Chelsea’s UEFA Youth League success has exposed everything that is so wrong with the current first-team at Stamford Bridge.
The senior Chelsea players have suffered a horrendous title defence under both Jose Mourinho and Guus Hiddink after easing to the Premier League title last season.
Whereas, the Chelsea U19s, who won the youth equivalent of the Champions League last season, won it this year after beating PSG in Nyon.
It was a slightly different starting XI to the one that won the competition, which only shows how well the Blues have managed to bring through fresh blood and maintain such a high standard around the club.
The Blues were without the likes of Isaiah Brown and Dominic Solanke who graduated from this level.
The performance from Adi Viveash’s side was of a great standard as they showed signs of real maturity and calmness, despite the big occasion.
The Blues took the lead through Tomori and almost instantly were up against it as the same player gave away a penalty to PSG at the other end. Luckily for Tomori, Bradley Collins saved the spot kick which led to Chelsea putting a stamp on the game.
At no point during the game did it seem as if the occasion was ever going to get the better of the youngsters, even with the advantage of an early goal.
Kasey Palmer dominated the Parisian defenders who couldn’t get near him. He played with such exuberance in the final and was unlucky to not score a sensational goal in the first half of the game.
It was Palmer who put Chelsea back into the lead after PSG equalised and in the end, decided the game, another sign of the quality in this Chelsea side.
Despite the poor season at Stamford Bridge, the Chelsea fans are still yet to see any real inclusion of youth. Jake Clarke-Salter came off the bench against Aston Villa but apart from that, and more minutes for Ruben Loftus-Cheek, youth players are nowhere to be seen.
Throughout the game, the youngsters displayed great leadership and dug in deep even when they were under pressure in the latter stages of the game. What is even more impressive is that every player in the match day squad is eligible to play for England, squashing suggestions that Chelsea buy in talent from abroad.
The win gives the management team at Chelsea no excuses not to give the youth more of a chance at Stamford Bridge. Rather than giving fans empty promises, give them a chance to prove themselves to the new manager before the end of the season.
Winning the UEFA Youth League once is a great achievement, winning it back to back, you’ve got to stand up and take notice.
