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For some, it was a second outing in less than twenty-four hours. For others, it was a return to action after a summer break. For everyone, however, it was the start of another reserve campaign at Chelsea. In hot, dry conditions at the smart Broadfield Stadium, Steve Holland’s young charges impressed in spells but fell to a 3-0 defeat to Conference Premier hopefuls Crawley Town. The hosts have spent big…
A flying visit to Amsterdam was second on Chelsea’s pre-season agenda, with the itinerary surrounding Friday’s match with Ajax demanding a twelve-hour round trip. The mood in the camp on the flight home may be a rather damp one after Carlo Ancelotti’s boys (and they were boys) fell to a 3-1 defeat against their Champions League opponents. An own goal from Jeffrey Bruma put the hosts ahead in the sixth…
Brazilian defender Alex has been ruled out for up to a month after a thigh injury suffered in training this week. He joins Petr Cech on the sidelines with both likely to miss the rest of the pre-season campaign. Hilario is expected to step up in his absence in the match against Ajax on Friday, with Turnbull getting the second half, but other than the loss of Alex, the squad…
The second round of group fixtures in the European Under-19 Championships saw Gael Kakuta’s France all but progress to the Semi Finals. It also left everything up in the air for the four remaining Chelsea players ahead of Saturday’s deciding pool matches. For the hosts, things couldn’t be much better right now. A 4-1 mauling of Holland on Sunday was followed up yesterday by a five-star showing against Austria, as…
Definitions of Enigma found on the Web: Riddle: a difficult problem. Mystery: something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained. There is no better single word in the English language that defines Joe Cole. Thrust into the limelight at West Ham back in 1998, Joe Cole exploded into the scene aged just 17. Hailed as the next Gazza, and coveted by Alex Ferguson, Cole was touted as the hottest prospect…
Pre-season got underway for Chelsea on Saturday with almost every available player featuring for either Carlo Ancelotti’s first team or Dermot Drummy’s Under-18s. Five of those who were registered as absent are in Northern France as the UEFA European Under-19 Championships got underway for 2010 on Sunday, with each of the quintet in action. Matej Delač kicked things off for Croatia against one of the tournament favourites in Spain. The…
Michael Essien made his first appearance in a Chelsea shirt for over six months and scored what turned out to be the winner, in the seasons first pre-season match, against Crystal Palace. The afternoon didn’t get off to the best of starts for Essien who accidentally injured a child with an off target shot during the warm up. Putting the incident aside, Essien, one of only four recognised first team…
The World Cup is all well and good, but normal service has resumed. Domestic football is back, not only at first team level, but in the Under-18 team. Whilst Carlo Ancelotti’s boys were stretching their legs at Crystal Palace, Dermot Drummy’s youth team opened their pre-season with a closely-fought defeat at the hands of a talented Plymouth Argyle outfit. Drummy chose to operate with a squad of 22 players, who…
Chelsea’s first pre-season game of the 2010-11 season comes this weekend by way of a trip to Crystal Palace. Bucking the trend of previous seasons in keeping the tours to the UK and Europe, Chelsea’s campaign will see the lads play away matches against Ajax, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Hamburg, before meeting Manchester United in the Community Shield. But to Selhurst Park we head first, a short trip to the deep…
Going on loan has become almost a rite of passage for the developing footballer. He makes his way through the youth team ranks, impresses in his late teens, and then looks to bridge the gap to the first team by taking in a temporary spell at a professional team, pitting his wits against fully grown adults. A cursory glance at the England World Cup squad reveals that eleven of them…