Chelsea Transfers

[Stats 7,065]

On 21/11/2024 at 21:30, Vesper said:

The future of English football

https://www.scoutednotebook.com/i/151949621/the-future-of-english-football

On Tuesday, I had a little bit of free time to do something I love to do – watch youth football.

Belgium against England in the first round of UEFA U-19 EURO qualifiers was on the agenda, and there was a stream provided by the Bulgaria FA (they hosted the mini-tournament of qualifiers) that thankfully wasn’t quite as patchy as the Plovdiv pitch they were playing on.

Onto the standouts. The very obvious one was Chelsea’s Josh Acheampong. You couldn’t miss him and his giraffe-sized frame; he loomed over pretty much everyone on the pitch, literally head and shoulders above the rest.

The first half showcased why he’s already played senior minutes at club level – making his debut at the back-end of last season, before adding a couple more appearances in this – as he did a lot of impressive centre-back things.

His athleticism is perhaps the feature of his game. Despite being a gangly kind of tall, he covered ground with a smoothness that caught the eye immediately. His long legs were really useful to win the ball back, he can extend them into places few can, while he also had neat footwork and a spry agility in tighter situations. His height was a natural advantage in aerial duels, obviously, but the technique and timing of his contests were the factors that saw him win every long ball over Belgium’s similarly-sized centre-forward Kaye Furo.

Acheampong was a different level of talent to most on the pitch. You could see how his profile could scale up to the highest standard of senior football pretty easily. But he’s currently locked out at Chelsea, ostracised from the senior and U-21 teams until he commits his future to the club, with a number of domestic rivals and big-time European clubs circling.

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Another was Myles Lewis-Skelly of Arsenal. He was the most ‘senior-ready’ player on the pitch by a significant margin, in my opinion. Everything about him – the compactness of athleticism, robustness of physicality, assuredness of decisions – set him apart at U-19 level.

He was playing as a left-back in this game, a role which he’s been earmarked for at Arsenal and now England. It’s a role that suits his skillset to a tee: he’s left-footed and a really mobile mover with solid one-v-one defending, acute talent as a line-splitting passer, and a trademark ability to carry the ball out of pressure, through contact and up the pitch. All of those traits were on show in Plovdiv.

What I particularly love about MLS is the way he uses his body. It’s an exceptional trait of his, and to be so skilled at it at his age is very rare – trust me, I watch a lot of youth football. He got the upper-hand in defensive situations time and time again by levering his body between ball and man, winning more or less every duel as a result. His ball security was taken up a notch by his propensity to feel for contact when taking a touch. Defenders struggled to contain him when he bumped through them with the ball at his feet. He made it all look easy.

Another point of difference that underlined the 18-year-old’s readiness for the higher levels was the way he grew into the game. While others faded, he got better. Belgium’s intensity waned, meaning he had more time (and freedom) to get on the ball, finding those angled passes more and more, while his dribbles started to eliminate two or three defenders, not just the one.

My takeaway from this game? I want to see more MLS in the Premier League. He would be a regular already in Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga, maybe even LaLiga and Serie A. The Premier League is different, but Lewis-Skelly is ready for more opportunities and responsibilities. 

Have England finally developed a Spanish-spec midfielder?

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And finally, a few words for Kiano Dyer. Every year the discourse inevitably rolls around to the ‘why can’t England develop midfielders like Spain?’ but they have a Spanish-spec midfielder in the Chelsea prospect.

The deepest of England’s midfield three, Dyer created that triangle with the centre-backs to help build play from the back. He’s of a smaller stature with a slight frame but makes up for it with a razor-sharp mobility. He flashes across five yards, cuts through pressure, and lasers into space. That flash-cut-laser style was characteristic of his passing too – he was great at spotting and executing little 10-yarders that fed team-mates inside Belgium’s block. They’re the sort of passes someone like Martín Zubimendi does.

He struggled to find a groove with his long-range distribution, overhitting switches to the left wing primarily, and was blindsided by Belgian pressure a couple of times, but that can happen. I’ve watched him before and those haven’t been particular issues. Everyone has an off day.

But Dyer is good with the potential to be really good. And really good in a different way to the English norm. The pathway at Chelsea is a precarious one with their compulsive buying disorder, so it remains to be see how he develops there, but he’ll find an alternative route as easily as he slips pressure.

And a final fun fact: Kiano is the son of Lloyd Dyer, the former Leicester City winger. I hope that makes you feel old.

Yes, @Vesper. Credit given. You are spot on. MLS is a star in the making. He looks like he has been playing that role for ages. He is the real deal and I think he is good enough to play LB for England already. What a performance today. Interesting that they bought Calafiori who was bought as the main LB but currently MLS is the main guy there. Good conundrum for them to have anyway. Don't like Arsenal but they have two top class talents in Nwaneri and MLS. 17 and 18. Wow.

[YorkshireBlue 3,148]

27 minutes ago, Stats said:

Are you being for real? Last season yes, this season he has been poor, hence the urge for them to get a new striker. He was good today though, bar that miss but let's be real. He has been way below par this season.

This season is his highest scoring season since coming to England? How is it his worst season if 15 goals so far in the season is poor then fuck me we what one player with more than that? 😂

Edited 3 hours ago by YorkshireBlue

[NikkiCFC 8,082]

18 minutes ago, Stats said:

Are you being for real? Last season yes, this season he has been poor, hence the urge for them to get a new striker. He was good today though, bar that miss but let's be real. He has been way below par this season.

Last season he had 14 goals in 51 games. Best season in Chelsea 14 goals in 47 games. Everything he showed there we already saw. Nothing new. That's why I find these praising comments weird. He pretty much just scores tap ins which he gets more there. And Arsenal will go for new number 9 because with him they are not going next step. 

[YorkshireBlue 3,148]

Just now, NikkiCFC said:

Last season he had 14 goals in 51 games. Best season in Chelsea 14 goals in 47 games. Everything he showed there we already saw. Nothing new. That's why I find these praising comments weird. He pretty much just scores tap ins which he gets more there. And Arsenal will go for new number 9 because with him they are not going next step. 

He’s on 15 goals this season already, and we have said it when he was here…. He isn’t a number 9 

[YorkshireBlue 3,148]

47 minutes ago, We Hate Scouse said:

Behave 🤣

So we wouldnt take a player scoring 15 goals so far this season? Ah no I forget we have a number 9 that couldn’t hit a house from a yard out my bad 

Edited 3 hours ago by YorkshireBlue

[Stats 7,065]

2 minutes ago, YorkshireBlue said:

This season is his highest scoring season since coming to England? How is it his worst season if 15 goals so far in the season is poor then fuck me we what one player with more than that? 😂

He has scored but missed a lot of sitters. Last season he started awful then had that massive goal glut where he could not top scoring. He started last season as a LCM too. It was only till after he was pushed forward, but it got to a point where his goal rate was so good last season, people were saying he is the complete no.9. I did not say it was his worst season but I said last season, the push was not as much as it is now to get a move. He has gone missing far too many times. He doesn't score enough goals with his feet. There is a reason Arteta has finally budged and made a bid for another striker. He has decent stats but his performances have been criticised heavily by his own fans. Just check the Havertz thread in the Arsenal forum throughout the season.

[YorkshireBlue 3,148]

1 minute ago, Stats said:

He has scored but missed a lot of sitters. Last season he started awful then had that massive goal glut where he could not top scoring. He started last season as a LCM too. It was only till after he was pushed forward, but it got to a point where his goal rate was so good last season, people were saying he is the complete no.9. I did not say it was his worst season but I said last season, the push was not as much as it is now to get a move. He has gone missing far too many times. He doesn't score enough goals with his feet. There is a reason Arteta has finally budged and made a bid for another striker. He has decent stats but his performances have been criticised heavily by his own fans. Just check the Havertz thread in the Arsenal forum throughout the season.

And Jackson hasn’t? We can’t talk about any ones number 9 missing sitters, Chelsea have turned it into an art form 

[Mhsc 943]

1 hour ago, YorkshireBlue said:

Havertz killing it at arsenal, another player we just chucked in the bin before he shown his potential 

He's dreadful. Arsenal fans can't stand him and can't wait for him to be replaced. 

Even as bad as we've been recently, he'd be on the bench.

[Pizy 18,537]

Nico Jackson and Havertz are players of the same level. Very solid strikers but not good enough to be THE #9 at either club if they have ambitions of winning a PL title.

[YorkshireBlue 3,148]

Just now, Pizy said:

Nico Jackson and Havertz are players of the same level. Very solid strikers but not good enough to be THE #9 at either club if they have ambitions of winning a PL title.

There no similar players because havertz isn’t a number 9 

[YorkshireBlue 3,148]

1 minute ago, Mhsc said:

He's dreadful. Arsenal fans can't stand him and can't wait for him to be replaced. 

Even as bad as we've been recently, he'd be on the bench.

He would have scored more than Jackson this season, we have become deluded looking at other teams when our team is no where near where it should be, the fact we are happy to accept delap as a striker these days speaks volumes 

[Stats 7,065]

4 minutes ago, YorkshireBlue said:

And Jackson hasn’t? We can’t talk about any ones number 9 missing sitters, Chelsea have turned it into an art form 

But no one said Jackson is killing it. He has been inconsistent. But you claimed Havertz is 'killing it' which is just not true.

[Mhsc 943]

14 minutes ago, YorkshireBlue said:

He would have scored more than Jackson this season

Nah, absolutely not. He would be a massive downgrade on NJ for 6x the weekly salary and 2x the transfer fee.

His only plus side is his defensive workrate.

[NikkiCFC 8,082]

44 minutes ago, YorkshireBlue said:

So we wouldnt take a player scoring 15 goals so far this season? Ah no I forget we have a number 9 that couldn’t hit a house from a yard out my bad 

Jackson and Havertz scored same number of PL goals this season. Last season Nico one more. 

[YorkshireBlue 3,148]

1 minute ago, NikkiCFC said:

Jackson and Havertz scored same number of PL goals this season. Last season Nico one more. 

Jackson is fucking shite, by the time we accepted that fact, I have no doubt havertz would have scored more in our team this season than Jackson 

[YorkshireBlue 3,148]

39 minutes ago, Stats said:

But no one said Jackson is killing it. He has been inconsistent. But you claimed Havertz is 'killing it' which is just not true.

In your opinion, when I watch havertz play for arsenal he looks twice the player he looked here

[Simon1991 233]

45 minutes ago, YorkshireBlue said:

There no similar players because havertz isn’t a number 9 

What's his position? He's not a 10, not a 9, not a winger, not a 8.

The guy isnt a great passer, finisher or dribbler, cannot beat his man. He's a hard worker, great at defending (as a 9), and has good overall link-up play.

Did you see the sitter he missed again today? He has missed MASSIVE chances in almost all of Arsenal last 5 games, and their fans are now seeing what we knew already when they took him from us, he's decent at best. Never good enough for a top team.

[Stats 7,065]

5 minutes ago, YorkshireBlue said:

In your opinion, when I watch havertz play for arsenal he looks twice the player he looked here

Fair enough. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I would say he has found the net more at Arsenal but generally speaking the same levels of inconsistency is showing. I prefer Jackson to Havertz too. Havertz is a decent striker but like I say is just not prolific enough. He rarely ever scores goals like he did today. Very good at headers but I want my no.9 to strike fear to the opposition and he just doesn't. If they signed Watkins, they are complete.