Some 18 months ago now, TheChelseaBlog was talking about the need for us to introduce some of our younger players into the first team.
We’ve been relying on the same, ageing players for several seasons and for me, the concern was that unless we started to bring maybe one or two younger players through each season, then firstly we could end up in a situation where several of our key players needed replacing at the same time, weakening the first team beyond anything we could realistically sustain. Secondly, and a point talked about last summer, we could actually risk losing some of these players if we offered them loan spell after loan spell with no real indication we were serious about bringing them through.
So, fast forward to where we’re at now and having done the double with those ‘ageing’ players and opening this season in blistering form, you might think those concerns were a little premature? Well, you might think so but if you look at the collection of players we have, particularly key players, and the similarity in their ages, the possibility of their form fading around similar stages has to be a consideration.
Didier Drogba, even not fully fit looks in great form and it’s awesome right now but turning 33 before the end of the season, how much longer can we expect him to perform at this level? Frank Lampard, the same as Drogba, 32 already and another big, big player for us. Nicolas Anelka, 31 – maybe not one we rely on as much as Didier but he gave us 15 goals last season we definitely rely on him in Drogba’s absence. And Ferreira, whilst a bit-part squad player really is yet another 31 year old.
Players with potentially a little more time on their side could be Florent Malouda (a pretty energetic looking 30), Ashley Cole and John Terry who both hit 30 this season., although Terry’s fitness is already suspect and whether Cole will actually see out his career at Chelsea remains to be seen.
So, onto that crop of youngsters TheChelseaBlog thought we’d risk losing a year ago – and guess what? Well, we sold Sinclair (21) to Swansea, Miroslav Stoch (20) to Fenerbahce, released Rajkovic (21), Franco Di Santo (21) looks to be off for a loan spell to Wigan, Nemanja Matic (22) looks to be off to Bologna for a spell and Michael Mancienne (22) was recently rumoured to have put in a transfer request after two spells on loan at Wolves.
And as if to capitalise on our inability to truly bring young talent through the ranks, Bayern Munich are apparently waiting to tempt Gael Kakuta (19) away from Stamford Bridge with the offer of first team football. Remember him? The player we thought was worth serving a transfer ban for – where is he exactly? Because by the sounds of it, if we don’t at least start seeing him appear on our bench soon, we might start seeing him on Bayern’s.
So was I really worrying prematurely? Well, whilst I realise that players like Scott Sinclair didn’t make it through because they didn’t have what it took in the end and maybe Rajkovic was a bit of a loose cannon, I can’t help thinking that players like Mancienne – who has looked capable at Wolves and Di Santo – who hasn’t looked quite so capable at Blackburn would be better served in and around a higher quality of player to bring their game on.
And whilst I also appreciate we still have a good crop of young talent at the club in players like Bruma, Borini and McEachran amongst others, I only hope we get to see a bit more of them before we lose them.
Blue is the colour
