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Thread: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

  1. #1

    Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    Good article about giving youth a chance over spending money. Yes chelsea have spent loads on their acadamy and have hoovered up a lot of young talent.

    But surely there is someone in our youth team who could contribute to the first team. Was it worth spending money on Cunningham over giving Coxe a chance?

    If ever you needed an advert for prioritising the development of players from your club academies, then it was provided this weekend by Chelsea and Newcastle.

    In the same way that you can keep buying new clothes when you have a lot of perfectly good unworn items buried at the back of the wardrobe, so a football club which has plenty of money can keep acquiring new players while ignoring the perfectly good players they already have, loading up the club with dozens of them, loaning many of them out and yet still buying more.

    This, at least on the surface, seems to be what has happened at that most overstocked of football wardrobes, Chelsea FC.

    It’s tempting to see their transfer ban as being a blessing in disguise, forcing the club to actually bring on some of the tremendous young talent that might otherwise have found three or four new £50million players acquired over the summer standing in their way. It needed a progressive manager with plenty of goodwill in the tank to be happy to give the likes of Fikayo Tomori, Reece James, Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount et al plenty of opportunities. But he did it and they look tremendous, so it should force fans of all clubs to look at the depth of their own playing staff and wonder if the club doesn’t just waste money on buying players they don’t actually need and in doing so are constipating the development of players at the club.

    Obviously trying to exclusively buy your way to success is a well-trodden path, not least by Chelsea themselves, who didn’t bring anyone through the ranks for the best part of two decades. However, it is one which is more miss than hit at some clubs. Manchester United have well-illustrated the folly of believing in the philosophy of ‘buy the best to be the best’, at least when you do it without any overarching strategy, structure or intelligence. The fact that Scott McTominay, an academy graduate, has been thought their best player in this paltry season only underlines the witless, crude, blunderbuss approach of splashing limitless money. They’re finally trying to address this, but do they really believe in it? Do the fans? Or do they just crave ever bigger spending and signings? It has become an addiction.

    It’s such a familiar experience to hear your club has signed someone only for them to then disappear into the squad ranks, and the next time you hear of them is when they’ve been shipped out on loan or sold. Did they really need to be signed in the first place? Were they ever good enough? Didn’t the club have academy or reserve team players that could’ve done the exact same job or better?

    A lot of the time the acquisition of players seems to be as much a PR decision as a wise football judgement, designed to give red meat to the fans, designed more to make the club look like they’re doing something and are proactive and busy. On the other hand, the development of academy players is less dramatic, more invisible and can go unnoticed by all but the most serious student of the club. In the current financially-bloated, money-focused culture, ‘Club Signs Expensive Player’ is a headline, ‘Club Develops Player’ isn’t. Of course, hand in hand with this is some fans’ lust for transfers as entertainment in and of themselves – a desire only satiated by the club spending money on acquisitions, needed or otherwise.

    To some, if you’re not shopping, you’re nothing. They’re uninterested in youth development because anything without a price tag doesn’t get their juices flowing. If they don’t come with a price tag, how can their worth be known? To this mindset, developing a player such as Mason Mount for ‘free’ does not have the same attraction as buying Mason Mount for a lot of money. When you buy him, he’s got a specific value and can be judged against that fee as a success or failure. Which brings us to Phil Foden. If he had been bought for a lot of money aged 18, would he have actually played a lot more? We suspect so. As a homegrown player he doesn’t seem like a big asset, just as Jadon Sancho did not. Sancho bloody does now though. Oh and look, Manchester United want to sign him. What a surprise. It is as though he cost City nothing therefore it doesn’t matter if he’s not used much. This may even be subconscious, but there’s no doubt that if you’ve not bought a player for huge money (and Foden would command a big fee even now), he doesn’t seem as valuable. Homegrown seems devalued in this context.

    But buying in talent isn’t any more of a guarantee of success than developing academy players. The list of expensive flops is a huge one. And yet all over the world, clubs are developing good players for Premier League clubs to buy, so it beggars belief that they do not have the resources or ability to do so themselves here.

    But the results at Chelsea tell you why it’s good for business, good for the brand (I know, I know but that’s how these people see it), good culturally, good for football. Don’t believe me? Ask Newcastle United fans about the Longstaff brothers. Local kids given a chance and doing well matters more than almost anything. Yes, they have to be good enough, that’s a given, but is every transfer good enough? Of course not. It’s all a gamble. Why not gamble with your best homegrown/developed?

    When you’ve got a lot of money at your disposal all too often you just end up buying stuff you don’t need, don’t really want and won’t make your life any better. This is certainly true in football.

    Chelsea’s long overdue faith in its own youth development is such a pleasure to see, as it is at any club. Their 4-1 win at Southampton had a really imperious touch. We will never know how many of them would have been given the chance to strut their stuff on the biggest stages on a regular basis if the transfer ban wasn’t in place and they didn’t have a club legend as a new manager, but the recent history and culture of the club would suggest, not many. Indeed, I’d love to see a year-long transfer ban for all clubs, just to force their hands. Maybe three years would be even better.

    Fans of all other clubs should now be turning to their own outfits and asking where their Callum Hudson-Odoi, Reece James and Fikayo Tomori are? Asking if they don’t have such players, why don’t they? And if they do, are they getting regular football and if not, why not? Are the clubs suppressing talent already present in the squad in favour of headline-grabbing transfers?

    In many cases I suspect the answer will be yes they are, but will anyone at a club dare admit it, or do anything about it?
    https://www.football365.com/news/che...s-of-your-club

  2. #2

    Re: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    Haven’t they been winning the youth cup for years? Lots of pundits slating them big time for never bringing those kids through. Looks like they are or have been forced to. I think we are missing a trick by not investing more in the youth/academy etc....shame we lost Bellamy too. There are so many kids in South Wales who could benefit. You would think Tan would be all over it with his dislike of agents...weird.

  3. #3

    Re: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    Alright when you are opening 20 players out to other premiership and championship teams though.

    They were landed with a handful of experienced and ready made players from the last couple of seasons.

    We’d be throwing in players who are playing Colchester’s stiffs once every 4 weeks

  4. #4

    Re: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    I do wonder what its like for all the hundreds of kids who are tied to these big clubs especially parents who have to make massive travel commitments every week.

    Chelsea just farm kids in a hope something good happens.

    Chelsea are still not where they want to be top 4 is a minimum for them. Whilst its great bringing these players in they still need the real world class players which they will have to pay for.

    They havent done anything yet.
    Lets not forget they are having transfer ban.

    I just think the whole youth football shpuld stay local. I would love to see it similar to the way US do it but thats never going to happen.

  5. #5

    Re: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    Quote Originally Posted by Lawnmower View Post
    Alright when you are opening 20 players out to other premiership and championship teams though.

    They were landed with a handful of experienced and ready made players from the last couple of seasons.

    We’d be throwing in players who are playing Colchester’s stiffs once every 4 weeks
    You are absolutely right of course. But it's still good to see Chelsea fielding the young players isn't it? Regardless of the reason. The article is spot-on, especially at the top level: the money wasted on big signings is a gamble, so why not gamble with youth instead?

    I would love it if our strategy was, in the next 5 years, to field a team of self-developed players, filling gaps only where we've been unable to bring up our own. I.e. buying players in place of hown-grown as an exception not a rule, rather than the other way around. It obviously wouldn't work and we may end up with only 5-6 players actually from the youth ranks but it would be good to have a youth strategy- I've no idea what the current one is. Perhaps more realistic would be to aim to regularly field a player in each position from the youth ranks in the next decade. I dunno. Something more than watching us spend millions on shit footballers from other clubs.

  6. #6

    Re: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    Quote Originally Posted by mazadona10 View Post
    I just think the whole youth football shpuld stay local. I would love to see it similar to the way US do it but thats never going to happen.
    How is it done in the US?

  7. #7

    Re: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    I commented on this last season, particularly the negative attitude Sarri had towards young players. It's good to see Lampard giving the youngsters a chance, as he did at Derby. There is a transfer embargo in place at Chelsea, but they still have experienced professionals on their books if they wanted to use them, so this seems to be a personal decision by Lampard.

  8. #8

    Re: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    Quote Originally Posted by Optimistic Nick View Post
    How is it done in the US?
    Draft system.

  9. #9

    Re: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    Chelsea have been forced to use youth due to their transfer embargo.
    Let's be honest, without the ban, they would have blown millions trying to win the PL and the likes of Abraham, Mount & Tomori would be loaned out again.

  10. #10

    Re: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    Quote Originally Posted by blueblade View Post
    Chelsea have been forced to use youth due to their transfer embargo.
    Let's be honest, without the ban, they would have blown millions trying to win the PL and the likes of Abraham, Mount & Tomori would be loaned out again.
    Yeah that's what the article says, but the point is the fact they didn't shows maybe it's better to promote from within than spend money.

  11. #11

    Re: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    Quote Originally Posted by Lawnmower View Post
    Alright when you are opening 20 players out to other premiership and championship teams though.

    They were landed with a handful of experienced and ready made players from the last couple of seasons.

    We’d be throwing in players who are playing Colchester’s stiffs once every 4 weeks
    Yes but why don't we have a system in place to do the same? Why doesn't every club? It might come down to money but when we are wasting money on Tomlin, Cunningham, Reid etc wouldn't it have been better spent on bringing through home grown players.

  12. #12

    Re: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    Quote Originally Posted by mazadona10 View Post
    I do wonder what its like for all the hundreds of kids who are tied to these big clubs especially parents who have to make massive travel commitments every week.

    Chelsea just farm kids in a hope something good happens.

    Chelsea are still not where they want to be top 4 is a minimum for them. Whilst its great bringing these players in they still need the real world class players which they will have to pay for.

    They havent done anything yet.
    Lets not forget they are having transfer ban.

    I just think the whole youth football shpuld stay local. I would love to see it similar to the way US do it but thats never going to happen.
    Are people just not readin the article? It's not saying Chelsea are amazing it's saying Chelsea have been forced to do this and it's worked so maybe it could work for everyone else instead of signing shite for big money.

  13. #13

    Re: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    Other clubs can't do this, because Chelsea and man city have poached all of their exceptional youngsters for minimal compensation.
    Clubs like Brentford had to close down their academies because it did t make any sense any more, on the off chance they developed a star they would inevitably be Taken from them.

  14. #14

    Re: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    Quote Originally Posted by blueblade View Post
    Chelsea have been forced to use youth due to their transfer embargo.
    Let's be honest, without the ban, they would have blown millions trying to win the PL and the likes of Abraham, Mount & Tomori would be loaned out again.
    They havent been forced to do anything. Theyve clearly decided to go down that route with Frank Lampard.

    Yes the embargo has played some part in that decision but the kids are still being picked ahead of experienced players and players who cost them a lot of money.

    Theyve lost Hazard and Luiz, one of them they didnt want to, one of them was told he wasnt going to be first choice anyway.

    They have plenty of experience in Hazards position - Willian and Pedro - and they signed that Pulisic before the ban, so they didnt have to go down the kids route.

  15. #15

    Re: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    Quote Originally Posted by Lawnmower View Post
    Alright when you are opening 20 players out to other premiership and championship teams though.

    They were landed with a handful of experienced and ready made players from the last couple of seasons.

    We’d be throwing in players who are playing Colchester’s stiffs once every 4 weeks
    If we can't attain category one status then the Watford model may be worth looking at.

  16. #16

    Re: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    Quote Originally Posted by Rjk View Post
    Other clubs can't do this, because Chelsea and man city have poached all of their exceptional youngsters for minimal compensation.
    Clubs like Brentford had to close down their academies because it did t make any sense any more, on the off chance they developed a star they would inevitably be Taken from them.
    That's more to do with the Class 1 and 2 academies I think because a class 1 can take a player from a class 2 for peanuts. Maybe that is why it doesn't make sense for smaller clubs.

    But Swansea have a class 1 so how expensive can it be.

  17. #17

    Re: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    Quote Originally Posted by J R Hartley View Post
    They havent been forced to do anything. Theyve clearly decided to go down that route with Frank Lampard.

    Yes the embargo has played some part in that decision but the kids are still being picked ahead of experienced players and players who cost them a lot of money.

    Theyve lost Hazard and Luiz, one of them they didnt want to, one of them was told he wasnt going to be first choice anyway.

    They have plenty of experience in Hazards position, and they signed that Pulisic before the ban, so they didnt have to go down the kids route.
    I agree. I'm struggling to think of a player who would be willing to come to Chelsea would be doing better than players like Mount, Abraham and Tomori are doing.

    I watched their game against Grimsby too and Reece James and Billy Gilmour look like players as well.

    I hope they keep the pathway open for them.

  18. #18

    Re: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    Quote Originally Posted by Croesy Blue View Post
    Are people just not readin the article? It's not saying Chelsea are amazing it's saying Chelsea have been forced to do this and it's worked so maybe it could work for everyone else instead of signing shite for big money.
    Are you surprised that people don’t read things and just jump to conclusions. It’s CCMB.

  19. #19

    Re: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    Quote Originally Posted by dembethewarrior View Post
    Are you surprised that people don’t read things and just jump to conclusions. It’s CCMB.
    Some people disagree depending on who the original poster is!

  20. #20

    Re: Chelsea should make you ask questions of YOUR club

    Didn't they have something like 80 players on loan at one point?

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