It was a day of frustrations for Chelsea’s academy teams, in a season that has felt like one long ‘what could have been’, in domestic competition at least. Andy Myers’ Under-18s twice fought back from losing positions to draw at home to West Ham, while Joe Edwards’ Development Squad went 2-0 up away to Liverpool inside half an hour, only to succumb to a late 3-2 defeat. With just five…
The UEFA Youth League never fails to bring out the best of Chelsea, and although their Quarter Final victory over Dinamo Zagreb featured plenty of bad, all the hallmarks of their successful history in the competition were front and centre when it mattered most. Two-nil down with an hour played. Staring defeat in the face with fifteen minutes left. Even after captain Luke McCormick hauled them back into it, the…
While many of Chelsea’s players continue to disappoint, several of those out on loan keep on doing things that lend volume to their cause of hopefully one day featuring in the Blues’ first team, again in some cases. With five different players scoring since the end of the international break, there are no shortage of contenders. Headliners Our first two goalscorers come from the Championship, but in both cases, the…
It’s extremely rare for Chelsea’s Under-18s to have nothing to play for at this time of year but, without a league title or an FA Youth Cup at stake for the first time in five years, they travelled to Norwich for Saturday’s league fixture with an unfamiliar feel about proceedings. The done thing in this situation is to begin taking a longer look at those players who are likely to…
There are three more goals to bring you in the latest issue of the Loan Report; one from a player very much in people’s attentions, one who might be, and a third who is not so much. Headliners The latter came from Danilo Pantic, a Serbian forward who hasn’t quite made the progress Chelsea would have hoped him to in the four years since adding him to the Loan Army….
On a day where they had watched fellow English clubs Tottenham and Manchester United defeated in their pursuit of the UEFA Youth League, some Chelsea players might have feared that they too would fall by the wayside. After all, things come in threes, according to lore. Or perhaps they don’t. The Blues had lost just four times in 43 outings in the competition dating back to its inception 2013, one…
Following last week’s goal glut, there’s just one to mention in this week’s Loan Report, but it comes from the one player you can be absolutely assured of being in Chelsea blue next season. Headliners For the time being, however, Christian Pulisic remains a Dortmund player. Having spent the last fortnight on the treatment table with a hamstring problem, he was back on the bench for Saturday’s seemingly routine home…
Tabloid reports early this week indicated Bundesliga clubs were set to ‘load up’ planes to London to take in a pair of high-profile academy fixtures on Friday featuring Chelsea. Whether the influx happened at Arsenal’s training ground for an Under-18 league clash, or for the Premier League 2 date against Manchester City at a rain-soaked Aldershot, they’ll have gone home with plenty of food for thought, if they even came…
A pair of forwards with aspirations of earning a Chelsea future scored this week, as did a striker and a midfielder who may both already have one foot out of the door, and one other player who is almost certainly not coming back. It’s time for the Loan Report. Headliners Michy Batshuayi has generally scored goals wherever he’s been. That trend has continued at Crystal Palace, where he now has…
You remember the hammerings, the emphatic victories, the moments of glory. You don’t often remember the battles won on the way there, but they all count, and they all have meaning. And so, as Chelsea’s Under-18s continue to chase down Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in hope of clinching not just a fifth straight Southern section title, but also in a bid to retain their national crown, this 1-0 win away…