Another wave of injuries has hit Chelsea, especially in central midfield where Enzo Fernandez looks to be out of Monday’s game against Everton. He will join Lesley Ugochukwu and Romeo Lavia on the sidelines, a triple absence which has really depleted the options available to manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Speaking in his press conference today, Pochettino admitted that he was going to have to call on academy players to plug the gaps on the bench, and claimed he might even have to call them into action.
“We need to stop and adapt. We need to accept the reality and we need to be positive with the players we have and the young kids coming through the academy. We are going to try and be competitive for Monday,” the Chelsea coach said.
“Yes, we need to accept the situation and be positive. If something happens, we need to take the positive thing that we are going to have the possibility to train with young players from the academy and maybe they can step up and show their quality and maybe we have at the end of the season a surprise that can be good players and provide for Chelsea. When that situation happens, another door will be open. It’s good for the kids to have the possibility to be able to train with us.”
Ironically, given there’s not much to play for in the remainder of this season, seeing some of our youngsters in action would actually be a positive for some fans, who have been disappointed by Pochettino’s lack of interest in Cobham products so far.
Academy promises likely to come to nothing
This isn’t the first time that the manager has mentioned using academy players because of a desperate situation.
Frankly, we’d rather see him use the fantastic academy players because they’re really good and because he wants to, not just because he’s forced into it. But what we’ve seen far too many times this season is players playing out of position to accommodate injuries, when there were perfectly suited academy players ready to step up and allow others to play in their best positions.
Does using young inexperienced players risk worse results? Yes, absolutely. But the team is already full of kids, and is already getting bad results, so there’s not a huge amount to lose their either, is there?
Haven’t done much with Casadei after his unnecessary recall
I really don’t get it.
99% of the time SuperFrank is whining and moaning that we’re not winning RIGHT NOW with no apparent patience for the learning curve we’re on (given we’re the second youngest squad in the entire league). And now, with a cup semifinal yet to play and a decent chance still remaining of qualifying for European qualification he’s ready to just turn the rest of the season over to academy players? Huh???
I can understand advocating for a spot start for the likes of Gilchrist or Casadei (guys who have already seen a bit of playing time with the first team), but the idea that we’d just throw academy players out there is ridiculous—especially coming from a voice who’s uber critical of the inconsistent play of our starters. It’s at best a totally inconsistent stance and, at worst, total hypocrisy from SuperFrank.
Hansi flick much way better to manage this group . Santos should have been playing for Chelsea FC now way much better than Gallagher. Chelsea FC should upgrade their medical team , build a first class medical team that reduce injuries .
Santos, Omari, Casadai, etc, should be playing regularly at this point. Now at the end you start thinking of academy players. When this injury mayham started, we should have started training and adapting. We deserve more from the gaffer.