The international break is typically a quieter period down at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground, and the downtime not only allows the club’s younger players to train with those few seniors not jetting off to represent their countries (and in turn Dermot Drummy taking charge of training sessions), but also for the club as a whole to offer an introspective into how things are progressing in the academy. In addition to…
We’re not quite a quarter of the way through the 2013-14 season but the international break provides a timely interlude to take a retrospective of Chelsea’s impressive start to affairs at youth level. A series of strong displays from both the Under-21 and Under-18 teams have caught the eye, whilst the UEFA Youth League has resulted in a pair of 4-0 victories, and even the next fledgling generation of schoolboys…
The FIFA Under-17 World Cup has long since been a proving ground for the stars of tomorrow, and this year’s tournament – which gets underway in the United Arab Emirates next week – will feature three young Chelsea academy players. The tournament’s official squad lists have confirmed that Swedish pair Isak Ssewankambo and Ali Suljic are a part of the Blågult squad, whilst Habib Makanjuola will represent Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets….
The usual suspects were up to their old tricks once again this week on the loan front as Patrick Bamford and Romelu Lukaku both found the back of the net once again, whilst Croatian forward Stipe Perica got in on the act. On a sour note, there was a rather harsh red card for Nathaniel Chalobah, but it was a small smudge on an otherwise excellent picture of the past…
Chelsea’s Under-21s recorded their fourth win of the season on Sunday morning with a 2-1 victory over Manchester City courtesy of first half goals from John Swift and Andreas Christensen. It was hardly a vintage performance from either side but in much the same way that the Under-18s did so 24 hours earlier, the Blues took their chances in the first half and did just enough over the course of…
It continues to rain goals for Chelsea’s Under-18s as they racked up another three of them in a comfortable 3-1 win over Southampton at Cobham on Saturday morning. The damage was done in the first half as Kasey Palmer, Ambrose Gnahore and Dominic Solanke each found the back of the net and whilst there was no addition to their tally beyond that, the win was a deserved one and took…
Chelsea’s Under-19s made it two wins from two in their UEFA Youth League campaign with a very, very comfortable 4-0 victory over Steaua Bucharest in wet Romania on Tuesday afternoon. John Swift and Alex Kiwomya each scored twice to hand Dermot Drummy’s side a second successive victory by the same margin, having previously despatched of Basel on matchday one. The Swiss were hardly a threatening outfit at Cobham but in…
It was a case of the usual suspects coming to the fore again this week on the loan front as Patrick Bamford, Thorgan Hazard and Lucas Piazon all found the back of the net again in what has been a very, very good season so far for young Blues plying their trade elsewhere. Headliners Bamford got things rolling this weekend with a quick-fire double for Milton Keynes Dons in their…
Chelsea’s Under 18s continued their 100% home record and largely impressive first two months of the season with a resounding 5-0 win over Middlesbrough at Cobham on Saturday morning. A pair of well-taken goals by Ambrose Gnahore in the opening twenty minutes put the Blues in a strong position and whilst they might have been even further ahead by half time, second half efforts from Jordan Houghton, Dominic Solanke and…
Lucas Piazon and Romelu Lukaku scored their first goals for their respective loan clubs this season to continue an impressive streak of goalscoring amongst Chelsea loanees this season. Every week of the 2013-14 campaign to date has seen a young Blue scoring for another club, and this weekend it was the turn of some of the big hitters. Headliners Lukaku started his Everton career where he left off after finishing…