Delighted for the young lad. I commented on his performances in friendlies and under-age here before. Definitely has the talent but you just don't know whether he has the ability to step up a grade until you throw him in at the deep end. Best of luck to the fella.
well good news but jose has to play him to continue the development. its actually a huge flaw of his how he has 'his' players, and the rest of the squad languishes. why buy luis for 20 million and not play him while bertand is on the books? why not rotate a team playing 4 games in 9 days? he's actually making life harder for himself than necessary, and it'll get worse when all these prospects stagnate and/or get off to clubs where they'll actually play.
Totally agree. Loftus Cheek looks like he could be a top player if given the chance. No good just giving him a game that isn't competitive and then not playing him again for months on end. As for Luis, in hindsight we didn't need him when you consider how good Bertrand has been for Southampton plus the fact we're still playing Azpilicueta there. Bit of a waste of money if you ask me.
as good a team as any, id have ake in for matic and remy on too, as i dont buy this story about costa not being fit. jose lies too much, its starting to get silly now.
The future is definitely bright. Like to see more of the lads given a run out in our Domestic cups; http://www.westlondonsport.com/chel...-solanke-as-chelsea-youngsters-run-riot-again
I thought I read that Ake had a hamstring injury or was just overcoming it. Thinking Fab might start as he cant play Saturday.
Would like to see some youngsters play more than 10 mins. Looks like Zouma and Ake will get a bit of game time, shame Bertrand wasn't used he's a really top player for mine. Don't understand why we don't just concentrate on the PL and CL and play the kids in the other Cup comps.
I don't think just playing a load of kids really works. I think it's better to pick 2-3 and integrate them into the first team gradually. That way they are coming into a side playing well and the transition is more natural than just playing youth and reserves in a lowly competitive match and then all getting dropped the next game. 'Problem' we have is that some of our bench are such good players (Schurrle, Rambo, Remy, Drogba etc) that these are the players getting the 20 min cameos in games we are cruising rather than up and coming talents.
To be fair Bertrand has done well this year but didn't look that great on loan at Villa last year and Jose would have seen enough of him in training. It's one thing playing for essentially a mid table side like Southampton and the other for title chasers.
This. Like Bertrand but Azpi better and probably Luis better too. We could have kept Bertrand if he agreed to be Dave's understudy instead of signing Luis maybe?
Could have and I would have been happy with that, but at his age he needs to be playing regularly otherwise he'll spend his career on the bench.
What was the point of giving L-C 10 minutes in the deadest of dead games? Jose talks a good game when it comes to our academy, but his actions don't match his fine words. Last night was a perfect opportunity to start with a youngster or, at the very least, throw him on for the 2nd half. I just don't understand what he thinks young players gain from 10 minutes of 1st team action here and there.
I kind of agree. 2-0 up at half time, could have easily taken off cesc. I think a few little things played a part though: - - Having lost at the weekend, Jose wanted to stop any chance of a mini crisis so played a strong team. - With cesc banned for this weekend there was no need to rest him - He wanted to play a strong team for the integrity of the competition with it all up for grabs for the other sides. A 10 minute cameo for a debut is fine if it leads to more minutes in the coming weeks. Does nothing if the lad doesn't get a kick for the rest of the season though.
Not wanting to rock the boat, but I always thought teams had to submit a 25 man squad to UEFA for eligibility in the Champions League. Pretty sure Loftus Cheek wouldn't have been on that list. Anyone know the rule exactly? It would appear there is a get-around for youth players, but it's looks bit vague (to me). UEFA also have rules on fielding weakened teams, which Liverpool almost fell foul off against Real, so need to be careful about making too many changes. Again, the rules are not crystal clear. Really don't want to give any excuse to those caarnts to put sanctions on us.
