough. Will Daniel Sturridge who has proven what he can do for Chelsea in the Premier League be given the starting role he deserves upon his return from suspension. Or will we continue with more experienced players who have yet to prove they can contribute more than Sturridge? I would say if Sturridge is not going to get a regular starting place this season within our squad then we are always going to struggle to bring him through.As I said at the beginning there is not easy answer to the question of developing youngsters, but one thing I am very sure of is there needs to be improvement. Improvement in the set up of developing young players, also improvement in the clubs ability to integrate young players into the first team squad and give them more minutes on the pitch. Villas Boas is another new manager at Chelsea, we will have to wait and see what his plans are for our young players and how he intends to use them and hopefully we will see some positive signs.

Different positions for a start. But Mirolav's ability was there for all to see, even when given a chance in the first team he impressed. This is a point we are failing on, if the players are not good enough to contribute to our first team then fine. But if they have shown that they can make an impact we need to give them every oppertunity to do that and improve. We will NEVER come across a 17 to 20 year old from our ranks who is going to go into the first team and dominate a game every week, which seems to be the expectation at the moment. Realism, patience and understading is needed to develop these youngsters.

Mitrovic and Prosenik are fighting for the starting central striker role for the reserves, they really need the game time which is why Prosenik is still playing for the youths as an overage player. Both of which would be further in their development were it not for long term injuries...... The argument about developing young players is a long and difficult one. One thing that is for sure is that the system in English football is not fully geared up for the proper development of young players. One thing is for sure, Piazon or whatever young players come in have a very tough job of fighting their way into the Chelsea first team. It will be interesting to see how AVB deals with this over the season.

Your absolutely right, it is a constant trend and mainly a problem with the english set up. Players will be top class at youth level, spend the first season of reserves on fire and then it is like they don't know what to do with them, they don't get enough games, the loan system is 50/50 with how much benefit it can give. Only Fergie manages to get his players in good teams and played no matter what their performances are like, Wellbeck at Sunderland last year is a good example. So many players with huge potential see that potential dwindle due to lack of appropriate development between the ages of 18 and 20. Kakuta is another example of that. We need to be braver with our young players, they are never going to come into the CFC starting 11 and dominate a game, could McEachran do anymore to show how he is no where near out place in the first team and has a lot to offer, but still he is overlooked. Either clubs should be allowed to play reserves teams in league football like spain or there needs to be a full U21's league set up with an appropriate number of games played to mirror the first team.

Lol, given the lack of real input from the wings already this season he will 100% start against Norwich.....

Yes, he will be able to play in any friendly game Chelsea may arrange. It will be interesting to see what happens with him, he is very much an unknown quantity. He played very well during the summer for Brazil and it will be his ability to transfer that form into not only a full adults game but also to a different type of football. Will be tough for him.

But still..... sign a dedicated winger.

I am sure that is most likely, although whilst he waits to be able to play a game he is much much better off training with the first team, as he already been seen to be doing. And who knows, he may impress enough to be given a chance or 2 with the first team.

Don't understand this myself, we clearly do not need a left back, we have that covered. Villas-Boas i believe used him as full back at Porto last season, why would he now change his thinking for a player and play him as a winger? It never really worked with Zhirkov, why would this be any different. If we want to sign another winger, then lets sign a proper winger, especially if we are talking about these large figures...

Great to get this deal finally concluded and i am sure he will start against Norwich. Came across very well in his CTV interview and i am sure he will be a big impact on our team and the way we play this season. Exactly the sort of player we have been crying out for for a long time.

Interesting that they will have him at Cobham until January, i guess at least it gives him time to get used to a change of country and used to the way of training and the team. I would imagine that he will be training mostly with the first team, as he will not be able to play till january it will be the best thing for him.,

I think these days people fall into 2 categories, fans and supporters. Both support Chelsea but the fan is more likely to slag off players and boo when things are going not quite how they would like it to be. Whereas a supporter (and for many reasons there are less of them at Stamford Bridge these days) when things are tough on the pitch will usually start singing and trying to build up the atmosphere and the team. They say people have a right to boo, well of course they do, doesn't mean they should and it certainly doesn't mean it is helpful, far from it. Everybody gets tense during games particulary when a game isn't going to plan, but to take that frustration out on players or the team as a whole to me is a little stupid. I am sure they would feel much better transfering that frustration into a big chant of carefree and maybe actually help lift the players rather than hurling abuse at your own players.... A lot of people seem to have forgotten what it means to be a supporter of a football team, and especially of Chelsea.

Very strange the way we have delayed the official announcement of the players we have signed this summer, such a long gap between fees being confirmed as agreed and the official announcement. Would like to see Mata in action on Saturday but if he is not training with the team then it is not very likely.

Not totally suprised to see him move on. I would have said that this summer would have been the time he moved on for sure, never really made the impact we would have hoped for whilst on his loans. The only reason it has got a bit more attention is due to the fact that he went on the pre season tour.....

So difficult to know if there is any truth in these deals as Chelsea hardly ever comment on them, only in certain cases like Delac, Raijkovic & Courtois have we confirmed we owned a player before he comes to the club...

I am very confident about our future. Under Villas-Boas were are finally doing what we should have started doing a long time ago and that is looking to build for the future, not just for the now. Piazon, Coutois, Romeu, Lukaku are are group of very young players who can shine for us in the future and make a big contribution this season. Ramires, Luiz, Sturridge and Mata are top class players still very much on the young side who are improving our squad and will be key players in the future as well as now. Add to that our own youth ranks, mainly McEachran, Bertrand and Van Aanholt who can offer a lot to the first team now. We are building for a solid future and we need to integrate them into our team now. Despite what the media say i do not believe the belief that if we are trophyless at the end of the season Villas-Boas will get sacked. Roman wants to see this squad develop, he wants to see us use our academy but most importantly is he wants to see the improvement in the squad. If we are competitive and there is obvious improvement and Villas-Boas is able to integrate these players into the squad and develop them further then he will be given more and more time to build the team we need. Because i do feel we are in a rebuilding era, we waited too long, you cannot wait until your players are into their 30's and on a decline to bring in the young future blood, there needs to be an overlap, there needs to be the time given to the youngsters to develop in the squad to take over from the established players. We are definately in the market for a creative midfiedler before the window closes and i think that will be the final piece of our squad, as long as that player is in the 20 - 26 age bracket to carry on the future. Yes we have to be realisitc and realise we are surely in a transition period but we can also be optomistic because we are making the right moves and i firmly believe Villas-Boas is the man to take us in the right direction.

He will, his situation is a lot different to Raijkovic. A season in Holland will do him the world of good. He is a very promising player. I liked a lot what i saw of him last season.

Reserve team defender Tomas Kalas has signed for Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem on loan until the end of the season. The Czech defender, who recently reached the final of the Uefa European Under 19 Championships, featured several teams for the first team during pre-season, having represented the reserves 10 times during the second half of last season. The 18-year-old originally signed from Sigma Olomouc in his homeland in the summer of 2010, but spent the first half of last season back on loan there as a first-team squad member. Source: Chelsea FC

Brilliant signings. We really are making some clever signings now, in relation to this season and with a view very much to looking forward also. Mata will be a top class addition to the team....

We have got excellent options now, which is only good for us. I think it is likely that 1 of Malouda, Kalou and Anelka will leave before the end of the month though. Our squad is starting to take a nice shape finally.

I doubt he will do, i would think it will be a 4-3-3 again. The only real question is how does AVB intend to rotate Torres and Drogba?

Lets hope the news of an improved offer is real and we can get the deal done and dusted, this is a signing we desperately need in my opinion. Would be great to play a 3 of Mata, Torres and Sturridge....

Lukaku will not be playing on the wing. I would imagine our front 3 would be Malouda, Torres and Anelka. Unless AVB springs a suprise and plays with 2 up top Torres and Drogba. Would expect us to make a statement in this game, first home game of the season and a real chance to show what we are going to be about this season. Losing Cech is a blow but we should be able to soldier through until Man Utd without him.