It’s not unusual to see talented young footballers play above their age group at academy level. Chelsea have done it for years – most clubs do – in a bid to challenge the player by exposing him to a higher level of competition, rather than allow him to potentially stagnate against those he’s already proven himself better than. You typically see it up to and including Under-18 level, where a…
Chelsea’s Under-18 schedule for the 2013-14 season was confirmed on Wednesday morning, with a new-look 31-game fixture list ahead for Adi Viveash’s group. In the latest reshuffle by the Premier League, the nation’s 22 Category One academies have been split North and South into two equal divisions of eleven. Teams will play everyone in their group both home and away, and then play each of the other teams in the…
Chelsea’s Under-21s continued their unbeaten pre-season to date with a comfortable win over Sutton United on Tuesday night. Dermot Drummy continued to rotate his squad with a fortnight or so left until the league season gets underway and used a total of 21 players on a warm evening at Gander Green Lane. Alex Kiwomya opened the scoring shortly before half time, whilst the lead was doubled around the hour mark…
Cristian Cuevas, the Chilean Under-20 international winger, has today completed his move from O’Higgins to Chelsea. The 18 year-old officially signed his Blues contract this afternoon, having agreed to join the club way back at the start of 2013 following a successful winter trial period. Capable of playing anywhere on the left side of the pitch, he is arguably most adept in an attacking role and possesses great pace and…
Chelsea’s Under-21 team will begin their 2013-14 Barclays Under-21 Premier League campaign at home to Tottenham Hotspur. Dermot Drummy’s boys will host Spurs on Friday 9th August at Aldershot’s Recreation Ground in the first game of a new-look league featuring 22 Category One clubs. The teams will each face off ONCE, either home or away, with the top four at the end of the season taking part in an end-of-season…
The recent issues displayed by England’s national youth football teams in their summer tournaments has led to much prognostication amongst pundits trying to identify ‘the problem’. A myriad of issues and potential solutions have been raised, but perhaps the most salient point brought to attention is that none of the Three Lions’ teams – even up to Roy Hodgson’s senior squad – seem to know how they want to play….
Chelsea got their Under-18 pre-season slate of fixtures underway on a sweltering hot Saturday afternoon with a 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion. Goals from Nias Butungu and Charly Musonda saw the Blues triumph, although the game was effectively a training session at this stage of the summer and featured playing time for some twenty or so youngsters, with Under-16s and trialists amongst them. Reece Mitchell played for the…
Chelsea’s Under-21 centre-back Daniel Pappoe is set to join League One side Colchester United on loan after featuring for the club in a pre-season friendly on Friday night. The 19 year-old, who has suffered a string of long-term injuries in recent years, played the first half of the U’s win against Sudbury and is believed to be close to finalising what is likely to be a six-month stay at the…
It’s been a whirlwind seven days down at sunny Cobham as the relative tranquility and peace at Chelsea’s training ground came to an abrupt halt with the return of the Under-21 and Under-18 teams last week and the first team this past Monday. Come next Monday, however, the site will have returned to a temporary state of hush as all three teams jet off to far-flung locations to spread the…
It appears that England Under-17 international winger Connor Hunte is no longer a member of the Chelsea academy. Hunte, who played more than thirty times as a schoolboy last season across Under-18 and Under-21 football, was building himself quite an impressive reputation for his standout performances for the Blues whilst being the subject of much transfer speculation throughout the 2012-13 season. Despite being linked with a host of suitors, he…