Ruben Loftus-Cheek

[zolayes 14,489]

REALLY the ideal time to blood youngsters is when the team is doing well . This we have failed to do . Now they might be tried in a bad situation . This is all the more reason

they are shown patience and not discarded if they have one or two poor performances.

[iseah100 5,612]

REALLY the ideal time to blood youngsters is when the team is doing well . This we have failed to do . Now they might be tried in a bad situation . This is all the more reason

they are shown patience and not discarded if they have one or two poor performances.

There were plenty of chances last season. Vs Sporting in the CL, COC, and those last 3 PL games. Now all of them are loaned out and likely will never be at the club's grounds again.

[lionsden 4,689]

maybe , i bet we have guys in our academy, performing on a similar level, to how pogba was for utd. all about opportunity, and the confidence that goes with it.

Great point. Personally i will love to know the youth and reserve team record and performance level of young strikers that blossomed when given opportunities in the first team of top/decent european teams. I will be surprised if there are many with better record than solanke who netted 41 goals in 39 apps last season. I can't imagine the Rooneys, Owen,Fowlers of this world having much better record and performance at that level than that. Solanke and Musonda's form last season is as good as it will ever get for any youth player. Even as great as messi was in la masia academy, he wasn't pulling up trees and walking on water. he couldn't have been that much better than a fit jermey Boga at that level.

It's a lost cause because no matter how well a youth does at that level at Chelsea, it will always be dismissed as "playing for chelsea is a different kettle of fish". Well throw them in the deep end and let's find out then.

[DYC. 7,542]

Great point. Personally i will love to know the youth and reserve team record and performance level of young strikers that blossomed when given opportunities in the first team of top/decent european teams. I will be surprised if there are many with better record than solanke who netted 41 goals in 39 apps last season. I can't imagine the Rooneys, Owen,Fowlers of this world having much better record and performance at that level than that. Solanke and Musonda's form last season is as good as it will ever get for any youth player. Even as great as messi was in la masia academy, he wasn't pulling up trees and walking on water. he couldn't have been that much better than a fit jermey Boga at that level.

It's a lost cause because no matter how well a youth does at that level at Chelsea, it will always be dismissed as "playing for chelsea is a different kettle of fish". Well throw them in the deep end and let's find out then.

Does that matter in the end? Classic American sports movie: star in high school, nobody in college or star in college, nobody in the pros.

I remember Bojan scoring 1000+ goals at youth level, breaking records and all. Now he plays for Stoke. Eto'o was a Real reject and he became a Barca legend. Not exactly the same scenario but Pirlo joined Inter at 19 after one season at Serie A level, failed, became Milan and Juve legend.

In the end it's about how you do in the pros. If the likes Solanke, RLC etc. don't make it at Chelsea, they should make it in another top team if they have the talent. It doesn't disappear.

The fact that barely anyone gets a proper chance is sad though, can't disagree with that. You'd think this group of players would have a better chance, proving themselves on an international level and all.

[lionsden 4,689]

Does that matter in the end? Classic American sports movie: star in high school, nobody in college or star in college, nobody in the pros.

I remember Bojan scoring 1000+ goals at youth level, breaking records and all. Now he plays for Stoke. Eto'o was a Real reject and he became a Barca legend. Not exactly the same scenario but Pirlo joined Inter at 19 after one season at Serie A level, failed, became Milan and Juve legend.

In the end it's about how you do in the pros. If the likes Solanke, RLC etc. don't make it at Chelsea, they should make it in another top team if they have the talent. It doesn't disappear.

The fact that barely anyone gets a proper chance is sad though, can't disagree with that. You'd think this group of players would have a better chance, proving themselves on an international level and all.

But that's the point. these kids are not given opportunity to prove they have the ability to hack it at the top level. The argument is usually that talent is not enough i.e They have to show consistency/productivity at whatever level they are at be it in the reserves or on loan. the problem with that however is Jose and even some of our fans automatically dismiss youngsters who are performing well as "well they are only doing it at a level below chelsea's and i.e cannot be trusted" well how are they suppose to demonstrate the ability to hack it at the top level then. It's either by actually giving them the opportunity here at chelsea or loaning them to a club on a similar level to us like PSG,Atletico,Juventus,City et al and that's just never going to happen. hence why i said they can't win.

As for the second bolded part, It's not efficient or shrewd to find out you sold "the one that got away" like Matic only to end up paying over the odds for the player you once owned or in some instances find it impossible to get them back like Man utd and Pogba. I don't want us to be in a position where we are regretting the direction we went with some of our most promising youngsters in the future. With proper guidance and opportunities players like Musonda,solanke,Boga and Ake can make it here (The latter has already shown enough to justify the confidence)

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Serie A well on its way to recovering financially. Second biggest spenders in the market this window behind the EPL:

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/34118289

They also got plenty of return.

For example Inter spent 61m, got 62m, so they made profit of 1m.

Juve spent 90m, they got around 60m back.

While they are certainly on rise, next summer they wont act same way unless they will sell again. This summer both milans have replaced half the squad with high ambitions and juve had to replace ageing players.

But take juve as example, they are one of biggest loosers of summer. Yes they replaced old players indeed, but when it comes to improvement, hardly anything been done. Only improvement was Sandro instead of Evra. They gone from best midfield into very unbalanced one. Pogba will leave too sooner or later. Khedira alway injured and then replacing Tevez with Mandzukic is just funny (Dybala has a long way to go). Worst, they sold three absolutely key players out of four that gave the team creativity. Tevez, Pirlo and Vidal. And who have they bought as creative replacement? Hernanes?

Anyway Draxler is best example. Juve were in talks for him all summer but couldnt afford him. Wolfs came in two days paid the price that wasnt that huge either and juve had to go for Hernanes instead.

While italian football generaly is slightly improving in terms of finances, it tells alot that their best team cant afford some players. And inter had to sell in order to buy too, mancini said that quite a few times.

Spanish top teams, english top teams, psg and bayern will dominate football windows for quite some time. No italian club is even close to that group financialy. The way juve has worked in this summer is couple of times worse than us.

[Styles 9,790]

You think a club like Juventus would pick up Ruben if he wanted to leave Chelsea (like Pogba in 2012)?

Sure, why not?

A good agent could parlay Ruben's reputation as a budding prospect into a move to a top club.

[DYC. 7,542]

Sure, why not?

A good agent could parlay Ruben's reputation as a budding prospect into a move to a top club.

Fair enough. Like I've said before, if Ruben has the talent to be the next Pogba, he should have no problem showing it somewhere else if doesn't work out at Chelsea.

[Unionjack 7,531]

We all know that we have some lads in the academy that are showing promise. They look like they will have long careers in professional football. But playing for the TOP clubs for any of them is a step that only 1 or 2 will make.

Look at our academy over the last few years. They have kinda dominated England and dome great across Europe but none of them have progressed to the majors.

I'm a firm believer that cream comes to the top and no matter what club a player goes to on loan whatever hes going to shine and stand out if hes got that class. Thats one reason they do go out on loans. Ideally it is to get them experience so WE can use them but we know more often than not is to hopefully catch the medias eye so we can make money on them.

Take a look at the lads in the academy. To me they look like what they are. Kids. They have some skills, they got some speed etc but they dont have the bulk, footballing minds or the worldliness to make it in Chelsea.

Of course every single one of us would love our academy to be the Chelsea apprenticeship and for them to graduate into the 1st team squad but realistically we must celebrate if we manage to get 1 every now n then.

But its not to say they wont make good careers in other clubs.

[killer1257 3,282]

He is playing a very good game for Englands U21 .I hope Jose is watching because he played some good,creative passes,made good tackles,good dribbles and scored nearly from a corner with a header

[Blue Gino 377]

RLC should start a few matches in a row. Even for such a young player he couldn't be any worse than Fab or Matic right now. BTW Jose wasn't watching RLC play U21's, Jose was having dinner with his wife and Brana again.

[killer1257 3,282]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2ZAIOjj7OY

Here are the match highlights of RLC match against USA U23

[Styles 9,790]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2ZAIOjj7OY

Here are the match highlights of RLC match against USA U23

This guy just needs to be played and he will find himself. He just needs to be given the platform and the trust.

[LondonsFinest 692]

Would absolutely love it, if we keep the millions for Pogba and RLC turns into a less flashier, tad less talented, same bracket player. They COULD both feature in a team, imo.

Overall though, I am really optimistic that RLC will get minutes in this season.

[Blue Colored Sky 1,807]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2ZAIOjj7OY

Here are the match highlights of RLC match against USA U23

WOW.

He really has improved his passing.

I mean, his passing was average at best, he was the most dangerous when he was running with the ball through middle.

Now look, LOOK, how quickly he releases the ball. As soon as he receives, he instantly thinks about making a pass. It's colossal difference. He doesn't carry the ball anymore and slows things down. It's as clear as day that was particular feature he was working on in the last months. Yes, there are still some off touches and some wrongly timed pass but I tell this again, it's colossal difference. Also very positive is that he not only thinks about releasing the ball as quickly as possible but also thinks about playing it further forward. He shows signs of vision and creativity. As a box-to-box midfielder he doesn't have to be playmaker but his passing have to be silky and positive.

Very encouraging stuff.