EskWeston

Youngsters do not have to be playing first team every week to make it at Chelsea. With keepers we keep 3 on board for the first team. Sam Walker has enough quality to be our back up keeper. Courtois is clearly at a much higher level and Blackman is a quality keeper too but Walker has a lot of talent.

Another season is about to get going at Chelsea FC and as always changes are afoot. None more so than in the building that houses Chelsea’s academy. Due to passing of the Elite Player Performance Plan there are some potentially exciting things about to happen. For too long there has been a problem with players who leave the U18’s team and then move into the reserve squad and the development slows or stops. The gap between reserve team football and youth team football has been way too big and the loan system is very flakey, too few cases see players use it to develop into a player who can make their way into the first team. Can the new changes make a difference? Starting with the U18’s league competition the changes that have been made at this level is that it is now exclusively an U18’s competition, previously clubs were allowed to include up to three U19’s players. This is the same rules as the FA Youth Cup. Also the teams in the leagues have also been shaken up, all clubs academies are being split into four categories and we will play against teams in our own category. So assuming we are classed as a class one then we will play against all other class one teams, which looks like the U18’s will be a national league also. The idea being that it will be the best players playing against the best on a weekly basis, which will clearly be of benefit to the development of the players. Nothing has been detailed yet but this certainly looks like it will be the way the U18’s will be set up. Games for the U18’s will continue to be played at Cobham. The next step up the ladder is a new area for Chelsea, this is the NextGen series tournament. Essentially it is a Champions League for youth football. This time it is for U19’s only. Last season was its first in existence and this season looks to be bigger and better. It kicks off in August and Chelsea have been drawn in a group with CSKA Moscow, Molde and last season’s NextGen runner up Ajax. This will certainly be an engaging competition and will be good to see how Chelsea as an academy square up against the best in Europe. It is another challenge and it is pushing the talents of our young players so it is a very exciting prospect. Hopefully Chelsea will be able to make their way to the latter stages and bring us some great entertainment. It has also been confirmed that games will be televised, last season ESPN had a number of games but the TV schedules for this season are yet to be announced. The games for the NextGen series will be played at the same place as the FA Youth Cup which will be played at Staines Town as the early games of the Youth Cup were last season. Lastly and most importantly we are seeing an end to reserve team football. And it is not a disappointment, it has been obvious that this level of football needs a major overhaul. If the changes that have been made are enough or not only time will tell. For this season we have a U21’s league, similar to the new U18’s format it will be a national league playing against the teams in the same academy bracket as ourselves. Making this league truly competitive is going to the biggest challenge. There is no idea as to how many games this league will create, but there needs to be more than there has been before, it needs to be a game a week, but we will see if that is the case. If this league can encourage clubs to use it to develop their players rather than send them on loan then it will certainly help the competition aspect of things. But again that is an unknown. We also don’t know yet if these new leagues will involve relegation and promotion, again it would be another aspect that would generate competition. The U21’s league games will be played at Brentford’s Griffin Park which it would seem Chelsea have invested in to ensure the pitch stays in good condition. There is a requirement that two games in the season must be played at Stamford bridge, Chelsea have also confirmed that there will 10 games played at Griffin Park plus what they call the odd game at Cobham so it would seem that there will be at least 15 teams in the league. These are all potentially very exciting changes for the way we see our young players develop at Chelsea, one thing is for sure we have some massively talented players but we are unable to develop those through to the first team. Will these changes help? We will have to wait and find out. The NextGen series is very exciting to see Chelsea compete in and I hope we see the positive changes in the U18’s and U21’s league too. One thing is for sure and that is as always it will be an exciting season at Chelsea’s academy. Two leagues and two cups to compete in, can we bring more silverware to the Academy cabinet? Pre Season cannot come soon enough. Click here to view the article

You have to play the youngsters to allow them to develop into the squad. Even a player who was brought in as a first team player like Romelu Lukaku doesn't get given minutes. Oriol Romeu, despite some excellent performances didn't get the number of games he should. Even Ryan Bertrand should have got many more appearances than he did, the only reason he has been talked about so much is because on the CL Final appearance, over the season he was massively under utilised. It is far easier for a manager to use the "experience" argument. At first team level we DO block the development of young players. The crappy reserve set up did not help things at all but we are very poor at giving youngsters a chance. Players who have shown real promise when given a first team chance have very quickly been put aside and never seen again: Borini, Stoch, PVA, McEachran all players that have not looked out of place when given their chance in the first team but have been quickly put aside again.

Don't see why Modric would be a target for us now. Seems a little pointless to spend money, especially that sort of money when we are fine for central midfielders.

Only time will tell on that one i am afraid. The NextGen series should be great, but it is the older players that are of more concern so the U21's. IF it is a large enough league to allow for a game a week, and IF all the team experiment rather than use loans then it will be very good. Also will there be relegations and promotions to promote competition? All the best U21's competing week in week out will be a very useful platform to first team football. Like i said, time will tell. I hope it will be a huge improvement.

So many circumstances at play to have denied oppertunities. For me the biggest obstacle has been the poor quality of football for over 18's. Loans only work rarely and reserves is poor, so many players between the ages of 18 and 20 lose their way and end up leaving having not fulfilled their potential. A stable manager may have helped, but not by much.

I can't see us being after Modric now, we don't need him and it has all gone very quiet on our involvement. Rightly so, we have our irons in other fires.

So much needs to change to help us bring through players better, it is going to be interesting to see how the new U21's development league works. Could be key to aiding in the gap. Having Ryan Betrand around is a big plus and he needs to get plenty of games next season. Kakuta will either be sold or stay with the club and will need plenty of minutes on the first team pitch. Appearances here and there for the few standout players Piazon ect.. Like i say so much is going to depend on the new U21's league, will decide if we send some players out on loan or keep for these games.

£3M would only be if he goes on to make a certain number of first team appearances / international appearances. The actual fee would be minimal, this is going to happen a lot more now with the new rules brought into place. Small fees upfront and larger fees depending on development for under 17 year olds not on pro contracts.

Hulk is obviously our main target, we do need another big name wide forward to add to our squad and Hulk seems to be the only player we are after to fill that. I am sure everyone is confident of the signing going through, it is just a case of the 2 clubs bartering on the price, neither wanting to let their poker face slip. Eventually this deal will happen.

I think it is safe to assume that RDM will be employing the same formation that he did last season: RB.............CB..................CB..................LB ..................CM.................CM...................... RW.......................AM.............................LW .............................CF.................................. The attacking midfield position will be taken up by Mata, Hazard or DeBruyne. The CM positions we have Mikel, Lampard, Ramires, Romeu, Meireles, Essien so i think we are pretty well covered there.

Disagree, wingers has been our weakest link for years and i am glad we are addressing that. You could argue that Mata would be played behind the forward so not a winger and the same with KDB. And as far as strikers go, we have Torres, Sturridge has (aparently) been promised to be played down the the middle and we have Lukaku, what more do we want? I like the idea of a fluid 3 behind the main striker swapping positions Hazard, Mata and Hulk would be awesome as that 3. No very little about Schurrle, but a player who can operate as a winger or a striker would be a very useful addition to the squad. I would think that we are looking to add 2 more players to the forward line, Hulk being the main player we need and another squad player with potential which would be why we are after Schurrle/Moses.

I think it was perfectly sensible by the club to give RDM a 2 year deal. Yes he won the FA Cup and CL, but there is a hell of a lot to do in the PL and RDM still has to prove he can compete over a season. If he has a good season this season and shows he can handle it again then i am sure he will be offered a new job at the end of the season. Again i think this is a very sensible approach by the club.

Courtois will spend at least next season on loan again, and maybe another after that. To have a young keeper playing every week in the Spanish league and playing in Europe and even winning the Europa league is something you just cannot replicate and we would be crazy to take him away from that environment until we are ready for him to seriously challenge Cech. Blackman is a very good goalkeeper, but the problem with him is the same with pretty much all our youngsters, how do we help him progress out of the first team. He has been with the first team squad all the time lately which means that he has not even been playing reserves football, youth cup has been his only game time. What do we do with him next season? Loan? It is hard to get a good loan for keepers. At the moment we have no way of given our youngsters the sort of exposure Courtois has had up till now, but Blackman can be a quality keeper.

Brilliant to have won the Youth Cup again!!!! Last nights game was not a classic at all, we were a little nervous not really knowing to play with a 4 - 0 lead and Blackburn made a number of changes and put out a team to disrupt and bully our boys. Didn't make for a great game, but the most important thing is that we have lifted the cup having had a great cup run with some brilliant games and good football played.

Well that depends on a LOT of things, firstly the gap between youth team and first team. Look at what it has done to even Josh McEachran, the most talented player we have had in our academy for many many years and his development has stalled. And the most crucial is we need a manager willing to bring them through and give them minutes. We can't know how these players will do unless we play them, look at how well Tore is doing in Germany, didn't get anywhere NEAR the first team..

Best thing to do. Would only create bad feeling on the day. No need for it anyway. Pointless display.

For me i can only pick either Jose or DiMatteo, no other choice. Why get rid of a man who is doing a great job with the squad, excellent man manager and clearly very tactically astute unless you are going to bring in the best.

Ramires against Barcelona, no question. Not only was it an amazing finish of pure quality. But to have attempted that shot at THAT moment in THAT game was just outrageous, it was just perfect. It is nice to see long range corkers but that Ramires goal was about as much skill and bottle as you could ever hope for...

Absolutely amazing display. This game had everything and must have been exciting for a neutral but for me it was a rollercoaster of emotions. JT let himself, the team and fans down with what he did, we will miss him big time in the final, not as much as we will miss Ramires though. Ramires goals was utter brilliance, goal of the season no doubt. As for Torres goal, watching it back it was clever but risky, when he loses the ball he saw the oppertunity with all Barca players forward and hoped that his absense didn't cost us and that a player would spot him and hoof it upfield, and that is what happened. Quality first touch and perfect around the keeper. I still can't believe we did it but we have! Don't care who we play in the final.... Given the season we have had i am so proud as always of this team.

Hard to compare them as players, very very different. But in terms of potential Chalobah has as much if not more than Pogba. I really see Nathaniel growing into that holding role in midfield. Like i said a little more maturity and he would be really awesome, and he is most of the time.

Unless we can get a real game changer of a manager in then i would want to see Robbie stay. He has done very well and has shown tactically he is very very clever, we do not have a great squad at the moment and he has done great with what he does have. There are not many managers i would choose ahead of him now having seen how he has settled into the role.

Excellent thread Tomo, my thoughts on these players: Matej Delac - A very strange one this one, very highly thought of but we have massively struggled to find the right place to put him to develop for the last couple of seasons and it might have done enough to decide for us to let him move on, with the emergence of Courtois and Blackman being very highly thought of and playing very well, i think there is a chance he could find a new home for good in the summer. At the very least we need to find him somewhere he will play games. Thibaut Cortouis - Easy! Leave him at Atletico, fantastic experience for him there, we could not find a better place to let him develop. Pointless bringing him in as a back up to Cech at the moment, one more year at least for him. Rhys Taylor - Agree with your verdict Tomo, down the pecking order, hasn't pushed on enough and will surely be moved on in the summer. Sam Walker - I like Sam Walker, very good keeper. Will need to move up a level with his next loan, not easy to do with keepers but that is what he needs. Courtois and Blackman both probably better than him but he is doing all the right things at the moment, lets see if he can cope with a higher level. Tomas Kalas - Again stay where he is, he is getting great experience and playing on a regular basis, which is the MOST important thing with a loan spell. Let him mature another season and take another look at him then.... Ben Gordon - For me never looked up to the standard and have been suprised to see him stick around as long as he has. Would imagine all parties would be interested in a deal that would see him move to Kilmarnock permanantly. It would be the best thing to do. Never going to do anything for Chelsea. Milan Lalkovic - An example of the flaws with the loan system. Been to 2 clubs now that have not given him the game time he deserves. Can be a top winger but we are in danger of stifling that talent. Lets see what happens with the new U21's league, might be best to keep him within the club if the standard in good enough! If not just somewhere he will get the game time. Don't want to see him wasted. Ulises Davilla - Went to Vitesse to settle to life in Europe and seems to have done a decent job. I am sure the aim is to keep him there (this is why we have this Vitesse link) and see if he can push into their first team. Gael Kakuta - Finally got the loan he has needed. Given the lack of game time he has has the last couple of seasons personally i would give him another year in France on loan and let him mature even more actually playing games. Then let him come back, it is too soon for him IMO to try and make a push for our first team. More games for him first. Jeffrey Bruma - A few stories of things not going so well for him in Hamburg so i would not be suprised if he came back and then went elsewhere. For sure he needs to play more games at a good standard so it will be another loan move for him. Kevin De Bruyne - The story is that he will go on loan again next season, but that was with AVB in charge and before some hugely impressive performances playing in the middle of the park recently. I say bring him in, we need his type of player in our squad and we have him available, we would only buy someone who will restrict his chances the following year anyway.... Patrick Van Aanholt - He will surely have another loan, but it needs to be the right one where he can spend the season. He needs to follow in Bertrands footsteps, pay his dues at other clubs, get plenty of experience and then try and challenge for a spot in our first team. Another loan for Patrick. Don't agree that he could be useful in attack, quick with good ability but no-where near the technical ability to be able to do that in the Premier League like Bale has done. Josh McEachran - The loan to Swansea has been a little dissapointing for sure. Again i think it will depend of what we see from the U21's league and what it will bring. For his first loan to be in the Premiership was probably a little over ambitious and in hindsight a mistake. Either a loan where he WILL play or stay. Yossi Benayoun - No doubt he will move on in the summer, we need to move on and he will not be part of that. A couple of points on the whole loan system, on the whole it does NOT benefit players, a few will benefit from it but not enough. The deal we have with Vitesse could prove to be very important for us and some of our better prospects to play in the dutch league.

Trust me, Nathaniel Chalobah is NOT underrated by anyone at CFC. The difference between Piazon and Chalobah is that Piazon has a bit more maturity in his play that Chalobah, Chalobah can dominte games, but sometimes when 1 - 0 down playing holding midfield he will try a flick or back heel and lose possesion rather than do the simple thing. Piazon will always do what is needed, if he feels he can make a run he will do, but if it is not on he will hold the ball up and look for the best pass. That is why i beleive Piazon is closer to the first team that Chalobah. Take nothing away from Chalobah though he is bloody awesome, think more and more his best position is the holding role, could be a legend there if he continues in the same development.

Lol, quite a religious team we put out there......