So, as it turns out, goals are like buses. You go through the entire season to date with a handful of efforts converted by Jack Cork and Nemanja Matic, and then within the space of a week a flurry arrive all at once. This week’s loan round-up sees four goals scored by Chelsea’s youngsters, with others coming close to adding their names to the list in what has been a…
2010-11 hasn’t been the best of seasons for both Chelsea and Portsmouth as far as academy league results have been concerned. The two lowest placed clubs in Group A met on Saturday morning at Cobham, with Chelsea coming out on top with a 3-0 victory courtesy of goals from Walter Figueira, Bobby Devyne, and Danny Stenning. Figueira kept his place after scoring the winner in stoppage time last week against…
Many Chelsea fans will be aware that young defender Sam Hutchinson was forced into a premature retirement last summer. After struggling with severe pain in both knees for years, Hutchinson felt that the time had come to call a day on his playing career and to focus his attentions elsewhere going forward. And whilst he is no longer playing in a blue shirt, Sam has shown in the immediate months…
In the end, everything ended all square. After three meetings in thirteen days, Chelsea and Arsenal shared the spoils of their mini series, each notching one win apiece before this afternoon’s entertaining draw at an overcast Cobham. A first half goal from Rhys Murphy had given Arsenal a lead very much against the run of play, but the Blues turned it around in the second half with strikes from Conor…
Oft-maligned, and for good reason, January transfer windows typically bring about much speculation and no shortage of hot air, but little by way of tangible product. The first business of 2011 has blown that out of the water. An unusually busy few weeks for Chelsea saw the club set a new British transfer record, acquire one of the world’s brightest young defensive talents, and allow a number of youngsters to…
The past seven days have seen the number of Chelsea loanees increase to somewhere near what we would expect at this stage of the season, but circumstance has prevented a great deal of action. Let’s dive in. Gael Kakuta and Patrick van Aanholt embarked on new adventures for the remainder of the current campaign with moves to Fulham and Leicester City respectively, but neither has made an appearance in a…
In youth football, it’s currently the time of year when plans are being finalised for next season’s squads. This, in many cases, can mean securing overseas talent to supplement the home-grown academy products, and news from Sweden this weekend suggests Chelsea have made a deal. Sixteen year-old midfielder Anjur Osmanovic has claimed that he is now a Chelsea player, currently training with the Under-16s ahead of a scholarship in the…
Football’s a funny old game. For much of the 2010-11 season, Chelsea’s Under-18s have played well, but struggled for luck and results. On a remarkably cold Saturday morning at home to Charlton, however, that took a swing in the opposite direction. Having been second best for much of the morning, a strong finish from the Blues saw a last-gasp Walter Figueira goal clinch three points which will bring much warmth….
In moves which had been expected, Gael Kakuta and Patrick van Aanholt both secured loan deals on Wednesday for the remainder of the 2010/11 season. French forward Kakuta will be making the short trip to Fulham, where he will bolster an attack which has been hit by injuries for much of the season to date. Dutch full-back van Aanholt, meanwhile, will return to The Championship for a third time in…
In less celebrated surroundings than last Thursday’s meeting, Arsenal claimed victory in the second of three clashes against Chelsea in the space of thirteen days. A solitary Carlos Vela goal from the penalty spot on the stroke of half time ensured the Gunners took the spoils in FA Premier Reserve League action behind closed doors at London Colney on Tuesday afternoon. In appalling conditions, the match was not one which…