Rise of the Academy is a Football Manager game where we imagine a world in which Roman Abramovich has grown tired of waiting for Chelsea youth players to break through. He has sacked all the players who aren’t youth academy products and put us in the hotseat to try and manage Chelsea back to glory with only home grown players.
In the first part, which you can read HERE, we assessed the squad, built a tactic and prepared for a tough first season.
In the second part, which you can see HERE, the season proper began and Chelsea found themselves in serious trouble until a certain midfielder took the team by the scruff of the neck.
In the third part, which you can find HERE, we signed some old friends and concluded the second season
In this fourth part, we go through our first full summer and preseason as Chelsea boss and prepare for our second shot at the league…
While missing out on Europe by a solitary point was a disappointment, 8th place felt like a good start considering the circumstances, and the lack of European football would really help us build this time round. Every passing month improves our first team, and brings young players closer to first team readiness, so hopefully we will be able to grow into this season as we did the last.
The team of the year was a little surprising, with Solanke, Loftus-Cheek and Terry not actually in the first team by the end of the year.
One thing that was not at all surprising on the other hand was the selection of Lewis Baker as player of the season. He was the heart of our side all year. Playing as a deep lying playmaker he really shone as a mature and Premier League ready player from our first match. He scored 11 goals and grabbed 8 assists in the league. His free kicks saved us vital points all season, and he was almost ever present for us. His inclusion in the Team of the Year was well deserved; the fact that he beat out an Arsenal player from their 102 point title winning side is no mean feat.
Tammy Abraham finished the season with an average rating of 6.87, only the 13th highest in the squad, despite top scoring for the side with 14 goals. This really points to his inconsistency, with plenty of great performances interspersed with tepid games where he wasn’t able to get involved with play. Age and maturity should help, as should the development of his supporting players.
While England manager Gareth Southgate still stubbornly refuses to pick Baker, Nat Chalobah or any of our other impressive players beyond Bertrand, Dom Solanke is having a nice run for the England U20s, winning the top goalscorer award at the Toulon Tournament.
There’s still a year before Euro 2018, and I’m confident that Baker and Chalobah stand a good chance of making the team if they continue to develop as they have. Jack Cork and Ola Aina are good shouts too, and even Abraham surely has a a chance given England’s lack of options up front.
Of our former players, Cesar Azpilicueta had made it to the Champions League final as Barcelona’s first choice right back, with David Luiz and N’Golo Kante lining up opposite him for Real Madrid. A close game was decided early on when Kante stole the ball from Busquets and set up Benzema, and Chelsea fans were forced to watch on in horror as two of their favourites lifted the cup wearing white.
Gary Cahill had an excellent debut season at Man United, but was then brutally loaned out to Villareal, where I’m happy to report he was made an equally solid start.
John Swift, just as in real life, had a strong season at Reading and I considered bringing him back too, but given our strength in that position I decided to let him continue his excellent run while I keep a close eye on him this year.
With no other signings to make beyond a few promising English youngsters the summer passed quickly, and soon preseason games were flying past, with a fresh and more experienced team than the one that had struggled in the equivalent games last year showing much better form.
This season could see us hit serious heights if we get the breaks to go out way, although overturning the ever growing juggernauts of Manchester United and Arsenal is not going to be easy, and may not even be possible…
You can read the fifth part of ROTA HERE.
