How Do you think our youngsters performed against Fullham?

[CHOULO19 24,332]

For me:

Bertrand: Started slow then got better. He was very offensive especially in the first half and thus left tons of space behind him.

Romeu: I thought he was just epic. His movement, tackling and passing extremely good for his age. He literally bossed the midfield and won us the midfield battle. His stamina was also very good as he still had a lot of energy after 120 mins.

Josh: He was pure class for 50mins. Great movement and creative passing. He and Romeu worked together like magic.

Lukaku: He started badly the first 20 mins or so but then started to get in the game. He showed his physics presence rather well in the second half keeping in mind how hard it was to play as a lone striker in the Fullham defense. But it was obvious he still lacks composure and still needs some work.

This game had very promising signs for our youngsters imo, but it also showed me that AVB was absolutely right not to choose Lukaku and bertrand for the CL, they are not ready.

[Kojo 4,676]

Well i can't really judge, in overall i probably saw about 20 minutes of the game, i was on my xbox and turning round and watching some of it. Everytime i saw Romeu he was playing very good, i seen where Ferriera struggled to tackle one of the Fulhams wingers, and he just allows him to run into the side of the box for a simple square, lucky enough Romeu comes in and tackles him breaking no sweat. Saw some of McEachran and he was making some great passes, he really is someone we need to play, instead of passing it sideways he knows how to get that ball up the pitch and actually make us do something. Didn't see much of Lukaku but he looked effective when he was going up, but there was tonnes of chances in that game and no one scored lol, i saw the bit where McEachran scored, well it was Sturridges goal really, don't know who it was who was offside however.

Romeu came on against Sunderland with little time but impressed me straight away breaking up Kieran Richardsons play, when he was looking pretty dangerous running down the centre with shit load of space. He looks really good, i just hope he has a creative side to him, who can pick out a good pass. But i still think Mikel should start games definitely. And i didn't see anything of Bertrand but from what i've seen on comments, he was dissapointing, shame but it's just one match, and in other matches he's been great.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

RUBBISH! Sell the lot to Hamburg

[Kostas 1,468]

From my point of view all youngsters bar Josh put in a 6/10 performance. Solid and probably reliable but not exciting or outstanding.

Edited September 22, 2011 by Kostas

[coolhead23 1,146]

Liked Josh (guess he stood out among everyone else) and Romeu, though he mite need a few games to show his true colors but he played with some authority which was good. Rest were just fine, but have to say Lukaku disappointed me (maybe these are just early days)

[Waterfall 893]

Bertrand: Decent

McEachran: Good

Romeu: Great

Lukaku: Promising

[NoFear 23]

Bertrand: Was solid. Nothing spectacular. There were a couple of times when he eased off from making the forward runs you had expect Ashley to make behind the opposition defense. Should have squared the ball to lukaku instead of shooting at goal. Has a good cross in him. Overall, average but definitely reliable.

Lukaku: Showed his physical presence at times by bullying the fulham defenders. Positional awareness was good. Crossing was terrible (i know he is not a winger, but over hit 2 crosses when under absolutely no pressure. Could be fatigue though) Good at running with the ball on counter attacks. Still a lot to improve though.

Romeu: Was a good performance from someone so young playing at number 6 position. Exceptional positional awareness bar one time when he sloppily gave it away. A quick feet to turn around a person and gain that 2 yard of space to hit a pass. Did not go for any hollywood passes (although I would have liked to see him try a few) and kept a very simple and tidy game. Nice timing with his tackles except for a couple of them which could have landed him a yellow.

Josh: Sad that he had to leave because of the injuries. Had a really good game upto that point linking well with Romeu, Romelu and Danny. Should have got a goal if not for Danny's touch. Overall - Impressive.

Danny: Dont think he had his best game last night. Was terrible with his crosses. And couldn't beat the fulham LB when one on one a few times he tried so ended up cutting inside mostly which allowed fulham to double team on him easily. Always went for the shot. Once too often could have found an unmarked man lurking just outside the box but went for the spectacular instead and failed. Too bad he got injured. Hopefully, he brings up his A game against Swansea.

[Liquidator 5,176]

Bertrand:

Played very well I thought. Was always looking a threat down the left side and did well in defence too.

Romeu:

This guy looks very good. Made 2 great tackles in our own penalty area in the first half, looks unbelievably calm on the ball, great at passing too. Looks like an excellent all round midfielder.

McEachran:

Excellent again. Always looked a threat going forward. Was unlucky not to have scored in the first half, passing was brilliant as ever and he seems to have developed some very quick feet which he used to his advantage

Sturridge:

Nothing special at all. Crossing let him down time after time, did not get too involved much. He does have an irritating habit of shooting from range when a clear pass is available (rather like Malouda).

Lukaku:

I am on the fence with this guy. On one hand his crossing was the worst I have ever seen (no exaggeration), he did not look fit enough as well. On the other hand, our game plan seemed to revolve around lumping it up to an 18 year old with pressure on him being tipped as the new Drogba. He is quickly closed down by the Fulham defenders and most times loses the ball because Kalou, Sturridge and Malouda did not support him quick enough

[SeB 1,281]

Bertrand was increasing during the game, I don't know how many runs upfront he made during the game but it's impressive. He was not as quick in his play as that we know about him but he did manage to do 120 pretty decent minutes and was not over before the end of the match although his energy spending.

Romeu has a real quality to pass an opponent before a pass, it's the main thing I did notice with his calm and confidence. Otherwise although he was not a completely reliable defensive guarantee like Mikel, he did several good interventions.

Lukaku had a good utilization of the ball upfront, he was usefull to allow to the team to go forward. The other players have to understand his play, he is not Drogba neither Torres or Anelka and he is not ready to receive passes on the wings in the space by example. He is quick without the ball but he has to improve the speed of his game

[warnie_666 1,081]

Bertand: started slowly but grew as the game progressed. Not as exciting as PVA going ahead but defensively looks sound and much better than PVA. With PVA it's a similar conundrum to out RB position between Boss and Ivo. With more games he will improve. I heard he started off as a winger but surprisingly doesnt look great going ahead

Josh: looked sound. No misplaced passes. Technically he is supreme and could have had a goal with a beautiful 1-2 with Malouda. Needs to play more than 50 mins to see how good he really is and whether he tires at the end.

Romeu: looked good for a 19 yr old. We can see the technical ability but did lose the ball in dangerous positions but quickly recovered. The fact that we kept a clean sheet with 10 men for 70 mins is a credit to him. And credit for playing 120 mins in his first game for Chelsea. I want to get excited about him but I can't help but see him go back to Barca in two years for 15m

Lukaku: started slow but I don't think he could do much with 10 players on te field. Still for a 18 yr old he had an Ok game. He is still raw and will learn and be ready in a couple of years. A loan move next season should do him good.

All in all good performance from the youngsters in their first game of the season. Nothing exciting but nothing atrocious either. This group needs to start the next CC game

[Hamilton 2,120]

Doesn't surprise me when i read that Lukaku's cross balls were not good, he shouldn't be the one that gives them..

[wisey11zola25 142]

Bertrand- Looked quite nervy, think he felt a lot of pressure with PVA as a competitor for the place and the reputation of Ash to live up too, but as he got into the game he looked promising, made some good attacking runs, got into scoring and crossing positions and won the ball well defensively, as he becomes more experienced and confident in himself he'll be pacey and dangerous both attackingly and in stopping opposition wingers.

Romeu- What a bulldog! Strong, confident and can pick a pass from almost anywhere, think he has the ability to live up to challenging makelele as our best in that role , plus he gives a modern edge to the holding role, he passes, not scared to shoot and will take on a player, all in all great performance, made the mistake with a pass to dembele towards the end but recovered it in an experienced manner! just hope the buy back clause doesn't come back to haunt us!

Josh- Can't find any negative in Josh's performance, gets more eciting each time he gets an appearance, creativity,comfort on the ball, technically gifted, great positioning, and has a great talent that Lamps had in his prime (constant movement, always looking for gaps and spaces in play and winning the ball in the middle of the park) there was a moment where he nicked the ball off the Fulham midfield and started a move from nothing, the combination of him and Oriol is a dream for the future!

Lukaku- he seemed to get a bit of stick on the Radio commentary yesterday but i watched the game on a stream and i think theres so many promising signs its hard to put them all in quickly....so ill just leave it at DROGBA,STRENGTH,PACE,QUICK TURN,CONFIDENCE FROM ANY POSITION.

Obviously he has areas for improvement but at the age of 18 with that many Drogba like signs is so deadly! imagine how much earlier he can find his feet than Drog did in football...could break many a record as our Belgian Beast!

[Tortilla9 390]

Doesn't surprise me when i read that Lukaku's cross balls were not good, he shouldn't be the one that gives them..

I get what you're saying but when Torres delivers a poor cross, I cringe too and he's a CF. Basic crossing seems to be a lost art.

Edited September 22, 2011 by Tortilla9

[termninja 5,290]

Romeu was great, but he had some mistakes and rash challenges. Played 120mins without stopping while being 19 years old. Bravo.

Lukaku was alright, but he needs to work on his technique, crossing and stamina. With the muscles as big as that he tires faster then other players.

Josh had shown once again that he is one of the most talented playmakers in the whole Europe. His technique is great and he plays with such style and grace. Shame he didn't play a full match. I expect him to get some playtime against Swansea.

Bertrand did well, but he'll need some experience that will teach him when to go forward and not to leave the left side exposed. I was a bit disappointed with his crossing.

Overall, they did well. Opponent wasn't easy and it was a PL team, we were down to 10 men and yet we held them and kept attacking. What our youngsters need is more playtime, but they had shown that they are on the right way and that our club has a bright future.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Overall, they did well. Opponent wasn't easy and it was a PL team, we were down to 10 men and yet we held them and kept attacking. What our youngsters need is more playtime, but they had shown that they are on the right way and that our club has a bright future.

Great point mate. I think with a few more games under their belt, their performance will definitely get much better.

[EskWeston 696]

This wasn't the easiest game for the youngsters to debut in, ideally we would have drawn lower league opposition but we didn't and they still got played and did very well overall.

Ryan Bertrand was solid throughout i thought, nothing spectacular but solid defensively. Still think he has a great future at Chelsea, needs more games now though and i would start with Swansea tommorow. He gets in good attacking positions without being careless. I know there is more to come from Ryan too. Nice debut from him.

Oriel Romeu was a real treat. Lets be honest it is so hard for any holding midfielder to get credit for some reason. But i saw a composed player who had a great passing range, did everything calmly. Covered so many times Luiz when he burst forward which showed a great level of inteligence in that position. I think in a year or 2 could be the perfect player for the holding role if he continues in that vein. Was man of the match for me against Fulham.

Josh McEachran did Ok. Not one of his better performances for sure but he was as always good on the ball. Want to see him play a little higher up the park though like we saw Mata do against Man Utd, he can do so much more damage there.

Romelu Lukaku has taken a little bit of stick for his performance in this game but i thought he did well. Fitness wise he struggled big time once we hit extra time but i think that is understandable. He showed signs of his strength and power, again there is so much more to come from him.

Like i said, on the whole i think we can be very proud of how our youngsters competed in the Fulham game. Hopefully we will get a nice draw in the next round to let them express themselves even more.

[Kojo 4,676]

Can Sturridge adapt on the right wing or will he keep playing like he has done these last two games?, i can't believe how he's under performed these last two games.

[termninja 5,290]

^

Since we've got Lukaku, Torres and Drogba he can hardly get a chance as a CF. I agree though, he disappointed me also, but we should give him more time.