Chelsea 3-1 Norwich

[Tomo 21,733]

2 games in and we are already doubting his youth policy jesus christ.

If we have a injury crisis and he plays Ferreira in centre midfield instead of McEachran then fair enough but come on .................

[lionsden 4,689]

2 games in and we are already doubting his youth policy jesus christ.

If we have a injury crisis and he plays Ferreira in centre midfield instead of McEachran then fair enough but come on .................

How many games did it take Fergie to start having 100% confidence and faith in the youth. . . .right from the opening game of the season. Josh should have started ahead of lampard for the WBA game factoring Frank's dramatic drop in form. Fergie could have easily chickened out tonight and opt for their experienced and league's joint highest goal scorer last season (berbatov) instead of wellbeck against a superior opponent to WBA (spurs) but no He didn't and the faith he showed in the youngster(s) paid off.

[manpe 10,861]

How many games did it take Fergie to start having 100% confidence and faith in the youth. . . .right from the opening game of the season. Josh should have started ahead of lampard for the WBA game factoring Frank's dramatic drop in form.

We have had so many managers coming in and out and everyone doing their own assessment on the squad. If we had some stability, there might have been breakthroughs already... but now every manager opts to start safely so not to disappoint fans and his bosses, and they don't know the academy through and through... with teams like Arsenal and ManU they have a manager they trust in and they have had time to work out their plans and bring them to life in time. With Barca the same, their manager was promoted from their youth team I believe. If we don't have 7 new managers by 2016 we might see a change in our youth policy sooner. I don't believe AVB feels safe yet, how could you on one of the most unstable jobs in world football? If he gets the backing of the board, he might feel encouraged to take more risks... we don't know YET if he's planning to play it safe in his first season.. if he was to experiment and not win any titles, he can have a boot up his ass as quickly as Carlo. Since Roman's arrival we have never put much emphasis on bringing up our own players, but rather patch the team by splashing the cash. This summer's signings hint some change in club's policy, and hopefully it is to show faith in AVB's long-term appointment.

[Tomo 21,733]

How many games did it take Fergie to start having 100% confidence and faith in the youth. . . .right from the opening game of the season. Josh should have started ahead of lampard for the WBA game factoring Frank's dramatic drop in form. Fergie could have easily chickened out tonight and opt for their experienced and league's joint highest goal scorer last season (berbatov) instead of wellbeck against a superior opponent to WBA (spurs) No?

Did Welbeck just go to traning one morning and end up a regular first team member? no he had to work hard, he made his debut in 2007, 4 years later via a loan to Sunderland he is looking a decent shout. He has a lot more expierence and is older that Josh. Even Cleverly had to go on loan to Wigan before Fergie started trusting him, and also add he is 22, when he was 18 he was no-where near the first team.

Had Studge not been banned Andre would be playing him and were be here now singing his praises for unleashing him.

[lionsden 4,689]

We have had so many managers coming in and out and everyone doing their own assessment on the squad. If we had some stability, there might have been breakthroughs already... but now every manager opts to start safely so not to disappoint fans and his bosses, and they don't know the academy through and through... with teams like Arsenal and ManU they have a manager they trust in and they have had time to work out their plans and bring them to life in time. With Barca the same, their manager was promoted from their youth team I believe. If we don't have 7 new managers by 2016 we might see a change in our youth policy sooner. I don't believe AVB feels safe yet, how could you on one of the most unstable jobs in world football? If he gets the backing of the board, he might feel encouraged to take more risks... we don't know YET if he's planning to play it safe in his first season.. if he was to experiment and not win any titles, he can have a boot up his ass as quickly as Carlo. Since Roman's arrival we have never put much emphasis on bringing up our own players, but rather patch the team by splashing the cash. This summer's signings hint some change in club's policy, and hopefully it is to show faith in AVB's long-term appointment.

Fair point but what baffles me is that some of the so called experience or as you put it "safer bet" have been mediocre. Using Lampard as reference, do you honestly believe that Josh could/would have played anymore poorly than Lampard in our last 2 games? I can totally understand his conservation to play youth if the experienced players are playing well but that hasn't been the case.

[manpe 10,861]

Fair point but what baffles me is that some of the so called experience or as you put it "safer bet" have been mediocre. Using Lampard as reference, do you honestly believe that Josh could/would have played anymore poorly than Lampard in our last 2 games? I can totally understand his conservation to play youth if the experienced players are playing well but that hasn't been the case.

Well, we won't know if Josh would have done better, will we? AVB might have shown faith in Lamps in hope that he would gain confidence and perform. We don't know what's going on in the training ground or in AVB's head. Modric might be the more permanent replacement for Lampard, because it would be too soon for Josh to start playing every game at 18 I believe.. we don't know yet.

[lionsden 4,689]

Did Welbeck just go to traning one morning and end up a regular first team member? no he had to work hard, he made his debut in 2007, 4 years later via a loan to Sunderland he is looking a decent shout. He has a lot more expierence and is older that Josh. Even Cleverly had to go on loan to Wigan before Fergie started trusting him, and also add he is 22, when he was 18 he was no-where near the first team.

Had Studge not been banned Andre would be playing him and were be here now singing his praises for unleashing him.

Fair enough. I'm just tired of the same old shit. I don't care about us winning trophy this year as long as we use this season as a transitional period to integrate youth with experience and change our style of play. that's all I'm saying.

[Blue Armour 4,278]

Even with so many options I'm a bit peeved about our "forwards" situation.

Torres seems to be playing with his heart out, and very well deserves to score. But even with his improved form he still hasn't a got a goal. Its only been two matches but Anelka and Malouda have found the net so there's something wrong. Lot of people talk about the team around him being bad, so what do you do? Transplant the rest of the team to suit just one man? That's not going to happen according to AVB. Remember what he said about the team functioning as a unit, and that he didn't care about individual records?

Then there's the Drogba issue. Everyone, AVB included, seems to be in universal agreement that the two strikers can't play together, which is why you never see them start together. Personally I think he's just rotting away on the bench, with hardly any game time, but I suppose no-one will care if Torres or someone else starts scoring regularly.

From the looks of it this seems to be the end of the Malouda-Anelka-Drogba combo. It was pretty good during the end of the 09-10 season and the start of the 10-11 season. When it started to fail, I've always put it down to the fact that the backup within the squad wasn't good enough, or simply, like in Sturridge's case, wasn't used well enough. Now we have more than just backup. We have replacements in the form of Mata and Lukaku.

I just hope these additions, together with Danny, can link up just like the old MAD combo, because 4-3-3 isn't going to be of any use otherwise.

Then again, the entire problem might be with our central midfield..maybe we need to use Josh like Utd use Cleverley.

I'm sorry if the post seems too negative...I'm probably just irritated after watching that Manutd-Totten'am game, seeing the manc forwards linking up so well with the rest of the team...

I hope things start getting better with our next game...

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Every club goes through a time when they look at their more experienced players and ask the question of can they still contribute at the same level? are they still a starter? are they a bench player? who can we replace them with? do we need to move them on? do we need to take a different approach?

Chelsea seems to be at a crossroads with a few of these players. Do you keep starting them because they're club legends who have contributed to trophies and past success? Is that reason enough? Do you keep starting them because what you have on the bench isn't better? How do you get your bench better unless you give them experience? Is it status quo because a lot of players are comfortable?

Chelsea fans/supporters have been begging for youth, fresh new faces. They're here. What do you do with them? The big question for AVB in my mind is how he continues to drive toward winning while incorporating the new faces. How slow is the bedding in process?

Chelsea need to make some tough decisions or it may be more of the same from last season.

:goodpost:

I totally agree that's the case at chelsea now, and AVB has the tough job to come up with the solution that pleases the fans and the owner.

[nullabletype 987]

In regards to AVB taking Torres off no matter how good he plays. I can understand it's frustrating, but most people would probably agree his full potential is not being utilised because of the way our squad plays to him. He may well be making all the right moves, but the supporting players more often than not aren't. I think AVB can see this, and it's exactly why he's signed some of the players that he has. Until the new boys put their stamp on the squad and (hopefully) inject their much needed vision to help Torres, it doesn't really make a great deal of sense keeping him on for 90 minutes. I agree Drogba hasn't done much recently, but we might as well try something else if the Torres approach isn't working, which clearly, with what we have at the minute, it's not.

I do hope all the new boys get a go this weekend. Hopefully this can help Torres, Drogba or whoever to score. And similarly, maybe Torres, Drogba and the rest can help them back.

3-0 will do me rightly, but I'll take 1-0 or even a point if we really have to. Shouldn't have to though, any squad we put out should, by rites, steamroll Norwich.

[Rambo 1,729]

A Lukaku sighting would be nice.

[NattyBlue 44]

Good game to play some yoof...

[Beast 85]

I reckon 1-0 to us.

[zolayes 14,489]

Josh not to be sent out on loan ,,,sounds as if he will get used more

[1chelsea 864]

seriously the last game played it clear kalou, anelka did not connect to torres at all pray dey should all connect him to bring the possitivity out

[Domino- 116]

I expect to win a nice game and the debut of our new players. Norwich showed very good football against Stoke.

[Tomo 21,733]

A dodgy 2-0 win please, slow starts to the season are better in the long run.

[Blue Armour 4,278]

Josh not to be sent out on loan ,,,sounds as if he will get used more

Just wanted to confirm...is Josh injured or something?

Heard something like that on one of the news forum, and supposedly that's the reason why he never featured in the first two games....