It is depressing. I'm new to this conversation but isn't at least part of the problem that the top clubs stockpile talent? Chelsea are obviously the biggest culprits, I think they have well north of 70 pros on their books. That's just silly. Surely a simple cap on the number of pros a club can have under contact would force talent to be spread a little? I mean there are plenty of players in Chelsea's periphery good enough to play for Huddersfield, and frankly even for Arsenal. Yes they have 40 odd players on loan and many are getting decent game time at good clubs, but that's not the same as having a permanent club committed to your growth. Just looking at English-born players not regularly in the Chelsea match squad, you could have a team including James, Tomori, Chalobah, Ampadu, Drinkwater, Loftus-Cheek, Mount, CHO, Izzy and Abraham. Now they obviously lack experience but my guess is that that group, with a couple of Chelsea's other exiles (Ampadu, Zouma, Batshuayi, Van Ginkel) could survive in the premiership. And most certainly a number of them are better that some of the mediocre overseas players many of the lower clubs are featuring. 26-28 players under contract would seem sensible to me.
So what happens to the other 40 players at Chelsea in that situation? Players they've invested years of work in, because the vast majority (70% of loanees in the last decade) are academy-developed, not speculatively signed from elsewhere. If you want to force their hand and tell them they can't keep them, they'd simply not bother, and then everyone loses out. Much of England's recent youth success has been on the foundation of Chelsea academy produce, they've provided the most players over the last five years (and in each and every year), and that part of things is certainly not the problem.
there's obviously a balance to be struck. I don't know what the solution is, but like @Juni says, a lot of the solutions touted seem like they're just not well thought through and will have unintended consequences. I think the big change has to come from the players pushing for moves and I think evidence suggests that's happening. That and sales with buy back clauses becoming the norm over loans.
It'll probably come down to the players and their advisers getting wise to the situation more than anything. There's really no reason to sign a contract at Chelsea that'll keep you there past the age of 19.
You’re probably right but it didn’t stop Trevor Chalobah signing a new contract despite his brother hardly playing a senior game for Chelsea’s first team and just loaned out year after year until he was sold to Watford. If that didn’t deter young Trevor to sign a new contract then others like Mount will probably be none the wiser, or he will be happy to join the loan army for the next few years.
I think Mount recently signed a new deal with Chelsea. Loftus-Cheek will surely have to force through a move in January. He’s been backed into a corner.
It’s not quite the right thread I know but thought I’d paste it in as it’s an interesting article about youth development that some of you might be interested in: Power Play and mini-soccer: how the FA plans to create more England players like Paul Gascoigne henry winter, chief football writer Share Save There was this promising youngster down in the West Country last week, still entranced by the World Cup as he tried to caress the ball with the outside of his right foot à la Luka Modric of Croatia when dissecting England in the semi-final. It was a moment that showed how English football is changing, slowly, for the better. The boy’s coach, disappointingly unenlightened, instructed him to follow the more orthodox approach, addressing the ball with his instep, until a senior figure from the FA’s coaching firmament, who happened to be watching, stepped in and urged the boy to carry on risk-taking. “Play like Modric,” he said. Experiment is the message from the FA, enshrined in a recent missive to all of those from Falmouth to Tynemouth guiding the key under-7 to under-10 generation. Be exciting. Be a Gazza. Even a playmaker from two decades ago is one special inspiration. Be a Modric. Even a summer nemesis provides a World Cup dividend for England. Two months on, Moscow memories flow through the game here, a welcome incoming tide lifting ambitions. The character shown by Gareth Southgate’s players on and off the field in Russia, all those engaging role models giving everything until the final whistle and speaking so humbly after it, inspire so many children. The FA builds on this feelgood factor, emboldening more to play and encouraging more flair, less fear. Southgate has sent these development coaches an exhortation as succinct as it is significant for England’s future: all children “should be able to try skills and have fun without any pressure”, Southgate argues. Long involved in player development, Southgate is no fool. He knows England’s flaws full well, especially the shortage of risk-takers and playmakers, the Gazzas as he frequently mentions after games; a shortage highlighted by Modric’s control of the ball and the game in Moscow. It is why Southgate wholeheartedly backs new FA guidelines for under-7s to under-10s aimed at fostering innovation in possession and free-thinking decision-making. Nobody expects a revolution, even after Russia. Nobody seriously assumes the English game will suddenly be flooded with a gaggle of Gazzas or a million Midlands Modrics but the evolution looks promising. There is more hope now and the FA’s education and coaching departments deserve a hat tip. Targeting this generation is vital. This period is the one to which Dennis Bergkamp refers as the “golden age of learning”. Good habits and a love of the game uninhibited by any adult hectoring are traits acquired for life, especially important before they enter the more professional, standardised world of academy football. For the 99 per cent who will never be invited under the ropes into the elite domain, they will still enjoy enhanced fun and fitness by these FA stipulations. The national team’s eventual benefit is of distinct import to the nation. The more boys and girls who fall in love with football, improving health and self-esteem, the more the country will be safeguarded from assorted politicians’ serial, shameful failure to invest in state-school sport with all the obvious social implications for obesity etc. The instructions dispatched a month ago carry particular weight. “Mini-soccer”, as the FA calls the under-7 to under-10 world, is reshaped by a much-needed “Power Play” option allowing coaches to bring on an extra player if losing by four goals, and a further player if trailing by six goals, thereby making closer any lopsided games of 5 v 5 for under-7s and under-8s, or 7 v 7 for under-9s and under-10s. “The main aim of the Power Play option is that all players are being challenged and enjoying the game,” the FA says. Challenged and enjoying. Everyone benefits, whether those shivering on the sidelines eager for action via those needing help on the pitch, to those leading who want to be tested more. A month after the implementation of Power Play, the signs are good. “We can say confidently at this point that anecdotal evidence so far has been positive,” the FA said yesterday. “The FA ran a pilot in Suffolk in the WAYS League [Western Area Youth Soccer] for three years, starting in the 2015-16 season, and the Power Play initiative improved the experience for players on both sides as well as coaches and parents.” It is optional at present. So why not make Power Play mandatory? It will test the Gazzas and Modrics of the future. It will ensure more of a game and a proper game at that. Power Play has hitherto been perceived as “the mercy rule”, making the situation gladiatorial rather than developmental. Less open-minded grassroots coaches dislike the option as their egos crave 10-0 scorelines. But come on, this is about children and England’s advancement. The FA needs to make development solely about the player, boosting their experience, so that every child enjoys a more even game and the very best, those who may one day grace Southgate’s radar, are pushed more. At the very least, it will teach them how to deal with overloads. The FA was yesterday coy on the possibility of compulsory Power Play. “We have empowered the county FA network to promote this through their leagues should they wish and our next steps are to evaluate the impact at the end of this season,” the FA said. This would be a major step, making mini-soccer more competitive and fun in one stroke. Backed by Southgate, other guidelines kick in. Arguably one of the most important is “the retreat line” whereby one team withdraws to the halfway line when the opposition have a goal kick. This fosters building from the back. No wonder Southgate applauds that. As the FA deems throw-ins a “difficult technique” to master, retakes are allowed, nurturing the art as well as reducing any child’s embarrassment at a foul throw. The FA also advises referees of the usefulness of explaining decisions in improving youngsters’ understanding of the game. No offside, rolling substitutes and the instruction that every child plays a minimum of 50 per cent of any game day help all round. Some of the changes were pioneered by the more progressive leagues, like the Respect League in Manchester, and the Stourbridge and District Youth Football League, who regularly post educated match-day edicts on “bringing team-mates into the game” as their under-7s did at the weekend. Advice to parents is paramount. The FA’s plea via the counties to “let the coaches coach” is a theme echoed by Stourbridge, who had a polite sign on their under-7s’ information board last weekend, urging parents “not to shout ‘shoot’ or ‘pass’ as we are trying to encourage the players to make their own decisions”. That theme again, developing decision-makers. Free from fear. Amid all this, the FA increasingly promotes futsal which, according to the governors, “has been embedded into the England DNA”. The FA really has moved on from Charles Hughes and Pomo (positions of maximum opportunity). Decision-making and one-on-one skill, eluding opponents, are at the heart of futsal and the FA name-checks the modern greats to woo the under-7s to under-10s further. They are told the story of Lionel Messi: “As a little boy in Argentina, I played futsal on the streets and for my club. It was tremendous fun and really helped me become who I am today.” And Cristiano Ronaldo: “The small playing area helped me improve my close control and whenever I played futsal I felt free.” The FA and Southgate are hard at work on England’s future. In the shorter term, it is why Southgate closely follows the progress of five youngsters — Mason Mount, Jadon Sancho, Phil Foden, Ryan Sessegnon and James Maddison — all 21 or younger, as potential over the next few years but also focusing on the longer term, on dynamos a decade hence, on finding another Gazza or an English Modric.
A great midweek for Sancho, Foden, Mount and Smith Rowe! Not so good for Gomes or Hudson Odoi though. Should we be concerned? Hudson Odoi at least made the bench and may get a chance sooner or later. Gomes seems to be stuck in the u23s for now though.
Gomes is only just getting comfortable in the U23s this year. He's doing fine, just 5'5 and finding his way as he steps up the levels. Not all 18 year olds are actually ready for senior football, even if they're great.
Gomes is such a nimble player and has a great understanding with Garner, but you’re right - no need to rush them. CHO appears much more ready physically, so I’m really hoping he gets his chance as the fixture list becomes more congested.
As small as Gomes is, he's still probably quicker and stronger than Crowley already. He could easily be playing men's football in the Eredivisie in my opinion, and is never going to get a serious look-in with Mourinho in charge. CHO should just try and force his way out. It's clear that Chelsea have absolutely no intention of using him in anything other than the most dire injury-forced situation.
2020. Seems they’ve wanted him to sign a new one sign July. Him not signing it may be why we’ve not seen him near the first team. Such are the tactics Chelsea employ.
Captaining their U23s. 8 full games already this season. Probably not the worst thing for him after such disjointed years. Not ideal, but hopefully he'll get out in January. Still time for him.
40 names left in the running for the Golden Boy Awards and only three English names left, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Tom Davies and Phil Foden. I find it odd that Mason Mount has been overlooked after the season he had last season in Holland and also Jadon Sancho. http://www.tuttosport.com/sondaggi/...475/vota_il_golden_boy_2018_le_40_nomination/
Yeah, I don't really understand how Foden gets in and Sancho doesn't. Surely the latter has achieved more in senior football, and they're both top talents.
Yeah, even though I love Foden, I have to agree. Also what has Timothy Weah done that Jadon Sancho hasn’t I wonder? I know he scored a very fortunate goal for PSG if my memory serves me well but Sancho also scored last season and changed games.
Hes also become a face for his senior national team. I know the bar is lower with usa but its still recognition I suppose