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Despite half of the loan army already being on their summer holidays, there’s still plenty to report on from the guys still out there this season, and a lot of it came from players who might have hopes of impacting the first-team squad at Stamford Bridge next season. Headliners The first goal went to Tammy Abraham on Saturday afternoon in Aston Villa’s big promotion playoff Semi Final first leg at…
When beginning to evaluate Chelsea’s 2018-19 Under-18 season, there are a few things to address up front. The first of those is that success is not guaranteed. Simply because Chelsea won back-to-back league titles, four consecutive regional crowns and a record five FA Youth Cups in a row does not mean they will win silverware for ever more. It’s a central part of the academy’s manifesto for success, sure, but…
If you tap a destination into your SatNav you’ll get more than one route to your destination. Some of them will be longer than others, some will come with different obstacles, but you’ll get there most of the time. For Chelsea’s Development Squad, the 2018-19 season looked rather similar to the 2017-18 campaign, at least on paper. Reaching the UEFA Youth League Final only to lose at the last, they…
We hit the century mark on the goals front from the Loan Army this week and then set about surpassing it. While the record of 126 looks safe for another year, plenty of other milestones have been reached and improved upon, and numerous players have earned significant individual honours. Headliners We start our review of the week by rewinding all the way back to Monday night, where Mario Pašalić brought…
The week started with disappointment against a team in blue and white stripes, but Chelsea ended it, and their season, in more positive fashion by beating a very good Brighton team wearing the same colours 2-1 in Lancing to bring the curtain down on the 2018-19 academy campaign. A third UEFA Youth League title eluded the group last weekend, as their titanic tilt against Barcelona in Friday’s Semi Final took…
For the second year in a row, Chelsea left Nyon empty-handed, their pursuit of a third UEFA Youth League title unsuccessful at the last. The bitter disappointment of last year’s capitulation to Barcelona will fade into exhausted regret this time around. Twelve months ago, they didn’t do themselves justice, and they knew it. This season, they will themselves to the Final again, leading for just nine minutes of knockout round…
It was a quieter week than usual on the loan front, with just one goal to take us to 99 overall for the season, but there’s still a lot to play for in the final weeks of the season. Headliners The goal was scored by Alvaro Morata during Atlético Madrid’s midweek win over Valencia. It was his sixth for his new club, more than he scored in his time at…
“We came here to get our trophy back.” Amid the euphoria of Friday’s dramatic penalty shootout triumph against Barcelona, Chelsea Under-19 coach Joe Edwards reminded his players of their purpose in Nyon, Switzerland. Yes, there was an undercurrent of revenge about the Semi Final after losing a Final to the same opponents a year earlier, but more than that, this was about restoring their own glory. To quickly recount the…
Chelsea’s recent seasons have typically ended in a blaze of glory but, on an unseasonably windy day in Berkshire, they brought the curtain down on a campaign of learning with more than a hint towards the promise of the future. They might have finished without silverware for the first time in more than half a decade, but as Dion Rankine and Lewis Bate scored the goals to see them defeat…
In the brand-spanking-new trophy cabinet in Chelsea’s Cobham academy building, two Lennart Johansson Trophies take pride of place on the top shelf. There is space for a third to sit between them but, instead, a forlorn runners-up plaque lurks almost embarrassingly behind them, as if trying to hide itself among so much success. The Blues head to Nyon in Switzerland this weekend for the fourth time in five years hoping…