I think they were given the night off by Sarri to go and see Christopher Robin. Part of his Youth Development plan.
Therein lies the problem. Mount plays every game RLC plays 1 game every 2 months and is not match fit, nor does he ever get a chance with the 1st team squad. Ditto Ampadu and Hudson Odoi. Suggestion for Sarri. Instead of playing 2 teams, 1 in the PL and 1 in the Europa, try blending the teams more. Despite CFCs' post, I never want to see 6 or 7 changes, that means the new players have 2 chances to impress, bugger all and **** all, because the whole team is disjointed. Try this instead. Rest Alonso and play Emerson. Rest Luiz and play Christensen. Rest Pedro and play Hudson Odoi Rest anyone and PLAY Ampadu. Give the poor sods a decent chance to impress with 10 of the !st team regulars also playing.
I been saying this same thing for years CP, and I am sick of talking to a brick wall. I am prepared to give Sarri more time to prove his trust in our youth team, after all, he is new and should be focused on getting us back in the CL and maybe grabbing a pot. Next season is where I will judge how he handles our youth.
Very difficult for Sarri to progress youth when he knows he'll be sacked if he doesn't deliver. Same situation we've had for years and years. He made a lot of changes last night including the whole back 4 but still omitted youth because we have experienced pros like Cahill, Fabregas, Moses and Zappacosta not getting games. 35 million pound drinkwater didn't even make the squad! It's a hard balancing act. Ampadu should probably have played but that would have probably meant Fabregas missing out again which is a hard sell to a seasoned pro and a great servant to our club. Alternatively Ampadu instead of Christensen (Who looks worryingly ropey at the moment). Hudson Odoi if fit should have played instead of Pedro or William IMO. But Pedro's had an injury so he probably wanted to give him a run before the weekend. Plus the lack of goals coming from our strikers, Sarri probably wanted to put in wingers who are proven goal threats. I suspect in a year's time, some of the fringe players would have been moved on and the youth can fill some of the gaps. There's no way Cahill, Drinkwater, Fabregas and Moses are going to hang around based on their current situations. We've also been lucky with injuries so far and that can change things quickly.
This is what I am hoping will happen. Once Sarri has steadied the ship, and had another window to mould the team as he wants it and get rid of the dead wood, THEN I will see how he handles the youth. Right now, its just about us reclaiming our seat at the top table. Hopefully once that is done, we can start to introduce some youth. I aint gonna hold my breathe tho.......
I think the integration of youth players has clearly been the biggest casualty of our boom and bust cycle.
Oh for sure. Its frustrating as hell When you look at all the good players we have had in our youth/reserve team who have gone on to be good players, and they got zero game time with us. Lukaku, De Bruyne, Bertrand, Ake to name but a few. Not saying they would have all gone on to be Chelsea legends, but it would have been nice for them to have been given the opportunity. Our youth team won like 3 back to back FA Youth cups, yet not a single member of those squads has gone on to become a first team regular. You cannot tell me that none of those youngsters were worthy of at least a shot? Its so annoying, especially when you see other PL teams pull out gems like Rashford, Kane, Sterling......but us....nothing.
