Over the last few weeks, developments on the loan front have meant that this regular feature has become somewhat shorter than usual. With loans ending and winter breaks in European leagues, there has typically not been a great deal to report upon, but we return this week with news on the young Blues who are still plying their trade away from home. Rhys Taylor leads this week’s headliners, although for…
Chelsea’s youth team came back to earth with a bump on Saturday morning, suffering their heaviest defeat of the season. Barely 36 hours since defeating Arsenal at Stamford Bridge in the FA Youth Cup, many of that team were back in action at Motspur Park for league fixture with Fulham. However, a Marcello Trotta hat-trick put Dermot Drummy’s team to the sword as the Cottagers ran out 5-1 winners. Drummy…
Last season’s FA Youth Cup run ended with a dramatic late winner in front of a healthy crowd at Stamford Bridge. Some things don’t change. In front of over 7,000 fans at the home of the English Champions and defending Youth Cup holders, a brace from Milan Lalkovic – including a stoppage time winner – ensured that the Blues will continue their defence of the trophy for at least one…
It’s a fixture which is keenly anticipated regardless of the level at which it’s played. Chelsea vs Arsenal conjures up all manner of memories from down the years – we’ll leave you to reminisce about your own – and the coming thirteen days could add fresh moments to savour. Granted, the fixtures come at youth level, where the two clubs will go head to head three times in that spell,…
The current FA Youth Cup holders got their defence of the trophy off to a strong start on Wednesday lunchtime with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Sunderland. Second half goals from Nathaniel Chalobah and George Saville ensured that Chelsea came away from the tie with a place in the fourth round, and a meeting with Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. The match, which was originally scheduled for mid-December but repeatedly fell…
The winter period is a tough time for the fixtures list. Matches come at unusual intervals and on unusual days, whilst some countries decide to simply take a rest at this time. For the aspiring young footballer on loan, it can prove to be an eye-opening time. The first loan round-up of 2011 will take in the events of the last week and a half, with a very anglo-centric look,…
Well, I think we can all agree that that was needed. As Chelsea embarked on another FA Cup campaign, seeking to become the first side in 125 years to win three on the trot, the feeling around the club could have been better. Another defeat in midweek against Wolves followed by ‘Bannergate’ brought more doom-mongering to the club’s doorstep, something which received only a brief respite when Ipswich sacked manager…
Amongst the media furore about Carlo Ancelotti’s future, there has actually been stuff worth reporting on today. Chelsea are considerably well stocked in the left-back department and today have made decisions on the short-term futures of two of their hopeful prospects. First, in a move which has been rumoured for the past week, Ben Gordon is set to join Scunthorpe United until the end of the season, having spent the…
Some say that a measure of a man is how he deals with adversity. If you subscribe to that particular view, Fabio Borini has grown up a lot in the first half of the 2010-11 season. The Italian Under-21 forward broke into Carlo Ancelotti’s first team squad last season, making eight appearances in his debut campaign. Labelled by some – including Ancelotti himself – as an interesting prospect, his second…
Most Chelsea fans, whether they’ll admit it or not, almost take Petr Cech for granted. The Czech custodian has been first choice at Stamford Bridge for six years since joining from Rennes, suffering his fair share of injuries along the way, but in 2010-11 he has been back to somewhere near his best form. At 28, he has many, many years ahead of him, but that doesn’t mean that the…