Chelsea brought their 2010-11 academy campaign to a close on Thursday lunchtime with a 2-1 defeat away to an impressive Charlton Athletic team. First half goals from Adebayo Azeez and Bradley Goldberg were enough to secure three points for the Addicks, who move above the Blues in the table, but a strong second half showing from the visitors threatened to take a share of the spoils. The closing weeks of…
Chelsea secured their first Reserve League crown since 1994 on Monday night with a comfortable 3-0 win against Wolves and set up a showpiece final against Manchester United or Blackburn, to be played next Monday at Stamford Bridge. Goals from George Saville, Adam Phillip and Gokhan Tore ensured the Blues picked up the three points they needed to usurp Arsenal from Group C’s summit, and in truth they could have…
Many of Chelsea’s loan contingent signed off for 2010-11 this weekend as the English Football League campaign drew to a close, but for a few, there are still some loose ends to tie up. Starting in the top flight, Michael Mancienne started his second consecutive game at centre-back for Wolves, who picked up a huge three points in the battle to avoid relegation by beating West Brom 3-1 in the…
Chelsea ended their 2010-11 home academy campaign with their youngest team of the season, and despite a spirited performance went down to an older, stronger and better West Ham team 4-1 at Cobham. Elliott Lee grabbed a hat-trick for the Hammers whilst Robert Hall added a first half penalty. Walter Figueira scored a late consolation for the Blues, who had chances throughout. Dermot Drummy named eight schoolboys in his starting…
A four-goal hammering by Manchester City on Thursday night means Chelsea’s quest for Reserve League glory goes down to the final game of the season. Strikes from John Guidetti, Abdi Ibrahim, Harry Bunn and James Poole ensured a comprehensive win for City on a night where Chelsea were far from their best. Steve Holland was able to keep the majority of his squad together from last week’s victory over Aston…
Stuart Pearce’s 40-man Preliminary Squad for this summer’s European Under-21 Championships has been named this evening, and includes five Chelsea youngsters, making The Blues the most represented club in the party. Michael Mancienne, Daniel Sturridge, Ryan Bertrand, Jack Cork and Josh McEachran are all named and all stand a strong chance of being in the final 23 heading to Denmark in June. The quintet are regular faces amongst Pearce’s recent…
After a wildly successful week last time out, many of Chelsea’s loanees came down to earth with a bump this week, with many suffering the adversity brought upon by end of season tension. There was, however, another reason to celebrate, as one player scored his first professional goal, and we shall begin there. Gael Kakuta was handed just his second start during a loan spell at Fulham which could have…
A bright opening spell from Chelsea’s Reserve team saw them score two goals which proved to be enough for a hard-fought three points against Aston Villa. The win puts the Blues into outright second place in the Southern league table and keeps them as favourites to claim top spot. An early own goal was followed by a fine strike by Adam Phillip, and whilst Samir Carruthers pulled one back, Chelsea…
With five goals and a host of impressive performances, it’s been another strong week for a group of Chelsea loanees who have had a largely impressive season. Daniel Sturridge and Fabio Borini both found the back of the net again, but not many will have predicted Jeffrey Bruma scoring his first senior goal from 30 yards out, and even fewer will have called him following it up with another later…
One of the hardest tasks for any manager is to decide when to assimilate young talent into their first team squad. Under enough pressure to succeed in the first place, they often face a clamour from supporters to bring through the next generation and ensure that those not performing to first-team standards are kept on their toes. Some clubs face the need to vindicate investment in their youth development programme,…