In this weekly series we will be looking at three points of interest across the Club.
The U21s and Captain Shim
Chelsea’s U21 team had the daunting task of facing rivals Manchester City in the PL2 opener without last season’s captain Ishe Samuels-Smith and top scorer Donnell McNeilly.
No worries, step up this season’s new captain, and likely top scorer, Shim Mheuka.
The seventeen-year-old striker ended last season with 11 goals and 3 assists across the U18 and U21 age groups, earning himself a handful of senior appearances.
He’s mainly known for his powerful runs, link-up play and ability to get shots off in-and-around the box; reminiscent of his third goal against Man City, but two of his three goals were headers – something he’s starting to add more regularly to his game (like against Leicester and Liverpool last season).
He’s got plenty of competition in the form of Richards (fresh back from injury), Morgan, and Stutter, and one may go on loan, but we fancy him to be the main man and potentially be the senior side’s third striker with Guiu spending the season at Sunderland.
On Friday they then faced Newcastle, who finished 9th last season and started this one with a 2-1 defeat against Southampton. Simply put, the gulf in class (and depth) showed.
Mheuka was inevitably on the scoresheet again, alongside Richards, Derry, Kavuma-McQueen and Murray-Campbell. There will be tougher games this season but praise must go to the management and playing staff for the style of play, a stark contrast to the often turgid displays under Coelho.
Hammers Get Nailed
On the same day the U21s beat Newcastle, the senior side staged a defiant comeback against Graham Potter’s West Ham.
Going 1-0 down in the first few minutes felt very much our own doing, after losing the ball, not closing down and then Sanchez trying an unconventional save. What followed also felt like we were writing our own fate. Much like their younger counterparts, the senior side had five different goalscorers; Pedro, Neto, Enzo, Caicedo, and Chalobah.
Estevao caught the eye with his late inclusion and assist, but Pedro stood out for his contribution with one goal and two assists. Everyone on the day seemed relentless; wanting more, giving more. It was particularly good to see the wingers getting more involved in the box and crashing the back post.
Another standout moment was the equaliser. Cucurella checked in, moved to the front post and then flicked on for Pedro to head in. We saw this against Palace as well, and it’s nice to see the potential influence of set-piece coach Bernardo Cueva.
U18 Opening Day Win
Finally, on Saturday, the U18s kicked off their league campaign. It was a game of many chances and changes of momentum, but the young Blues eventually came out on top in a 4-2 victory.
The opener was a sweeping move, which saw two wingers combine and Barbour open from inside the box. A foul inside ours resulted in a penalty for Palace, who scored and then did so again through a header around the midway point.
The game settled in the second half and then suddenly exploded once again. Chizzy Ezenwata put a freekick in the bottom corner and Eboue copied suit from open play shortly after. A bizarre own goal wrapped up the three points.
In an exiting game full of goals the attackers will get plenty of praise, but there must be a special mention for goalkeeper Freddy Bernal. The England international made multiple saves, keeping the Blues in it at times. Much is made of how keepers are with their feet, and he’s not bad, but ultimately it’s about keeping the ball out of the net and he did a fantastic job of that on the day at times.
The Chelsea Spot 
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