Should we put our faith in the youth?

[The Skipper 20,609]

Chalobah, Feruz, Piazon and Ake aren't ready to be part of the 1st team because 1. Their development will be hampered by not playing regularly and 2. They aren't good enough yet to start week in week out for the team.

[xPetrCechx 13,578]

First, Get rid of the Spanish double twats... Rafa and his " Striker".

[Blue Gino 377]

Giving youth a chance here is like seeing a UFO, I'll believe it when I see it. Gourlay just announced the club will look to add a few players so I highly doubt youth is in their future. This would have been the season to do it since this club won't win jack shit. Youth so far only gets a chance when they are needed as emergency backup i.e. Bertrand and Ake. Meanwhile useless fucks who collect a paycheck with no one breathing down their necks for a place just show up on the pitch with no heart. It amazes me how much Chelsea brag about their youth winning FA Cups, knocking out Barcelona in the Nextgen series and yet they want to add more from the transfer market in the summer.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Suggesting that he's ready to be first team player next season at the age of 18 with no real experience is going overboard.

This would be how he gets experience, no?

Chalobah, Feruz, Piazon and Ake aren't ready to be part of the 1st team because 1. Their development will be hampered by not playing regularly and 2. They aren't good enough yet to start week in week out for the team.

Chalobah is good enough in my opinion. Piazon is starting games for a Malaga team who would give us a good game, whilst Ake didn't disgrace himself before although a loan might be best for him if Chalobah and De Bruyne came back.

But out of interest, why isn't Chalobah ready? What specific areas of his game do you think he need to work on?

Are we trying to do a Arsenal here ? Well that didn't work for them and I don't think it'll work for us .

Sell Torres , Buy a couple of midfielders , a solid defender and a striker and we'll be okkkayyy xD

What's doing an Arsenal? When people say that, they're usually completely wrong and don't have a clue what they mean.

Arsenal's problems weren't relying on youth - it was underinvesting in the squad, selling their best players and actually not having young players of a high enough calibre supplement the first team squad.

Now they're stuck buying players like Mertesacker, Arteta, Podolski etc.

[Blue Gino 377]

Chalobah, Feruz, Piazon and Ake aren't ready to be part of the 1st team because 1. Their development will be hampered by not playing regularly and 2. They aren't good enough yet to start week in week out for the team.

And yet some of this current bunch IS?

[manpe 10,861]

This would be how he gets experience, no?

Realistically speaking, no. You get experience in Chelsea by going on loan. preferrably 10 loans.

[Backstreet09 499]

This would be how he gets experience, no?

Chalobah is good enough in my opinion. Piazon is starting games for a Malaga team who would give us a good game, whilst Ake didn't disgrace himself before although a loan might be best for him if Chalobah and De Bruyne came back.

But out of interest, why isn't Chalobah ready? What specific areas of his game do you think he need to work on?

What's doing an Arsenal? When people say that, they're usually completely wrong and don't have a clue what they mean.

Arsenal's problems weren't relying on youth - it was underinvesting in the squad, selling their best players and actually not having young players of a high enough calibre supplement the first team squad.

Now they're stuck buying players like Mertesacker, Arteta, Podolski etc.

I know that right , I Used them as reference cause you're saying to do the same what arsenal did ; "Put the youths right in the team without any planning or agenda "

And Arteta and Podolski are great buys you know . Mertesacker is pretty decent too. Giroud was a mistake tho XD

[The Skipper 20,609]

But out of interest, why isn't Chalobah ready? What specific areas of his game do you think he need to work on?

Simply because I think he needs to be more exposed to top level football. He's got all the ingredients for a top player, he just needs to be tested at the top level at a frequent rate. I really hope Watford get promoted and keep Chalobah on loan for next season, it'll do wonders for his development rather than coming back to CFC and having the odd game here and there, he'd be starting week in week out at Watford.

And yet some of this current bunch IS?

The current bunch as in? Could you please elaborate the question?

[Blue Gino 377]

Chelsea don't need to add more paid assassins to the roster. They need fire and soul, players who want to prove they belong on that pitch, and that comes from those players out on loan right now who will fight. Lukaku has the fire. He wants to be a Chelsea legend. But it all starts with Roman. What does HE want to do because until he fires that board and changes the culture, youth will be nothing more than an afterthought and a way to make a profit on the side to fund more paid assassins who don't give a fuck about this club just the almighty dollar like Torres that will send the next manager packing in an endless cycle.

[Leif 6,006]

Can anyone name 1 single youngster yet to make his first team debut/make the bench out of the Premier League clubs who's a better striker than Feruz? Go.

[Laylabelle 9,539]

Realistically speaking, no. You get experience in Chelsea by going on loan. preferrably 10 loans.

And then never coming back...seems to be the way it works

Course we should put faith but then shouldnt expect miracles.They'll need time to gel develop and Managers dont get that chance so probably wont happen as we'd want it to

[Mufassir08 2,400]

Definitely players like chalobah,josh,KDB,lukaku,kalas and maybe even piazon(If he does well enough on loan) can play an important part in our team next season.Them and 2-3 signings with the right manager i believe we can be competitive again.

[Blue Gino 377]

Simply because I think he needs to be more exposed to top level football. He's got all the ingredients for a top player, he just needs to be tested at the top level at a frequent rate. I really hope Watford get promoted and keep Chalobah on loan for next season, it'll do wonders for his development rather than coming back to CFC and having the odd game here and there, he'd be starting week in week out at Watford.

The current bunch as in? Could you please elaborate the question?

Sure, not including those walking out on a free, Torres for obvious reasons, then I'd sell Mikel, Ivanovic and especially Marin, who made a mistake coming here. I would recall Todd Kane, Omeruo, Chalobah, McEachran, Lukaku and KDB for starters.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Simply because I think he needs to be more exposed to top level football. He's got all the ingredients for a top player, he just needs to be tested at the top level at a frequent rate. I really hope Watford get promoted and keep Chalobah on loan for next season, it'll do wonders for his development rather than coming back to CFC and having the odd game here and there, he'd be starting week in week out at Watford.

The current bunch as in? Could you please elaborate the question?

Why couldn't he be starting here? If he was given a chance to fight for that DM spot, I think he'd have a good chance at winning it from Mikel or Ramires.

See this is our problem. We don't give players a chance and then say we can't because they haven't played enough. It's maddening.

[Laylabelle 9,539]

The issue is as Jose put it when Arsenal were raved about.There is the pressure to win trophies which is why he never took that risk.If the next owener can at least get the backing from the board to go ahead and do so no issue.

[Mufassir08 2,400]

Why couldn't he be starting here? If he was given a chance to fight for that DM spot, I think he'd have a good chance at winning it from Mikel or Ramires.

See this is our problem. We don't give players a chance and then say we can't because they haven't played enough. It's maddening.

Spot on you look at players like pogba,de sciglio,niang,rafael etc they never went out on loan to 10 different clubs they got a chance at their respective clubs at a young age and all of them are doing well.We should show more faith in our youngsters i am sure they wont let us down.

[Blue Armour 4,453]

Why couldn't he be starting here? If he was given a chance to fight for that DM spot, I think he'd have a good chance at winning it from Mikel or Ramires.

See this is our problem. We don't give players a chance and then say we can't because they haven't played enough. It's maddening.

The issue here is that our first team isn't a footballing school. Its there for the purpose of getting at least 1-2 trophies a season.

If there's a youth player that can instantly slot into our first team, they will be retained. Else they are sent out on loan to improve, or tossed back into the reserves, or at the most retained as a squad player.

[Thomas Williams 166]

De Bruyne is at least as good as the average Chelsea player, and he will come along rapidly if we put him in regularly.

Lukaku is already EPL proven so I don't understand how one could make an argument about him not being ready.

Chalobah is dominating in the championship league, I don't know if he's ready or not, I think he needs an EPL loan to prove himself (or better yet, next year if Watford get promoted).

Ake looked better than I've seen mikel in a long time, and I think would do a better job in the pivot than Lamps has been lately (although I love seeing #8 on the pitch). Then again it was one game against sub-premier league competition, so who knows, he could probably use a first league loan as well.

Piazon is very close to being EPL ready, but with our attacking midfield strength I don't think we need him at the moment.

Other than courtois obviously I don't think the rest of them are Chelsea ready, perhaps Feruz but its hard to tell. However, If our players are tired and the competition not too might, I would love to start some of these prospects and keep playing them as long as they do well. I understand not recalling players from good loans, but Ake could easily have played this week at Steaua, no reason not to, I think he could be a star.

[Rmpr 8,977]

Bring them all back for next season and include them in first team plans. We need a deep-lying playmaker like Modric or Benat and Josh isn't ready so we'd need to go into the market, but for the replacement for Mikel we could go with Chalobah.

Up front rather than going after Falcao we could go with Lukaku, Bent and either one other who can play on the wings as well, or maybe even include Feruz.

De Bruyne instead of Isco, and maybe even look at bringing Courtois into the fold and cashing in on Petr. We're in transition so now is as good a time as any to cut ties with the past an build something new.

I see, sorry!

Well, I honestly think each player/position is a different case and we need a bit of both: youngsters being promoted and some transfer window activity...

Lukaku: If we qualify for UCL, I would loan him for one more year. First because I am not sure Torres will leave and second I believe we need a bombastic teamplayer like Cavani upfront. Romelu would still keep his growth in a EPL midtable team and we would be secured with a duo of Ba/Cavani. However, if we finish 5th, there is no need to spend big on a 'luxury' (if Spuds have Defoe/Adebayor and Arse have Grioud/Podolski and still make the top4, Lukaku/Ba is more than enough).

Feruz: Loan him to a Championship team for at least two more years!

Piazon: This is tricky....How good is he? Will we keep Marin or not? If both answers are negative, we must loan him to a Premier League team and buy a Winger who is fast, can drible and work on both sides. Without Moses and Hazard we have absolutely no width.

KDB: He is good, I honestly believe he will be very good. I also think he is ready. Since Lampard probably wont stay, Essien is unlikely to return and Ramires is not made to be a regular first team player, he has a spot in the squad right for him. He is versatile and I dont see him being mad if we dont start him regularly in his first season.

Josh: Not ready, imo. I would loan him to an English team and see how he reacts...

Ake: Also depends whether we get top4 or not. If we do, we will certainly need a top DM. If we dont, I see no problem if only having Mikel/Romeu/Ake.

Chabolah: Needs a EPL team so our staff can trully analyse how good the kid is. He seems outstanding, but must be taken care of. No place for him in the currently squad: JT, Luiz, Cahill and Iva already.

Courtois: He said he is fine waiting 2 more years. I hope so, cant let him go at any cost!

Old Guard: This pains me to say, but I totally belive we would be better off without JT and Lampard next yer. God, it seems so weird saying this, but I honestly do. Sorry, said it! ;-(

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In resume, this would be my two different dream squads for next year, depending on this season's outcome. Feel totally free to give your opinion, I am writing this exactly so I can see what other people think.

UCL

GK: Cech, Turnbull (Courtois on loan)

RB: Azi, Iva

CB: X, Luiz, Cahill (Chabolah on loan)

LB: Cole, Bertrand

DM: X, Mikel, Ake

CM: X, Ramires, KDB (Josh on loan)

CAM: Mata, Oscar

W: Hazard, Moses, X (Piazon on loan)

ST: X, Ba, (Lukaku on loan)

Xs: Hummels, Capoue, Moutinho/Modric, Gaitan/Rodriguez, Cavani. (they are only options, be more worried with their style of play)

UEL

GK: Cech, Turnbull (Courtois on loan)

RB: Azi, Iva

CB: Terry, Luiz, Cahill (Chabolah on loan)

LB: Cole, Bertrand

DM: X, Mikel, Ake

CM: X, Ramires, KDB (Josh on loan)

CAM: Mata, Oscar

W: Hazard, Moses, Piazon/Marin

ST: Lukaku, Ba (Feruz on loan)

Xs: Capoue and Moutinho/Modric (they are only options, be more worried with their style of play)

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Anyways, this is only my two cents, but you cant deny the UCL squad would be beast!

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

We need to have a right balance of youth and experienced players in the team. Otherwise, we risk of becoming another Arsenal. And also, to have a competent manager managing the team!

That's not even Arsenal. Of their starting XI, only Gibbs is a young, relatively unproven player and he still played about 70-75 fairly top level games going into this season. Jenkinson and Oxlade-Chamberlin are subs that play fairly regularly but after that, they have a pretty veteran lineup. That type of model is fine for us. If we want to work in 2 or 3 young players into the lineup, great, that's what most teams do, but the idea that we should have five or six or seven players like that is absurd as is the notion that we should bring players who have never played a game at a high level. Top clubs simply don't do that because you won't win. That is what development clubs like Aston Villa or Southampton might do.

Here's how many of our outfield players since Mourinho came who have started more than 5 games in a season /10 or more games/20 or more games

2011-2012: 21/19/14

2010-2011: 17/17/11

2009-2010: 20/18/16

2008-2009: 18/16/14

2007-2008: 22/21/16

2006-2007: 19/18/15

2005-2006: 18/17/14

2004-2005: 20/17/13

Next season I see the likely team as: Cech, backup keeper, third keeper, Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Luiz, Cole, Bertrand, Mikel, Romeu, Ramires, Oscar, Mata, Hazard, Ramires, De Bruyne, Moses, Ba, Lukaku, a new central midfielder, maybe another central or attacking midfielder, and maybe a new striker as the likely team.. That's about 20-22 players for the outfield rotation which is as much as you need. I can see us maybe upgrading somewhere, buying a better LB than Bertrand or a new DM, but only if it's an improvement on what we already have

This is how squads tend to break down in terms of playing time and it doesn't matter who the manager is, there is very little difference. If you want a squad with 27 outfield players, that's fine, but you have to realize that a bunch of those players will almost never play and guess which players those will be, the proven veterans who are full internationals and who have played Champions League football and won trophies or the untested youngsters? How is it more beneficial for the development of Feruz or Chalobah or Ake or whomever to get into five games for Chelsea rather than 35 for another club?