True enough, but will any of them will be seen by Chelsea fans this season?? It is interesting that Jose ,on the face of it, seems incredibly reluctant to play our 19 year olds, but is happy to keep buying and lending others. Maybe there's a master plan to launch a Super Team of 21 year olds in 2015 !!!!!!!!
I read the report another poster mentioned in this thread... Jose thinks the ideal squad is 19 seniors + 4 young players for depth/competition. The idea is that young players coming into the side will identify fully with the club and therefore accept a squad role more readily, and eventually be able to play for the first team regularly. Heard that Barca want Ake yesterday.
Jose, like all managers comes with a close coterie of trusted lieutenants, Louro and Faria (was anything under that wooly hat???), and recently Morais. Rui Faria is a stat compiler, a position Chelsea never used to have before Jose's first stint and one that has become permanent since. He profiles opposition players and also our own, and not just game performance but character too. Rui's reports are trusted and you have heard our players in the past marvel about them. His reports dictate who plays, Jose has the last say, but he tends to trust them. Young players don't have the body of evidence Faria uses to make the team. When a young player goes on loan and plays at the top level he starts to generate Optima (and other systems) statistics garnered against quality opposition. I don't know if Faria pays as close attention to our loanees as with our first team squad. I believe the game compiler we've had recently, James Melbourne, is still at the club. Given Rui's title and prominence on the bench I assume Melbourne is now his assistant. Consistency is deemed more valuable than quality. Chelsea aren't aiming to be good, they are relying on being the best. The best are not often youngsters. There is always the exception to the rule, Chelsea seek these exceptions as earnestly as every other club does. The Best, is a small percentage of any whole, no youth scheme can match up to such a small target, the numbers are simply against it. You can improve the odds with great trainers and facilities. Yet no school prepares anyone for real life, same is true in football.
That all makes sense Dfer, but in some way confirms Joses' reluctance to play the kids. I can see and agree with the thinking to a point, but someone like Lukaku or Chalobah would surely learn and develop more quickly with us than at an also ran Team ?? Anyway, it is what it is, just hope it works out as we all expect it to.
