Defender Jeffrey Bruma and Thibaut Courtois were both amongst the headline makers this weekend in an eventful seven days on the loan front. Bruma notched his second goal of the season for HSV as Thorsten Fink’s side continued their recent good form, but it was bad news for Courtois, who was sent off early in the Madrid derby. The giant Belgian custodian went into his first career match at the…
England Under-16s clinched a record eleventh Sky Sports Victory Shield title in Inverness this evening with a 4-2 win over Scotland, with six young Chelsea players central to their success. Defenders Ola Aina and Aaron Hayden, midfield trio Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Connor Hunte and Charlie Colkett and striker Alex Kiwomya all featured in the home nations series and played integral parts in Kenny Swain’s team en route to glory. Loftus-Cheek, a…
The return of domestic action after an international fortnight was not a welcome one for many of Chelsea’s loanees, as frustrations mount on all fronts. Concerns about playing time, poor results and injuries are beginning to mount up as the season approaches the midway point and the club have some key decisions to make going forward. Needless to say, the Premier League pair of Gael Kakuta and Patrick van Aanholt…
Chelsea Under-18s recorded a third straight win on Saturday morning by edging Charlton Athletic 1-0 in a hard-fought affair in South London. Islam Feruz’s early second half strike was enough for Adie Viveash’s boys to take all three points but they were helped by Jamal Blackman’s superb late penalty save. Having impressed so much last weekend at home to Fulham there was just one change to the starting eleven, with…
Chelsea’s Reserve team this afternoon took on a Leeds United team featuring many first team squad players and impressed despite eventually losing 2-1. With no competitive league fixture on the schedule, Dermot Drummy took his charges north to take on Simon Grayson’s outfit, with the hosts keen to give opportunities to some of the more senior players who have been unable to earn playing time this season. The Blues therefore…
Chelsea’s Under-18s recorded back to back wins for the first time this season after beating Fulham 4-2 on Saturday morning. First half goals from John Swift and Lewis Baker were cancelled out by a double from former academy winger Mesca, but an Alex Kiwomya brace proved enough to secure three points in a fixture which also saw a competitive debut for Lucas Piazon. The 17 year-old Brazilian has been in…
At this time of year, clubs with Premier Academy League status are busy finalising scholarships to begin next spring. Under-16 players up and down the land will find out whether they are to be offered terms for the next two years or whether they are being released at the end of their schoolboy term. Chelsea’s intake for the 2012-13 season is taking shape and is set to be one of…
Irish Under-21 midfielder Conor Clifford joined the loanee ranks this week in an otherwise largely uneventful seven days which saw more of what we’ve seen all season from young Blues playing elsewhere. Clifford joined Yeovil Town on Friday morning for a third career spell in League One, having spent time with both Plymouth Argyle and Notts County in England’s third tier last season. He went straight into the Glovers’ starting…
It’s been a few weeks since we carried a youth team report here on TheChels.net, but fear not, as we take a look at what’s been going on down on the academy side of the fence at Cobham. The month of October saw more difficulties befall Adie Viveash’s Under-18 team with three more defeats in the league and one in friendly competition, but they did pick up a win along…
A status quo has been reached on the loan front as we head into the fourth calendar month of the 2011-12 season. Whilst a small few amongst the young Blue loanees have firmly entrenched themselves as weekly starters for their temporary clubs, others have become this year’s unfortunate examples of the exercise in futility the experience can often become. At the very head of this is Patrick van Aanholt. The…