Chelsea FC Should Look In-House to Solve Problems
No club in the world currently has a loan system parallel to that of Chelsea FC. With 26 players out on loan, the Blues have two squads — plus more — of young players developing at clubs across Europe.
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From AC Milan and Fiorentina in Italy, to Elche and Rayo Vallecano in Spain, Frankfurt, Cologne and Mochengladbach in Germany, to even Club Universidad de Chile in Santiago, Chile, young Blues mature, develop and become stars. Thibaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku and Kevin de Bruyne are all products of this youth system, and have become stars in their own right.
Chelsea didn’t set out to create a massive loan and youth system to develop talent. To comply with the new FFP restrictions, which require teams to balance their books, Chelsea has developed the loan system not primarily as feeder systems, but as a counterbalance, allowing the Blues to buy more expensive players, like Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas.
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However, in light of the recent loss to Tottenham, as well as growing concerns over the health of the core of Chelsea’s squad, maybe it’s time for Jose Mourinho to start looking in-house a bit more. It’s certainly not as if there isn’t a vast reservoir of talent waiting to be given a chance.
Lets take a look at the loan system first. If you want defensive back ups, you could look to Ryan Bertrand, Nathaniel Chalobah (who actually just returned to the Bridge) or Tomas Kalas. Need a midfielder? Look no further than Thorgan Hazard, Christian Atsu, Victor Moses, Marco van Ginkel or Oriol Romeu. Even Patrick Bamford, Lucas Piazon or Islam Feruz could be called back if a third or fourth striker is needed.
Chelsea’s youth team is nothing to be scoffed at either. Reuben Loftus Cheek, Jeremy Boga, Dom Solanke, Nathan Ake, Andreas Christensen and Lewis Baker would all be fine options for the first team.
Christian Atsu impressed at the World Cup with Ghana, starting in all their matches. However, he has failed to impress on loan at Everton this season, and has consequentially gotten little time.
Right now, the thing that seems to be Chelsea’s only major weakness is their depth. The starting XI is the best in the league, but Chelsea can only go two deep in most positions. Prior to the start of the season, Mohammad Salah and Andre Schurrle were thought to be good backups in the midfield, but they’ve wasted the chances they’ve been given.
Kurt Zouma has played amazingly well when brought in for John Terry or Gary Cahill, but having another center back wouldn’t hurt.
While both Loic Remy and Didier Drogba are having fantastic seasons, Drogba is aging, and another striker is needed to replace the stalwart.
My question to Jose is this: Is it really a better option to continue playing mediocre Salah and Schurrle, when you could give Baker, Solanke, or Boga consistent chances to grow in the first team?
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Those three — saying nothing of the players on loan — have quality, and they are at the point where the next stage in their development is first team minutes. Maybe it would serve as a wake up call to Salah and Schurrle if they were passed over for Jeremy Boga, who has scored 7 goals in 11 games.
Mourinho has done a good job of giving Loftus-Cheek, Solanke and Baker their debuts. But now is the time for him to follow up on those debuts by giving them — along with Boga — increased chances in the XI. The squad needs to be rotated, and these young players could be called up for a game or two, then sent back to the youth squads, with little to no problems.
Even calling Atsu or Romeu back wouldn’t be too costly, and the experience they would gain from being part of a championship winning squad would far outweigh the playing time they get on loan.
Chelsea could certainly go out and buy more depth like they have always done. With Marco Reus, Paul Pogba and even Lionel Messi, being thrown around the rumor mill, it’s really hard to say that Chelsea shouldn’t pursue those options over the youth. But maybe instead of just breeding players for sale, Chelsea should actually take advantage of the talent, while it is at their disposal.