Chelsea Youth 1-0 Portsmouth Youth

James · January 30, 2010

Even though the scoreline did not suggest it Chelsea were basically dominant throughout the whole game only allowing Portsmouth a handfull of chances. Passing was crisp for most of the game and the movement was flowing. Missing from this game through injury was Jeffrey Bruma who didn’t recover in time for this one and Milan Lalkovic who suffered an injury in the weeking visit from West Ham. Despite the lack of these 2 quality players it didn’t make any difference to the shape and style of the team.

Billy Knott earned a start at left back for this game which was fully deserved after recent performances, Aziz Deen-Conteh left back for the previous 2 rounds moved into centre back and did a superb job in a position not one he is used to. Daniel Pappoe continued his excellent run of form alongside Aziz and Billy Clifford played right and also did a fantastic job. The midfield was packed with talent, the awesome Connor Clifford playing the anchor role once again to perfection alongside Kaby Djalo and Josh McEachran who finally stood up and put in a top top performance to live up to hype he has been receiving. Finally in attack Gokhan Tore continued to impress and dominate his markers with Jacopo Sala on the opposite flank and Marko Mitrovic down the middle playing the target man to great effect.

The game was an intriguing one from start to finish, it took a long while for Chelsea to get into their groove and Pompey were not taking advantage of that. Even though the passing wasn’t as tight the chances were still being created and we were still looking dangerous. The goal came from a very good Chelsea movement and great determination from Connor Clifford, after some great passing the ball fell to Clifford who knocked it passed the defenders and shot passed the keeper. The chances continued to come for both sides and the first half ended with the game at 1 – 0. The second half Chelsea finally got into the flow of the game and they completely dominated and started to create chance after chance, Mitrovic hit the post a couple of times and slotted another good chance wide. Gokhan Tore also had a couple of good chances but just could finish them off. At times it looked like the second goal was just a matter of time but as the game went on it was like it was never going to come. And it didn’t.

But don’t let that detract from the performance in this game which was top class and if their can continue this form into the cup further i can’t see many teams if any that will be able to stop us. The set up with these players is working nicely much in the same way it did the last time we made the youth cup final. A lot of these boys are making names for themselves in this cup run.

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Player Reviews:

Sam Walker - Sam, after recovering from a bad injury has really hit form again is looking to be a really good prospect for a keeper. His handling and shot stopping is assured and calm, there isn’t many weaknesses to his game at the moment and all he needs is the games and to keep stepping up the levels and we will have a very good keeper on our hands. Dealt with everything he needed to in this game comfortably. 7

Billy Clifford – Without doubt the best performance i have seen from Billy Clifford so far. Not naturally a right back he certainly looked the part in this game and i am sure would have turned a few heads of people unfamiliar to our youth team with this performance. Worked tirelessly down the right hand side, attack-wise he was a great option and gave them a hard time throughout. Can we adapt another midfielder into a top looking right back? (Nikki Ahamed did the same) i certainly think so, the more games he plays the better he will get. I will look forward to seeing Billy’s progression. 8

Billy Knott – Having just discussed one midfielder adapted to defence here we have another. Billy Knott is really taking the left back role and grabbing it by the horns, will we see him back further up the pitch? His physical competitive nature can make him and ideal prospect for left back, he offers so many similarities to Ashley Cole. He again looked top class in this game and looked very good defensively which was great to see as we have all seen what he can do in attack. A very good game from him again this time around and he is linking up well with Gokhan Tore. 7

Daniel Pappoe – Daniel has been keeping himself playing at a very good level for the whole of the season now, if that be at reserve level or youth level. For such a young man the maturaty is great to see and i hope he will continue to play to this level and move further forward with his game. A couple of times he made wrong choices but on the whole again he does all the right things and gets in the right positions. 7

Aziz Deen-Conteh - Aziz was the surprise package in this game for me. We have seen what he can do at left back and he looked very assured and played to a high standard there. This time we saw him take that and do the same at centre back. Some of the challenges that he put in during this game was so incredible you would have thought it was Jeffrey Bruma rather than Aziz. Again i don’t know how much we will see of Aziz in this position but i see no reason why he cannot continue to see how things go there. Top top performance. 8

Connor Clifford - At the moment Connor is the real gem of the academy. I am really running out of things to say about him, his passing is SO good and accurate, his determination is a fantastic quality and his shooting brilliant. He brings everything together and he is the complete midfielder. Connor for me is as much of a Lampard replacement as you could ever hope to have, obviously so much can change at these stages in a young players career but really he is progressing at such a rapid rate that the sky is the limit for him at the moment. He will always fight on and he continues to stick those goals away. 9

Aliu ‘Kaby’Djalo – Kaby again played a great midfield performance. His ability on the ball doesn’t naturally lend him to play the Essien/Lampard role but he most certainly does that in his own way. He is able to work the spaces very well and set the game going with some great passing. A lot of hype was made of Kaby and he is really coming into his own now and i am liking what i am seeing of him at the moment. 7

Josh McEachran - As someone who has been fairly critical of Josh, particularly in the Youth Cup games it was great to finally see him step up and show what he is all about. He ran the show which is what we have been waiting for and he did it so well too. His skill on the ball is so very good and his passing when on it is top class. He has been given a first team squad number now and based on this performance it is no suprise. For such a young man his intelligence on the ball is so good. If he can work on bulking up and keeping playing on top of his game he can be as good as he wants. 9

Gokhan Tore – Not quite as influential and dominant as he was in the last round but Gokhan has certainly hit his stride and form. His runs down the wing are almost unstoppable and his delivery of the ball is just so very good. He is very desperate to get among the goals but as of yet isn’t quite getting there on that front. Tore has really been working hard on his game and he is becoming more and more of a team player as time is going on. 8

Jacopo Sala – Sala has been a strange one during the Cup run. He is so much more comfortable and so much more of a threat than when he is on the wings. First half he didn’t have much joy but in the second half he was a lot more free and came inside to affect the game more which worked well for him, again another chance where he should have scored but didn’t which is becomming a regular theme for Sala but overal a decent outing for him. 7

Marko Mitrovic – Marko will have been very dissapointed not to have scored in this game, especially considering he hit the woodwork on a number of occasions. He is an ideal type of player for the lone striker role and he works hard to win the ball and hold it up and he does it very well. He also manages to get more than his share of goals and is doing very well on that front this season as he did last. Even though he didn’t score i think Mitrovic put in a good shift and was pleasing to see. 8