2nd August 2021 , Chelsea Transfer News Roundup

Tino Livramento

Livramento has today signed for Southampton in a five-year deal.

The 18-year-old had offers from top Premier League clubs and Bundesliga clubs but the pathway that Ralph Hasenhüttl and the Saints have set for Livramento persuaded him to join them.

Livramento will join Dynel Simeu at Southampton and will presumably be joining the senior squad and be battling for first team minutes.

Chelsea will receive £5m and have a sell-on clause and the buy-back clause inserted into the contract means Chelsea can potentially buy back the Englishman for around £25m.

Tino Livramento poses in his new Southampton shirt.
Image Source : Southampton

Kenedy

Kenedy was offered to Sevilla to try and seal the Jules Kounde deal however Sevilla just want straight cash for the Frenchman. (Nizaar Kinsella)

Kenedy played in Chelsea U23’s game vs Woking on the weekened, seemingly informing the player that he is no longer needed at the club.

Chelsea's preference for Kenedy is European loan instead of Flamengo switch  - Sports Illustrated Chelsea FC News, Analysis and More
Image Source : Sports Illustrated

Romelu Lukaku

Lukaku has now jumped back up to the top of the list regarding strikers for Chelsea this summer. (Telegraph)

Chelsea have made two bids already for the 28-year-old Lukaku this summer.

We shouldn’t be surprised if Chelsea make a third offer for Lukaku soon. (The Athletic)

Just as of 22:35 (U.K.), the latest info from Fabrizio Romano states that Inter have rejected Chelsea’s latest bid of €100m including Marcos Alonso for the Belgian forward. Di Marzio states that another offer could come from Chelsea and that it’s up to Lukaku if he wants to make the move.

Kurt Zouma , Tammy Abraham , Marcos Alonso , Callum Hudson-Odoi , Ruben Loftus-Cheek

Chelsea are willing to listen to offers regarding these 5 players. (Telegraph)

Erling Haaland

As Dortmund refuse to change their willingness to negotiate with Chelsea over Haaland, Chelsea have begun to look into Romelu Lukaku as first choice target. (Telegraph)

Jules Kounde

The move for Kounde could then be part of a ‘three-way negotiation’ which would see Davinson Sanchez exchange Tottenham for Sevilla, after Kurt Zouma has potentially signed for Spurs. (SportWitness)

Ilaix Moriba 

Barcelona fear that Chelsea is the reason as to why talks with Ilaix Moriba aren’t progressing as planned. The English side would be in a position to offer the player up to three times the salary that Barça are able to offer him.

Barcelona offered the player a €2m wage+bonuses based on performances, but the player wants €3m. (sport)

Chelsea are said to love the midfielder, and are ‘willing to sign him now, or wait until he’s free in June’. (SportWitness)

Barcelona have set the deadline for Moriba to sign a new deal as Sunday. (Mundo Deportivo)

Ilaix Moriba Reports racist insults in his social networks
Image Source : FC Barcelona Noticias

Written by Frankie

19th July 2021, Chelsea Transfer News Roundup

Myles Peart-Harris

Peart-Harris is on the verge of joining Brentford on a permanent deal. (Adam Newson)

He’ll be joining former Chelsea youth player Nathan Young-Coombes if the deal goes through successfully.

No fee has been reported yet for Peart-Harris but selling him now would pay more than accepting compensation if he signs a pre-contract deal with another club from January.

Lewis Bate

Five clubs have expressed interest in Bate, West Ham, Leeds, Liverpool, Leicester and Brighton.

West Ham and Leeds seem to be pulling away from the other clubs in terms of solid interest and placing a bid.

Bate has made it clear to Chelsea he does not want to agree a new deal. The club have made a good offer, which is appreciated, but Bate’s primary concern is the chance of first-team football in the future rather than financial gain. (The Athletic)

Bate has already gone on a following spree of many Leeds players which could mean he has already agreed a deal with the Premier League club. Tino Livramento

Chelsea’s academy player of the season is being strongly targeted by Brighton.

Livramento wants to leave this summer but Brighton are not close to submitting a bid. (The Athletic)

Just like Bate and Peart-Harris, seeing Livramento sign a pre-contract deal in January would see Chelsea only receiving up to £500k for one of the most talented 18-year-old wingbacks in England. Many Chelsea fans will be sad to see him go but if Chelsea can get a big fee this summer, the board will not hesitate to do so.

Trevoh Chalobah

Watford, West Brom, Crystal Palace, Lorient, Lens and Montpellier are all interested in Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah this summer. (L’Equipe via Sport Witness)Davide Zappacosta

Zappacosta is being targeted by Firorentina for a loan move.

The player is being target by Firoentina, with the Tuscan club close to selling existing right-back option Pol Lirola to Marseille on a permanent basis for €12 million, and having identified Zappacosta as their priority arrival in his place.

Zappacosta is still on Inter Milan’s list but it seems Fiorentina have overtaken Inter as of right now. (SempreInter)

Tammy Abraham and Callum Hudson-Odoi

One of the recent reports emanating from Germany is that Chelsea have offered both Hudson-Odoi and striker Tammy Abraham as part of their bid. The Athletic has been assured there is no truth as far as the former is concerned, while Dortmund have no interest in the latter.

Sasa Kalajdzic

A new name on the block for Chelsea’s striker targets is Sasa.

The Austrian is 6″7 and will take a lot of persuading from Chelsea to force Stuttgart to sell.

An attempt to match the aerial prowess of Giroud can be seen as the only thought by the board and/or Tuchel and his team.

The striker is 24 now and Stuttgart say they have not been approached by Chelsea yet. (The Athletic)Declan Rice

Tuchel has spoken to staff members about Rice and is believed to appreciate his qualities. However, the 22-year-old has three years left on his current deal and West Ham have made it clear that it will cost a fortune to leave. 

£100m is the reported fee that West Ham would require to let their main man go and Chelsea are completely unwilling to even entertain this offer. (The Athletic)

Aurelien Tchouameni

However, it is thought the club are giving serious consideration to acquiring Monaco’s highly-rated 21-year-old Aurelien Tchouameni instead of Declan Rice. (The Athletic)

This is solely to do with the hefty price tag related to the Englishman.

Chelsea reportedly met with Tchouameni’s agent last week. (Carefreeyouth)Malang Sarr and Ethan Ampadu

Sarr and Ampadu look set to head out on loan again for the upcoming season. (The Athletic)

Niklas Sule

Chelsea have looked at the possibility of bring Sule to Stamford Bridge. (The Athletic)

Sule was linked with Chelsea when Lampard was manager, so it is clear the board rates Sule very highly and thinks he could be a good centre back to bring in.

Wayne Hennessey and Marcus Bettinelli

Both are free agents now and Chelsea are looking to bring in one of these men to fill in the third-choice goalkeeper role. (The Athletic)

This role is notorious for being one of the best jobs in football. Elite coaching, elite facilities, elite paycheck and only have to play a few times a year, just ask Rob Green.

Adama Traore

Chelsea still maintain an interest in Wolves player Adama Traore. (The Athletic)

Erling Haaland

Haaland is believed to have told friends and representatives that he will remain at Dortmund, according to ESPN.

This adds to a report a few days ago that suggested Haaland has bought a new house in Germany and adds to the unlikeliness of Haaland joining the Blues this summer.

Ike Ugbo

Ugbo has now agreed personal terms with Genk. They’ve been leading the race as reported last week. (Fabrizio Romano)

Chelsea are looking to raise the initial asking price of around £5m due to a number of clubs being involved in trying to secure Ugbo’s signature.

Russian team Rostov bid £3m for Ugbo in January and this was rejected by Chelsea.

Anderlecht are considering purchasing Ike Ugbo using Albert Lokonga’s fee of €17.5m + €4.5m add ons. (Goal)

Written by Frankie

Podcast: Is there a pathway from the academy to the first team? w/@AdamNewson

NOW WE ARE TALKING! | Chelsea 2-0 Dortmund Review The Chelsea Spot Podcast

  1. NOW WE ARE TALKING! | Chelsea 2-0 Dortmund Review
  2. Scared, Potter?

In another episode of The Chelsea Spot Podcast, Orlando (Host – @0rland1nho), Paree (Owner – @CFCParee) & Adam (Guest – @AdamNewson) discuss the pathway from the academy into the first team after news broke of Livramento, Bate and MPH all rejecting contracts, while Marc Guehi looks set to move to Crystal Palace. They also talked about pre-season and which players could impress, as well as finishing off with a Q&A. 

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Podcast: All things Jude Soonsup-Bell with his brother Zac!

In another episode of The Chelsea Spot Podcast, Orlando (Host – @0rland1nho), Paree (Owner – @CFCParee ) and Dan (Admin – @DanBarkerCoach) talk to The Chelsea Spot Writer Zac Soonsup-Bell (Writer – @ZSoonsup) about his very own brother, Jude. From talking about Jude as a kid, playing in midfield, moving to Chelsea, Tyrone Mings’ father scouting him, his 4 goals against Barnsley in the FA Youth Cup, him training with the first team and so much more!

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The U23s must be treated better soon or we will regret it

I was fuming. Absolutely fuming and I’ve only just started to calm down. I found out quite early that there would be no chances for any Chelsea debuts against Morecambe on the weekend, and that really was disappointing. This pretty much is going to be a rant as to why including none of Lewis Bate, Henry Lawrence and Tino Livramento in the squad was an absolute disgrace. I do understand that there were reasons and context as to why not all of them couldn’t make it, but, if I’m honest, most of the arguments were pretty weak in my opinion. I will try and balance it out, especially towards the end of this piece, but I’m still confident that many wrong choices were made on the weekend. I know most of you have already read the first paragraph and think I’m just overreacting and moaning for the sake of it, but please do read right to the very end.

I think one thing to point out before we get started is that I absolutely love the academy. I watch every single U23s game and as many of the U18s as possible, and I’m not afraid to admit that I am biased towards them. When I was writing the plan to this article, the thoughts just kept on coming and that is simply because the youth team is an area I’m so passionate about. So yes, I will probably be quite one-sided here, but I don’t think that takes anything away from the fact that Sunday’s squad selection was not good enough, whoever’s fault that is. Before we get started, I do have to give credit to Frank Lampard and the staff members that I am even having this conversation. No manager other than Lampard has brought in the youth like he has, giving multiple debuts last season and trusting them, so I guess I’m only frustrated because I expect Frank to match those amazing opportunities he gave last season. Let’s get into it.

Chelsea got drawn against Morecambe in the FA Cup third round, and as soon as that got announced, I had been looking forward to this fixture. The last two weeks I genuinely have never been as excited for a game in a while, as I and many others expected to see 2-3 debuts from players I had been watching and raving about for ages. The week before the game, I heard that Bate, Livramento and Lawrence were all training with the first team – brilliant. A few days later, Jude Soonsup-Bell & Marcel Lewis made it an academy team of 5 – even better. When the number reached five, I was confident we would see a few of them make the squad. The whole of Saturday I was texting people asking which players have made it to the squad. None. What? Huh? I already counted Anjorin as first team as he is that good and fully deserves to be in that picture, but it was just shocking to see no other players involved in the squad. I was not asking them to start the game, which I’ll talk about later, but are you really telling me Henry Lawrence couldn’t be on the bench with Reece James out and that Lewis Bate couldn’t get ahead of Jorginho or Kovacic for an FA cup game against League 2 side Morecambe?

I saw so many people say it would have been too much of a risk for Lampard to include them in the squad. Wrong. So wrong. If you said too much of a risk to be starting, you could have a point, yet I’d still heavily disagree with you as I’m about to explain, but in no way was it a risk putting them on the bench. None at all. One competition that Chelsea participate in, the EFL Trophy, consists of the best U21 teams coming up against professional sides in the third and fourth tiers of English football. It’s a brilliant experience for the young lads as they get to experience the real game for the first time and our kids are more than good enough to put up a real fight. Earlier on this season our U21s faced Bristol Rovers in one of the best games of the season and we unfortunately narrowly lost 4-3. Despite the loss, the players were still extremely impressive and should have been very proud of their performance. Three days ago, Bristol Rovers only just lost to Sheffield United – a Premier League team! Now, I know football doesn’t work this way, but if you use a bit of logic that’s only going to suggest that our U23’s would put up a real fight against a Premier League team, and although we probably would lose, it just shows that our boys are good enough. Our side against Bristol Rovers basically consisted of 10 kids + Danny Drinkwater, so to start/involve 2-3 of them against a side in the division below Bristol Rovers in Morecambe with world class players around them really wouldn’t have caused any harm. Here’s the thing about these players: they are more than good enough, and that’s because we have one of the best academies in the world. Throughout the game against Morecambe, I couldn’t stop thinking about how slow Azpilicueta was, and although he’s a good squad player to have as well as being a Chelsea legend, he simply does not have the brain of an attacking fullback, and I can pretty much guarantee that Lawrence or Livramento would not have done any worse either from the bench or the start, as well as it being a huge learning curve for them. No risk whatsoever.

Against Morecambe, especially in the first half, we looked short of ideas and the intensity was lacking. However, it was absolutely no surprise to me that our three best players were all academy products – Callum Hudson-Odoi, Mason Mount and Billy Gilmour. I’ve said it so many times, but these are the guys who will put so much desire and effort into this club and would do anything to put the Chelsea shirt on, compared to signings who just want to play in the Premier League (of course they like the club, but no way near in the same way). Another thing which frustrated me even more was how Anjorin was treated in the game. He definitely had a case to start, although I understand that it was good to give Hudson-Odoi confidence and Ziyech some match fitness, leaving Anjorin on the bench. We were 3-0 up around the 50th minute, and everyone was waiting for Anjorin to come on and impress. But no, we had to wait another 30 minutes and he was given 10 pity minutes where he probably touched the ball about 5 times and was brought on after Christian Pulisic, who we’re trying to protect from injuries! Not only that, but he also came on the pitch playing as a right-sided winger, a position he has very rarely played, in a new formation that we were trying out and you could see he was playing way too close to Kai Havertz at times – can we please see Tino in midfield, just once? My point is, give these players chances, even better a proper chance, and they will turn up. Billy Gilmour got given that chance vs Liverpool last season and his career arguably changed due to that game, same with Anjorin after being arguably the best player on the pitch against Krasnodar in the Champions League, and I’m sure very similar things could transpire with the likes of Lawrence, Bate and Livramento if they were given a proper shot.

The worst part is that last season we were known for giving opportunities and now this season it all seems to have been thrown out of the window. Aston Villa (albeit due to a coronavirus-struck senior squad) fielded a full academy team against a very strong Liverpool side, and really put in a good shift as some players impressed the world. Manchester City and Spurs included young kids in their squad, the main name being Alfie Devine who scored at the age of 16 for Tottenham. Just a few weeks ago, Chelsea U23’s played Spurs U23’s in a thrilling match, where Devine got sent off and Livramento, Lawrence and Bate were all better players on the night, yet it was the much lesser-experienced Devine who was given the opportunity to make his dreams come true by José Mourinho, of all people! In the third round of the FA Cup, pretty much every side gave minutes to some kids and we didn’t, which is really frustrating for the fans as we literally have one of the best academies in the world and arguably the best in the country. What makes it more annoying is that Lampard gave debuts to players last season, and the likes of Maatsen, Broja and Guehi have all developed heavily since (which Frank can take huge credit for), but we’re not doing the same thing. Even worse, these guys are going to go to their England camps, and despite being some of the better players there, they’ll be the ones with the least number of minutes in professional football.

And that’s just not going to make the youth players happy. They will see players in their age group playing senior football and getting opportunities which will just be disappointing for them. The best example has to be Jamal Musiala. The ex-Chelsea man is best mates with some of our guys in the academy right now, and it is very likely that if he stayed here, he would still be stuck in the U18s or U23s. Yet, he took the risk of leaving and going to Bayern Munich and is now recognised as one of the best youngsters in the world. His mates will be looking at him and surely be thinking why that couldn’t be them too, especially with Germany being a very appealing option for English youngsters at the moment. Callum Hudson-Odoi’s camp tried to do the same thing by forcing a move to Bayern Munich, Charlie Webster has been linked with Dortmund in the past, and these examples will keep on coming. After all, other clubs will be seeing Chelsea not giving many opportunities and will be licking their lips as they’ll simply just try to seize one of our incredible talents. On top of that, the guys in the 18’s and even lower will be keeping an eye on how the youth is used in the first team to see whether they have a future at the club. I don’t want any academy prospect to leave, nor do I necessarily think they will, but they will certainly be assessing their options based on what goes on around the first team in terms of opportunities for youngsters.

I don’t think it is anywhere near yet turning into this case, but could we be returning back to the old cycle of not using the kids? This is especially if Frank Lampard does end up leaving the club sooner rather than later – if Lampard can’t give minutes to the younger lads, who will? We know Frank has been brilliant with the youth in the last 18 months, so with another manager the situation could obviously be even worse. Is there a pathway from the academy into the first team? Or does it look like being loaned is the only option and following the likes of Marc Guehi and Conor Gallagher? Don’t get me wrong, both players’ development away from Chelsea has been absolutely exceptional, however I can fully understand why some players wouldn’t want to take the risk of going out on loan when things can change so quickly, and before you know you’re in the constant cycle of being sent out season after season, which really can hinder development. This links to my next point in that the academy players need to feel rewarded after staying at the club and for playing so well, and currently they are not. For playing so well in the U23s right now and to an extremely top level, they are being rewarded with…absolutely nothing. For example, Henry Lawrence just signed a new contract at the club, has trained with the first team multiple times this season, been the most consistently excellent player for the academy for a full year and a half, yet he has just missed out on so many occasions. What more does he actually need to do to make the bench against Morecambe when someone in his position – Reece James – was injured? Then, there’s players like Marcel Lewis (one of my favourite players in the academy who is criminally underrated) who has been brought into the first team bubble recently, how’s he going to feel? His contract runs out in the Summer and I’m sure we’re trying to convince him to sign an extension, perhaps before going out on loan. But, from his point of view, why should he sign a deal when he’s seeing his mates not get an opportunity (he’s probably even further behind the others mentioned in this article too)? The players aren’t stupid and they’ve seen what’s happened in the past.

Now, obviously, there will always be players who will leave the club at a young age and we cannot do anything about. That’s absolutely fine. For example, we would have tried our best to convince Musiala and Illing-Jr to stay at the club, but if they still wanted to leave, there’s nothing we can do. Same with Tariq Lamptey – there unfortunately wasn’t anything else we could do to keep him at the club. Talents will always leave, but it’s about reducing the amounts that are even thinking about it. We have to do our very best to keep them at the club, especially with this very special crop of players coming through (Colwill, Bate, Livramento, Lawrence, Simons, Soonsup-Bell, Webster etc). And that starts right from the very top.

But, despite all the criticism I have given, you do have to remember I am talking about Jody Morris and Joe Edwards who are in the coaching staff, probably the two best academy coaches the club has ever had, and they surely know what they’re doing, right? Which probably means I should shut up. Lampard also has a very large squad and perhaps politically he is being forced to play some of them or keep the squad players happy – I do understand that. There was context to the kids not starting. Hopefully the game did a world of confidence for the likes of Werner, Havertz, Mount and Hudson-Odoi. Hopefully the victory improved the morale around the club, and we can go on a running form. That still won’t take away the disappointment I had when I saw that not a single player would be making their debut against Morecambe.

Maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe I’m being biased. Maybe, in six weeks’ time, I will look like an absolute idiot when these kids get their chances against Luton in the FA Cup, or in the very heavy schedule. Then again, we would be treating the 23s better in 6 weeks than we are now if that were the case, and that’s simply all I’m asking for. Deep down I do believe that they will be given their chances in the next six months. Some need to be if we want to keep them around. That’s the way football works nowadays. Play the kids, or they leave, because our boys are damn good enough.

What did you think of the article? I know it’s an extremely controversial topic criticising Lampard on the way he’s using the youth after he’s done so much for the academy lads, but let me know your thoughts on our social media!

Written by Paree

Chelsea u23 3-2 Tottenham u23: Cech’s return see’s Chelsea pull off incredible comeback to go top of the PL2

By Zac Soonsup-Bell

Kingsmeadow saw the return of its very own king this week in the form of Chelsea legend Petr Cech, and if you weren’t fortunate enough to catch the action from Monday night I’ll do my best in summarising it for you now (although I might not be able to do it much justice).

Via Chelsea FC twitter

No matter the age group, Chelsea vs Spurs is always a heated display and the fixture between both sides on Monday reinforces that notion tenfold. Chelsea were going into the game with the chance to go top of the league while Spurs were sat on 14 points, in need of a win after only one in their prior four. 

Spurs seize the first half

Despite Chelsea needing a win, they started the game on the back foot. Andy Myers’ boys went behind after just 3 minutes of football and it came from a misplaced Cech pass that subsequently resulted in the corner that lead to the goal. Not the start that Petr would’ve hoped for. 

Things seemed to go from bad to worse for the young blues as Dane Scarlett, the in-form 16-year old, scored with a fine header after a wonderful cross from Harvey White. The attacking prowess that Chelsea often display didn’t come into fruition for the vast majority of the first half, as Spurs stayed compact and disciplined enough to withstand what Chelsea were throwing at them. 

via Getty Images

This caused for a tactical change from Myers which would prove to be the turning point in the derby. Around the half hour mark, the blues changed into their favoured 343 setup which meant the likes of Livramento could push forward and cause their usual havoc. 

For the remainder of the first-half Chelsea saw more of the ball and found themselves breaking down Spurs and having some promising passages of play but it all comes a bit too late as Tottenham were saved by the whistle.

Chelsea find their groove

After what I can only assume was a half-time masterclass from Andy, Chelsea came out of the tunnel like a team possessed.  Two changes saw Thierno Ballo and Dion Rankine off for Jude Soonsup-Bell and Myles Peart-Harris; with Nunn moving to Left wing back and Soonsup-Bell leading the line. Chelsea started the opening 10 minutes of the half as they finished the first with more positive and quicker passages of play, now finally utilising the abilities of Tino down the right flank. 

Finally, after a long period of domination we get awarded a penalty after some brilliant play from George Nunn. He manages to somehow get in front of the Spurs defender in the 18-yard box which resulted in the defender barging Nunn over. Clear as day. The substitute Peart-Harris remains ice cold as he dispatches the spot kick, sending the keeper the wrong way. Now it was starting to look more like a Chelsea vs Spurs game.

via Getty Images

With the momentum now with Chelsea, Livramento brings down a perfect pass from Lawrence with an equally good touch so he can drive past former Chelsea player Lavinier and pick out Marcel Lewis for the finish. The touch from Livramento was gorgeous; most players are having that bounce awkwardly off their hip or thigh but he adjusts with the outside of his left foot as he’s running to touch the ball just out in front of him so he doesn’t break his stride. People are right to be raving about him, it’s almost laughable how he terrorises team’s week in week out.

Not so much as 5 minutes after the equaliser a chance fell to the 16-year-old debutant Soonsup-Bell where the keeper has scuffed one into him on the edge of the box. He brings it down and looks to go round the keeper but the Spurs number 1 recovers well and manages to swipe the ball from Jude’s feet. Despite that chance going begging, they were coming thick and fast for Chelsea now and so it felt like only a matter of time before we nicked a third.

As the game entered its closing 15 minutes, it took a nasty turn as Tottenham player Alfie Devine put in a horror challenge on Danny Drinkwater. Drinkwater then proceeds to kick out at Devine after the challenge which isn’t something you want to see from one of our senior pro’s which subsequently results in a brawl between both outfits. The ref seems to let them have it out for five or so minutes before he finally regains some control to send off both Devine and Drinkwater. Myles Peart-Harris and Levi Colwill were all also booked as a result of their involvement in the incident.

via Getty Images

Now with pride and bragging rights on the line, the game began to enter it’s conclusion. Two chances came Chelsea’s way in quick succession, the first being a free kick won on the edge of the box by Soonsup-Bell with some great pressing and quick passing. The chance leads to nothing however as Marcel Lewis fires over. Henry Lawrence was next to come close with a cannon of a strike from 25 yards out and it looked in all the way but somehow it hits the side netting. Felt almost reminiscent of the (almost) goal from Sterling against Italy back in 2014. 

Closing in on the 90th minute and the dev squad were still pushing for that winner to take them top. Finally, in the 88th Myles Peart-Harris converts a marcel Lewis cut-back to complete an astounding comeback. To overcome a two-goal deficit against any team at this level is something but to do it in a London derby is unheard of; one for the ages.

Despite the six minutes added time, Peart-Harris’ second and Chelsea’s third was enough to secure the win that puts them top of the PL2. The tactical changes saw the game turn on its head as Spurs couldn’t deal with Chelsea had going forward when they play that 3-4-3. A great advert for development football and a huge win for Andy and the Blues.

Danny that was dire

An amazing game is slightly tarnished by some of the on-field antics which is a shame. The tackle from Devine was shocking and a deserved red and Danny Drinkwater was well within his rights to be upset but surely as a seasoned professional and Premier League winner you know better than to kick out at youth players? Danny wasn’t having a particularly bad game which makes it even more of a shame. I feel for Danny as he obviously just wants to be back playing and the tackle was horrible but you have to wonder at one point is it too much that he only plays development football and takes up a huge sum on the wage bill? Just some food for thought.

via Getty Images

Other than that it was a complete performance where anybody could be singled out for playing well. After the tactical change at around the half hour mark Chelsea dominated and each player started to come into their own. The midfield worked tirelessly through Bate and Drinkwater to win back possession and create in the second half and the defence remained impenetrable thanks to the likes of Simeu, Colwill and Lawrence. Nunn also came into the game on the left flank, a position he was tested in when Chelsea played Brentford in a recent friendly. After his second-half performance it wouldn’t surprise me if we saw him play there more often.

Valentino Livramento deserves a special mention as I am continually finding myself more and more impressed with him each time I watch him. His athleticism is second to none and both his defensive and attacking output is pretty staggering. He works hard for the full 90, getting assists but also doing all the dirty work down the right flank. He’s starting to look like a top-class modern-day full-back and he can only get better; a scary talent.

via Chelsea FC twitter

Myles Peart-Harris, the match winner, bagging a brace as a substitute can’t go unmentioned. The 18-year old was everywhere when he came on as he’d obviously decided to take it upon himself to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. Dispatching the pen and the sweeping home the winner means he’ll get the plaudits tonight, and rightly so. Marcel Lewis was also amongst the especially notable performances as he got a goal and an assist to help reignite the comeback.

A small mention to the 16-year old debutant Jude who more than held his own when coming on at half-time. Managed to compete up front for the whole 45, remaining composed and decisive in the final third. Well in Jude! 

Final Take

I genuinely feel for those of you that missed this game, it literally had everything even from a neutral perspective. Five goals, 10 cards (8 yellow and 2 red) and some rousing football played by both teams made for a proper game of youth football. With us now sitting top of the league in the PL2 you can begin to see why Chelsea’s academy is being hailed as the best around.

Three points in the bag and back to it at Kingsmeadow on Friday where we face 6th place Manchester United who will be looking to stop Chelsea increasing their lead at the top.

Highlights here…