EskWeston

Highlights:

Chelsea Under 18s lost to a tough West Ham side this weekend despite Jamal Blackman putting in an outstanding performance between the posts. After taking the lead through Todd Kane, Chelsea conceded twice in the first half but Blackman kept the deficit to one goal with some brilliant saves and the Blues went in 2-1 down at the break. An early second-half strike from Ismail Seremba evened the scores before West Ham netted the final goal against the run of play. Adam Nditi came close to a third for Chelsea in the dying minutes but the score remained 3-2 in West Ham's favour. Dermot Drummy lined up his team in a diamond formation for the first half before changing to 4-3-3 in the second period of play. Ben Sampayo (pictured) captained from right-back, with Nathaniel Chalobah and George Saville lining up in central defence. Nditi took up his role at left-back. In the holding role was Archange Nkumu; in front of him were Billy Clifford and Kane, while Lewis Baker sat at the tip of the diamond. Reece Loudon and Bobby Devyne led the attack. West Ham boasted the better of the opening exchanges, with Blackman twice being called into action to deny them an early lead, although Chelsea did play some good counter-attacking football. It took until the 24th minute for Kane to find the net with a cracking strike from outside the box which smashed into the inside of the side netting. It was another long-range effort from the youngster, who scored a similar goal against Crystal Palace last weekend. The lead didn't last long though as West Ham converted from close range after the Chelsea back line failed to close down a run in the 29th minute. Both of West Ham's goals in the first half were the result of defensive errors and both came from inside the six-yard box. West Ham were gifted time and space on the attack while Chelsea's defence failed to close down their men in the area. Drummy made two changes at the break, with Seramba and John Swift replacing Louden and Nkumu respectively. A 4-3-3 formation saw Baker, Seremba and Devyne as the attacking trio. It didn't take long for Chelsea to find a second as Seramba latched onto a long-range pass and, after controlling the ball on the outside of his foot, slotted past the keeper to make it 2-2. A strong period of football then unfolded for Chelsea but the Blues failed to find the net for a third, unlike West Ham, who did just that after 78 minutes. Chelsea were caught on the counter-attack and West Ham struck for a simple goal, one which Blackman admitted he could have saved after the game. It was the only error in an otherwise strong performance from the shot-stopper. Nditi came closest to netting a third for Chelsea when he drilled a shot inches past the post after breaking onto a well-placed through ball only minutes before the final whistle but the score remained 3-2. 'Adam Nditi played well and Todd Kane was outstanding in his commitment and effort and Jamal Blackman had a great game,' said Drummy. 'It was disappointing we didn't impose our game, we were far too open and this is something the boys need to keep working on in training and improve,' added the youth team manager. Chelsea (4-diamond-2): Jamal Blackman; Ben Sampayo ©, Nathaniel Chalobah, George Saville, Adam Nditi; Archange Nkumu (John Swift h-t); Billy Clifford, Todd Kane; Lewis Baker; Reece Loudon (Ismail Seremba h-t), Bobby Devyne. Source: Chelsea FC

There is talk that Emenalo could be given the role, which in my eyes would not be a good sign. I can't see that Carlo would be wanting someone with LESS experience than Ray alongside him!!! Would mean that it is all done from above. Looks like it could well be an appointment from inside the club, i would be happy if Clem was promoted, he is a good guy and knows what he is talking about...

I would have to agree, Josh puts some much needed attacking creativity into the midfield. My team would be ......................................Cech.................................. Bosingwa........Ivan...............Terry...............Cole ......................................Mikel................................... .....................Ramires...........McEachran............. ..Anelka.......................Drogba..............Malouda.. Although i also really want to see Sturridge given more playing too..

The trouble is that contract negotiations work both ways, it can be very hard to come to an agreement. If players were just always given what they wanted football would be in a very sorry state.

Highlights will be up later tonight.....

I doubt it is anything to do with a fallout. The club probably made a descision to not renew Rays contract and bring in a better level of assistant manager and Ray may well have decided to just leave now rather than sit it out... At the end of the day it is all speculation and we probably will never know the truth of it.

I think there will certainly be someone to come in, ideally i would love to have Zola here! Although i don't know what the chances of that happening are?

As always we will never know what really happened here. But for sure it isn't the way it should have been done if you ask me, and it will not make the club look good at all. I can understand maybe the club wanting to upgrade the Assistant Manager role but this is not the way it should have been done. Ray was sitting with Carlo watching the reserve game and then 10 minutes into the second half they confirm he is leaving....

EskWeston’s Match Review Yesterday saw an unusual event at Reserve Level, we saw a team from abroad come over to play a friendly. This isn’t of course the first time that this has happened, 2 seasons ago we saw AC Milan bring a reserve team over to Cobham in a game which we also won 4 – 0. This time it was Bayern Munich who Chelsea would play host to and it gave us the same outcome, a convincing 4 – 0 win. Bayern Munich fielded a relatively young side, with the average age of 17. Chelsea also fielded a young side but there was a smattering of experience in the likes of Daniel Sturridge and Ross Turnbull. There was more first team experience in the Chelsea side with Patrick Van Aanholt, Jeffrey Bruma, Josh McEachran, Gael Kakuta and Fabio Borini all featuring. The young Nathaniel Chalobah also featured once again, this time at centre back alongside Jeffrey Bruma. This game was also duplicated elsewhere throughout Europe with other European reserve teams going head to head and it is hoped that it is something that can happen more often. With the way that the reserve league is set up any additional games would be most welcome and games against European opposition would be more than helpful to the development of the players. An additional half a dozen games would make a huge difference to reserve team football. Obviously with no history of games the Bayern Munich team were a unknown entity, however Chelsea had fielded a very strong and talented team and we would have hoped to have been the dominant side. And that is exactly what we was, it very difficult conditions the young Chelsea side kept possession very well and limited to Bayern to a very small number of half chances and nothing that really troubled Ross Turnbull. In this game Josh McEachran was playing the holding role and making things tick (incidentally not a position i want to see Josh in long term) whilst Sturridge was leading the line very effectively indeed. The goals were very well taken by Sturridge and Borini who came on in the second half for Gokhan Tore, both forwards are certainly natural strikers and could have added more to their tally on another day. The midfield with Josh holding and Jacob Mellis and Jacopo Sala offering the drive was very comfortable. Gael Kakuta once again not quite showing his true ability although he did start to play a lot better near the end of the game which was good to see. The back 4 of Clifford, Bruma, Chalobah and Van Aanholt were very comfortable all game and kept Bayern at bay. All in all it was a very good exercise for the players and another good result for the reserves. The performance was controlled and they played very much in the manner of the first team, the passing was clean and the tempo was high. A lot to be happy with from this game. Player Reviews: Ross Turnbull: Basically a spectator for the whole game never really troubled, he would have been grateful for the minutes on the pitch though i am sure. Billy Clifford: A decent game again from Billy. Made some very nice runs overlapping the winger particularly in the first half where he was linking up well with Gokhan Tore. He made one excellent run into the box in the second half where he beat a couple of players and his shot deflected off a defender and into the path of Borini for his second goal. Billy is good little right back and i hope he continues to develop in the way he currently is. Patrick Van Aanholt: Patrick is and has always been actually a very consistent left back. You always get a good performance from him. His forward runs are always good to see as he has great control of the ball and we saw many of those trademark runs in this game. He had a couple of decent shots on target too which is always good to see because he does have a decent shot on him. Another very strong outing from him Jeffrey Bruma: Just about as solid a performance that you could get. He wasn’t troubled at all by the Bayern defence and everything he did was calm and collected. When he gets nervous that is when things tend to go wrong for him, Jeffrey is a confident young man and he was very composed yesterday. Nathaniel Chalobah: Playing at centre back today having previously played in the holding role in reserves games. I am not sure yet where the club see his long term future, as a centre back or as a holding player. But he looked good at centre back, a couple of times outmuscled which isn’t much of a surprise given his age. But he linked with Jeffrey well and didn’t put a foot wrong so another good reserve outing for the young man. Josh McEachran: Played in the holding role in this game which is something i was a little disappointed to see because we have seen Josh played there when he has come on for the first team and i truly hope the club do not have the intention of moving him there for the long term because it would be a massive waste of talent. Having said that Josh was top class again, he manages to wriggle out of impossible situations with the ball and never gives it away, he always seems to play the right pass that will set a move off. So good performance from Josh but want to see him used further up the pitch. Jacob Mellis: Jacob is stuck in something of rut now, he shouldn’t be playing reserve team football anymore and should be out on loan but he can’t seem to find the right move. And also he is not hitting the same standards we used to see from him. The Jacob Mellis that played in the youth cup run 3 seasons ago was very dynamic and drew comparisons to Frank Lampard, that seems to have just gone now. He was decent in this game without doing anything wrong but he can perform to a higher standard. Jacapo Sala: Another player who is not clear where his best position is, out wide or down the middle. He can certainly play both roles very effectively and in this game he was down the middle. He is a very hard worker and has a good eye for a pass. Again he had a good game and showed what he is all about. I like Sala even though there is nothing spectacular about him. Gokhan Tore: Had a good outing against Liverpool when he had to come off injured and Gokhan again came off at half time in this one. It was actually one of his better games this time, you never know what Gokhan you will get, the one who can’t beat anyone and gives the ball away or the one who can devastate defences. This time we got a solid Gokhan who did all the right things, it was good to see. Gael Kakuta: Again Gael i think would have been a little disappointed with his overall performance. A player with his ability should be dominating reserves games. He did play quite well though and he was certainly at his best by the end when his skills were very much on display. Hopefully we can see some steady improvement from him Daniel Sturridge: Sturridge always gives his best when he drops down to reserve level and that is very pleasing to see because it doesn’t always happen that way. He bagged himself another couple of goals and was generally very good, playing down the middle certainly seems to be where he is best used, his runs behind the defence are very good and he is a good finisher. Hopefully would have given Carlo some food for thought. Fabio Borini: Whilst in the middle of massive speculation about his future Borini once again showed why he should be kept around. He is a pure goalscorer and he works so hard. He has scored 9 goals now in a very small number of reserve games and 2 this time in just half a game. Hope he does stay because he is a cracking striker.

A strong Chelsea reserve side impressed as it secured a comfortable victory in a prestigious friendly match at Cobham. Daniel Sturridge netted twice and Fabio Borini who played the second half also scored twice as first-team squad players Ross Turnbull, Jeffrey Bruma, Patrick van Aanholt and Josh McEachran were given important match practice. Last season's Champions League finalist have a renowned academy and sent over a team with many youth internationals for the game specially arranged to give young players experience of foreign opposition football. Bayern were reduced to 10 men after an hour of the game, In blustery conditions at the start of the game, Sturrridge turned sharply and threatened to send Gael Kakuta through on goal but the pass was too strong, and then Turnbull saved a near-post shot from Dennis Chessa. The best move of the game so far, on 19 minutes, ended with Jacopo Sala firing an ambitious volley over after Jacob Mellis had crossed from the left. When Kakuta whipped a low cross in from the same flank four minutes later, Sturridge was promisingly placed at the near post but couldn't make contact as he slid in. McEachran, playing deep, was prompting his team forward with balls to the more advanced Mellis but the search went on for ways to penetrate the Bayern defences. The Blues did have a strike on target after advanced left-back Van Aanholt exchanged passes with Sturridge on the edge of the area but it was straight at the keeper. The opening goal, that had been preceded by a long period of Chelsea dominant in possession, owed much to the awareness of right-back Billy Clifford who intercepted on halfway and then played forward a pass that allowed Sturridge to beat the offside flag. The England Under 21 international side-stepped the keeper for an expert striker's finish (pictured top). There were 10 minutes to go until the break. Two minutes into the second half Sturridge turned centre-back Fjoluson who was marking him inside the Chelsea half and raced in on goal, only to shoot at the keeper. Kakuta then did similarly after cutting into space from the right, the Frenchman switching wings twice during the game. The second goal came 10 minutes into the second period and originated from a fatal hesitation by the Bayern defence that allowed Sturridge the ball. He played it to unmarked Borini who needed no second invitation to beat Bortel. The rain was now hammering down and Bayern's afternoon was about to become even greyer when Fjoluson was shown a red card for a last-man foul on Sturridge who had been sent through by Mellis's best pass of the game. The conditions played a part in preventing a Chelsea third after Van Aanholt's well-struck shot on the counter-attack slipped under Bortel but stopped on the soggy turf before crossing the line. Sala knew he was offside as he tapped it in. Van Aanholt was yellow carded for a sliding challenge before Sturridge's second goal which was the product of another of his razor-sharp turns. Receiving the ball on the edge of the box, he spun and struck the ball low into the far corner with 15 minutes remaining. Kakuta teased a ball into towards Sala as the quest went on for a fourth but it squirmed free. Three minutes from time Borini matched Sturridge's tally when he was in the right place to tap in after Clifford had wormed his way through and had a shot parried. 'The game was very worthwhile for more than one reason,' reported reserve team manager Steve Holland. 'Some of the first team fringe players have got a very important 90 minutes of high quality football under their belts and it has been a very positive experience for all our players, right from Daniel Sturridge who is our most senior player down to 15-year-old Nathaniel Chalobah. 'The more experience they can get against potential Champions League opposition and European playing styles, the more it will help them hopefully break through here at Chelsea. 'Tactically Bayern played with a midfield diamond which we don't face very often and they had a lot of control of the ball in the first half without being particularly dangerous, and they pressed us quite a lot high up the pitch. They had some talented players for sure. It was only really in the second half that we managed to get a firm grip on the game.' Chelsea (4-3-3): Ross Turnbull; Billy Clifford, Jeffrey Bruma, Nathaniel Chalobah, Patrick van Aanholt; Jacopo Sala, Josh McEachran, Jacob Mellis; Gael Kakuta, Daniel Sturridge ©, Gokhan Tore (Fabio Borini h-t). Bayern (4-1-2-1-2): Henning Bortel; Dominik Traunmuller (Marcel Thomas 12), Cuneyt Koz, Jon Fjoluson, Florian Pflugler; Emre Can; Fabian Hurzeler Felix Stemmer 58), Rico Strieder; Dejan Janjatovic (Maxi Rothenbucher h-t); Florin Friesenbichler (Lukas Grill 62), Dennis Chessa. Source: Chelsea FC

He is nothing but a bully, the blokes a c**t.......

The club HAVE to be seriously looking at moving. Unless they know something we don't about being able to eventually expand the bridge, as a top club in Europe we will have to expand our stadium capacity one way or the other to be able to continue to compete, especially with the new finacial regulations coming into place.

Very dissapointed with that game, it is one thing to lose a game but when you don't get your act together and start playing until the 60 minute mark you are going to get punished against the better teams. The midfield wasn't working, obviously we are missing Lamps, Essien and Benayoun, i just felt we would have had more balance in the midfield if we had brought Josh on. First half is better just forgotten, passing was so poor. Reminded me so much of the Man City game, we just did not get going at all. We made it far too easy for them in the first half, the last 30 minutes we battered them, but it was too late by then. If we were on top of our game Torres wouldn't have got a sniff, we made it too easy for him in that first half and we go punished.

Highlights:

Prosenik is supposed to be the target man for this team but he is injured, was having a good season too. It is hard to judge this season as a "team" there has been such a big number of players involved due to injuries and players moving up early, so many schoolboys involved too. There are certainly a lot of talented individual players for sure.

Highlights:

Chelsea came back from 2-1 down thanks to an outstanding Todd Kane strike late in the second half at a cloudy Cobham today. After taking the lead, Chelsea conceded in each half before Kane's 30-yard screamer in the 85th minute. With the reserves in action on Monday, Dermot Drummy included five schoolboys in his starting line-up, with two more coming on in the second half. The side lined up in a 4-3-3 formation but with Ismail Seremba pushing further up from the attacking trio at times. It was Seremba who snatched Chelsea's first opportunity on goal when, in the opening minutes, he broke into the box only to have his shot blocked by the Palace keeper. The visitors retaliated immediately and Jamal Blackman was forced to make two good saves. The best came following a dangerous freekick into the box and a subsequent close-range effort from Palace which Blackman dived low to gather. Despite the opening chances, the game became fairly stagnant as each team battled for possession in the middle of the pitch. It wasn't until a Kane header flew inches wide just after 25 minutes that Chelsea really looked like scoring and moments later the young Blues did. When Bobby Devyne drilled a shot from 20 yards out, the Palace keeper failed to hold onto the strike and instead parried the ball into Seremba's path only feet from goal. The forward took no chances and put a well-placed strike into the net. Captain George Saville then helped Blackman block a succession of shots from Palace to maintain our lead before the visitors netted five minutes from the break. After their number 11 was gifted time and space on the right flank, he curled an inch-perfect cross towards the far post for Palace's number 8 to confidently head home, despite Blackman getting his hands to the ball. Devyne would produce another chance before a John Swift header forced a great save from the Palace shot-stopper, meaning Chelsea went go into the break level. Within minutes of the restart the visitors took the lead. It was another header, only this time at the near post, after their number 2 broke to cross for the number 9 to head over the line. Kane (pictured) was then shown yellow for a late challenge and persistent fouling before Blackman denied Palace a third when a hefty strike was deflected out for a corner. There was another uneventful period in the game before, five minutes from time, Kane stepped up to score a fantastic goal. When a corner failed to find any Blues inside the Palace box, the ball rolled out to the young Blue who was over 30 yards from the goal. After taking a simple touch, the right-back struck perfectly to send the ball flying into the top right; it will be a certain contender for Goal of the Season inside the Academy. 'Todd did brilliantly today,' said youth team manager Drummy after the game. 'He's got lots of enthusiasm, which is a massive plus, but he also has a great personality. 'The first goal was a great strike from Bobby Devyne and it was great to see Ismail follow it up. 'Alex Davey and George Saville defended staunchly throughout the match and Lewis Baker had a good game as well but we have to be pleased with all of them,' he added. Chelsea (4-3-3): Jamal Blackman; Todd Kane, Alex Davey, George Saville ©, Lewis Kinsella (Adam Nditi 60); Archange Nkumu, John Swift, Lewis Baker; Bobby Devyne (Ali Gordon 75), Ismail Seremba, Reece Loudon (Samuel Bangura 80). Source: Chelsea FC

Well there is certainly nothing wrong with whoever gets picked, would obviously prefer Essien and Malouda though, just goes to show the strength of our squad....

Lots of roumers flying around about Borini at the moment, impossible to know what is true and whats not, i think the out of favour with Carlo bit is rubbish myself. But certainly the noises surrounding deals for Borini and Kakuta are not good!

Doubts on Essien and Lampard as well as having Malouda out. Would much prefer if we could go into this game with at least Essien, but to put out the same midfield and forwards as midweek would not be too bad, Ramires is picking up the pace of the game and Zhirkov is in top form also. Will be a tough game even if they are struggling this season, they will be well up for playing us. We need to go into it with the right attitude and we will be fine.

Agree with that, would love to see that too. For me the trouble with playing Nico in the middle on his own is that he has the habbit of dropping deep, so when he picks the ball up deep he has no-one ahead of him and if he then plays it out wide the wide player has no-one to aim for, Anelka is best just being let to do what come naturally to him. He is certainly in some great form, but has always really been in good form since he has joined Chelsea.

No real suprise that we won't be making any signings in January, the squad will be looked at again in January and i am sure we will look at some young signings then again like Lukaku or Neymar ect.... but signings in January are always unlikely, big players just do not move during the January window.

Yeah, fair play to Neymar on this one. Those guys are real tough punching a guy tied to goalposts....................

Yes, shit reporting. Borini has been on fine form for the reserves, it is just it is harder to give him a game as a striker with the player ahead of him..... Carlo has said as much himself.