Chelsea's biggest flop

Since Abramovich took over the club in 2003, the infrastructure of the club was in desperate need of fixing, the Harlington training ground was badly out of date and was light years behind the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool. In 2004, Chelsea recieved planning permission to build a new training facility on a 140-acre site in Cobham, Surrey. The first team moved in during the 2005 season, however the complex was not official opened until 2007, while the final phase, and the one I will be looking at more closely, did not finish until 2008, the academy and community pavillion for for Chelsea's youth teams and football in the community projects.

Chelsea has never been a club that has brought players through it's academy, yes we have brought through some great players like Peter Osgood, Bobby Tambling, Graeme Le Saux and current captain John Terry, but the list is nothing like the ones boasted by the likes of West Ham and Manchester United. And since Abramovich invested his oil money into the club, the progress of youth team players has been stunted even further, because managers can go into the transfer market and buy ready made players without having the trouble of trying to bleed a youngster into the team.

Since the move to Cobham in 2008, the clubs reserve and academy teams have had success, last season the reserves won the Premier League reserve league, while the academy team lifted the famous FA Youth Cup in 2010. The top goal scorer in the reserve league was Fabio Borini, a striker who has made just four appearances for Chelsea since arriving in 2007, his reward for his goalscoring form? A loan move to Swansea. The Youth Cup winning team of 2010, a team which included Jeffry Bruma and Josh McEachran, their rewards? One a loan move to Hamburg and the other gets left out of the first team all together, and for the rest of them, reserve team football is as good as it gets.

And McEachran is a very good example of the point I am trying to make, the boy clearly has talent and is good enough to make it in the Premier League, he requested a loan move to Wigan Athletic earlier this season, but the move was blocked by Chelsea because they said he featured in their first team plans, so far he has played just eight minutes of Premier League football, and is there is talk of Chelsea signing Jack Rodwell from Everton for £20 million in January.  Another is Carl Magnay, who spent five years at Chelsea in the academy and reserve team without making a single first team appearance. He decided to give up and move on, like Michael Mancienne, who spent years out of loan without even getting a glimpse of the first team. Youngsters don't want to sign for Chelsea because they know that the chances of them making it into professional first team football are so slim.
I guess the main point I am trying to make is, what's the point of having a 20 million pound state of the art training ground complex for the youth and academy teams if they have no realistic chance of joining the first team? With the Financial Fair Play rules coming into force very soon, we might not be able to go and splash £20 million on a midfielder who is only 20-years-old. Instead we might have to introduce somebody like Connor Clifford, a midfielder who was captain of the FA Youth Cup winning side and captain of the Premier League reserve league winning side into the team, but maybe then we might start seeing some value for money as far as Cobham is concerned, because right now, it's been a failure.

Chelsea Web Chat

The future Mr Chelsea?

At the age of nine Sam Hutchinson signed as a youth player for his beloved Chelsea, following in the footsteps of father Eddie, who was also on the books with the Chelsea academy.

Sam progressed through the youth set up with relative ease, graduating as a third year scholar and becoming reserve team captain in the process. Sam was to turn professional in 2006, but suffered injuries during both the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons, which hindered his progress into the first team despite then manager Jose Mourinho claiming he would be a future Chelsea first team player.

Sam's breakthrough came in 2007, when he made his debut on the final game of the season against Everton and signed a new four year deal with the club.

Sam was taken on the pre-season tour to America, sadly, after just a handful of reserve team appearances Sam would face another injury that would limit his season to just six reserve team appearances.

Sam couldn't be kept down for long, back in the first team squad in early 2009, Sam would again travel with the first team to America and made appearances in pre-season friendlies against the Seattle Sounders and Club America.

Sam then got his second Chelsea appearance, coming on against local rivals Fulham in late August. A month later, and Sam got his first start for Chelsea against QPR in the Carling Cup, a game Chelsea won 1-0. Sam made his final Chelsea first team appearance in a 7-0 win over Stoke, where he assisted Frank Lampard to score the final goal.

Injury however, would get the better of Sam, as aged just 21 he decided to retire from football due to his prolonged knee injury, sustained over the previous three years. But Sam didn't leave Chelsea, he stayed working in the academy while studying Sports Science and aiming to earn coaching qualifications.

That would have been the end for Sam, you would have thought. But at the start of this season, Sam returned to the Chelsea reserve team after recovering from his knee injury, after keeping fit at the Chelsea academy while studying for his Sports Science qualification, playing 45 minutes in a 6-1 defeat to Crawley Town.

On the 3rd of October, Sam was back, captaining and playing 90 minutes in a reserve team match against Aston Villa. The knee-injury that he once thought ended his Chelsea career, was gone and yesterday Sam was offered a contract extension to stay at Chelsea for another 18 months.

The fact that Chelsea have stood by Sam even though he struggled with injury shows you how highly they rate the youngster. A few years ago he was nearly ready to step up and challenge John Terry, now he could be ready to take over from Terry, not only as a Chelsea player, but as our new Captain, Leader, Legend.

Chelsea Web Chat

Join Editor Dean Mears as he looks forward to Chelsea's Carling Cup Quarter-Final clash against Liverpool. Pick his brains on anything Chelsea and add your comments on anything you wish. 10:00 am start time.

It's make or break before Christmas

Chelsea ended their recent run of poor form with a resounding 3-0 win over Wolves on Saturday, but the run up to Christmas will decide our fate this season. Win the majority and the title is a real possibility, lose and 5th place is a real possibility.

Tomorrow night we take on Liverpool in the Quarter Final of the Carling Cup, a competition that although ranks low in the pecking order, is a still a competition to win and any game against Liverpool is one you want to win this. With Dalglish urging Liverpool fans to boycott the game, it's clear he isn't taking this competition seriously and won't mind bowing out at the Quarter Final stage.

Then we travel to Newcastle in Saturday's early kick off, Newcastle have made a great start to the season and managed to pick up a point against Manchester United at the weekend. It will be a difficult game for sure, but a win will take us above Newcastle and back into the top 4, where we should be.

Following Newcastle is the must win or draw 0-0 Champions League game at home to Valencia. We've won both home games so far in the competition, but none have had the pressure of this one, failure to qualify from the group will put serious pressure on Villas-Boas, not just tabloid rumour.

Then Chelsea host current league leaders Manchester City in a Monday night game, City have made a great start to the campaign and are runaway leaders in the Premier League, they could be travelling to Stamford Bridge having been knocked out of the Champions League, so it will be an ideal time to play them and gain three points on them.

Then we travel away to second bottom Wigan, a game we must pick up three points from with no questions asked, it's a great game for us to keep a winning momentum going, or get back to winning ways if we come unstuck against City.

Our last game before Christmas is then away to Tottenham, Three-Point-Lane hasn't been so easy in recent years and Tottenham are a real force to be reckoned with, Tottenham could go ahead of Manchester United if they win their game in hand against Everton, so we will be looking to claw back some points from them.

After Christmas we play host to Fulham, Aston Villa and Sunderland and only have to travel to Wolves, Norwich and Swansea before hosting Manchester United in February. Those are all games we should win and if we take 12 points from 12, then their will be a very different perspective then we face so far.

The title race is far from over, and if we can go on a winning run from now until after Christmas, we will be serious title contenders. Keep the faith. Keep The Blue Flag Flying High!

Chelsea Web Chat

Editor Dean Mears hosts an evenings chat about the Chelsea vs Wolves game. Join in here by posting your comments or questions to him.

Why I Love Chelsea

In a new feature for Samsung Bridge, I'm asking Chelsea fans from all walks of life to write down why they love Chelsea. In the first of the feature, I will tell why I fell in love with Chelsea FC.

I was about seven or eight when I went to my first Chelsea game, who we played I have no idea, but Mark Hughes scored a diving header (if you remember this game then please do tell me) that my dad missed because he was walking up the stairs to find me as my brother had left me while on a hot dog run.

It wasn't that game or that goal that made me fall in love with Chelsea, but it was because of my dad. I was 10 when I got my first season ticket in the Shed End, on the Friday before we kicked off our season against Newcastle in 2001 my dad went to the box office and brought two season tickets, for him and his boy (try doing that today!)

It was in that year that my parents separate, so seeing my dad was restricted to every other weekend when Chelsea were playing. Chelsea became my time with my dad, and as a youngster it was a great, going to the pub, listening to all the songs with the swear words. But the bit I enjoyed most, was being with my dad.

We both still have season tickets today, in the Matthew Harding Lower, now I'm of age to drink some beers and join in with the swear words the enjoyment has changed, but one thing has not, time at Chelsea is time with my dad. Recently, due to work and university I haven't been able to see my dad or Chelsea as often as I would like. In fact, it's one of my goals in life to earn enough money to be able to buy my dads season ticket for him, like he has for me all these years, and one for my son (if I have one).

So that's why I love Chelsea, not because I saw a Chelsea win or because I saw the magic of Zola, it's because Chelsea brought me closer to my dad and I love them for it.

Want to share why you love Chelsea? Tweet me @SamsungBridge

Why Villas-Boas' Philosophy Isn't Working

Andre Villas-Boas' arrival as Chelsea manager has signaled the biggest change in Chelsea strategy since Mourinho left in 2007. However, his footballing philosophy which won him a European treble will not work with the current bunch of Chelsea players. I'll look at why it won't and which players Chelsea need to make a great philosophy work.

Villas-Boas likes his defense to play with a high line, for his team to press more intently and for attackers to counter attack quickly. The philosophy works, with the right players, unfortunately for Villas-Boas, the group of players he has don't fit this philosophy.

Problems: The defense- Playing a high line, does encourage the team to press more intently, however the back four isn't blessed with pace. Terry, Cole and Alex are the wrong side of 30 in terms of professional football, Luiz has made far too many mistakes and doesn't look any part a Premier League defender. Ivanovic   is a good defender, but again without pace, while Bosingwa's defensive abilities are always questionable.

Solution: Clearly a new central defender is needed, one with both pace and good defensive capability, Gary Cahill has been linked, but his form has dropped for Bolton recently. A new left back as cover and essentially a replacement for Ashley Cole, Alvaro Pereira of Porto knows Villas-Boas' footballing philosophy and played left back in the treble winning side.

Problems: Formation and Attackers countering quickly- Villas-Boas likes to play to a 4-3-3 formation, however, Chelsea do not have any world class wingers in the team. However, play maker Juan Mata has been left on the wings, where he has been ineffective. It also means Fernando Torres doesn't get the service he needs, and he would get that with Mata in behind him, but it doesn't fit with Villas-Boas' philosophy.

Solution: Speedy wingers like Edin Hazard at Lille or a change in formation to a 4-4-2 diamond so Mata can play in the central attacking midfield role. The team also needs a midfielder who can 'pull the strings', Mikel isn't good enough in the passing department and Ramires and Merieles are work horses not play makers. Villas-Boas old player Joao Moutinho would play this role perfectly, like Xabi Alonso did for Liverpool under Benitez.

Sadly, I don't see any of this happening. Abramovich isn't looking to spend more money, he is trying to make the club self sufficient and is looking to move to a new stadium, so will be hoping that the current bunch of players can make Villas-Boas' philosophy work, but it's needs time and patience from the board and the fans.

Samsung Power Station Bridge Stadium?

News circulated today that Chelsea have started exploring the option to build a new 55,000-60,000 seater stadium at the Battersea Power Station site. The club have appointed a London Architecture to draw up plans for the site, which is about 3.3 miles away from Stamford Bridge.

A Chelsea spokesperson said:

"In the past, we've talked to various people with interests in Battersea Power Station, but we haven't had any substantive discussions with anyone regarding that site for several months.


"However, in light of current developments, we now think it prudent to look again at the feasibility and potential for the BPS site to be developed for a football stadium.


"We have made no decision to leave Stamford Bridge, and we continue to discuss with the local council any economically viable options to expand the the Bridge, but we will continue to investigate various options close to Stamford Bridge."

However, with the club currently locked in a battle with the Chelsea Pitch Owners to buy back the freehold of the Stamford Bridge pitch, the move could be seen as an arrogant one on Chelsea's part. But they hope to move quickly in order not to miss out on the site.

The 'Say No CPO' needs to start working with the club, and likewise the club needs to start working with the CPO in order to make the transition away from Stamford Bridge as smooth as possible. Stamford Bridge has been a great home and a great part of the clubs history, but we're a different team, looking to a bright future challenging as one of Europe's best clubs.

We need to move as a club together, expansion on Stamford Bridge seems near impossible, so a move away is the only option and Battersea Power Station is an ideal site in my eyes. However, we'll need to work on a new name.

Have your say on the Battersea Power Station move below or tweet me @SamsungBridge.

Chelsea Web Chat

Join editor Dean Mears as he previews Chelsea's Champions League clash with Bayer Leverkusen.

Scheduled start time 10:15 am, feel free to set yourself an email reminder for tomorrow morning and post your views, opinions and questions to Dean. Every (reasonable) comment will be published without editing so all views are genuine.

Chelsea Web Chat

Join editor Dean Mears, as we build up to Sunday's game against Liverpool. We will be talking team selection, predictions and just about anything you want to chat about. Scheduled start is 1pm.

Hiddink is one signing we should make

It took less than 24 hours for Hiddink to be linked back with Chelsea after he left as Turkey manager. Some would see Hiddink's appointment as a bad thing for Andre Villas-Boas as the young manager is still seeking to stamp his authority on the team, but Hiddink could be the perfect tonic for Villas-Boas.

Chelsea's must successful manager famously fell foul of a relationship break down with Roman Abramovich which ultimately lead to his departure back in September 2007, and now under Villas-Boas we have a manager that potentially could go on and surpass the records that his predecessor set. And for the relationship between the manager and the board to break down again could be a very disastrous move for the club.

This is where Hiddink comes in, Hiddink has a great relationship with Abramovich and can be a go between for Villas-Boas. Hiddink does not have to have any tactical input into the team but can be there to support a young and still relatively inexperienced manager.

Many would suggest that Hiddink would act as a constant source of pressure for Villas-Boas, knowing that if he doesn't deliver to Abramovich's high standards he could become the latest list of sacked Chelsea managers. But, Hiddink is getting older now, and perhaps doesn't want a pressure job after recent failures in Russia and Turkey. And, let's not forget, Chelsea paid Porto around 15 millions Euros to sign Villas-Boas on a five-year-deal which indicated they are looking for some long term stability as the club aims to become self sufficient.

The decision ultimately, should be down to Villas-Boas, but I believe Hiddink would be a great asset to the club and to the management team. He is not the type of character to put pressure on Villas-Boas and as somebody who is close friends with the owner and holds great memories of his time at the club, he would only want Chelsea to succeed.

It's do or die for Torres

It's nearly a year since Torres moved to Chelsea from Liverpool for £50 million pounds, and so far he simply hasn't delievered. In 21 games (9 as a sub) Torres has managed just five goals, for the mathmeticans amongst you that's a goal every 4.2 games, or 10 million per goal.

I've seen huge amounts of support for Torres, with nearly every Chelsea fan backing him to come good, but my patience is wearing thin for El Nino. For £50 million you should have at least 15 goals by now, I know Torres has been short of confidence and short of form, but it has barely looked liked returning.

Here's the problem for AVB, his tactics and philosophy mean a striker like Drogba doesn't benefit, he's not the type of striker to run the channels and wait for through balls from Mata. Torres is exactly that sort of striker, the only problem is he can't find the net, something's gotta give, Torres or AVB's approach.

Have we lost faith in Torres?

Other options for Chelsea could be starting Sturridge as the lone striker, but I believe he isn't ready for such a role, his best work comes out wide, cutting inside, I don't believe he has the experience to lead Chelsea just yet. Anelka could play the role, but hasn't been a favourite for AVB since he arrived in the summer.

Back to my original point, Torres has a fantastic opportunity against his former side to get that confidence, a couple of goals and some terrorising of his former team mates is exactly what the doctor is ordering. Otherwise, I think we should seriously consider cutting our losses and seeing what we can get for him in January, because when he is out of form he is a passenger, and at the very top level you can't afford to carry passengers.

Say Yes CPO

The Chelsea Pitch Owners have long been a battle with the Chelsea board over the freehold of the Stamford Bridge, and as you may well know, the club lost their battle to win the shares as only 61.4% voted in favour of selling their sells back to the club (75% was needed).

The 'Say No CPO' campaign is very admirable, they don't wish to see the club return to the way it was in the 80's when the club was on the brink of collapse. However, we are a different club now, we are in the strongest financial position ever and have a owner that is striving to make the club self sufficient and run on a good economic model.

We are also in a position were we will get left behind by other clubs, the emergence of Tottenham should not be laughed at, when they move into a new 50 or 60 thousand seater stadium they will be bringing in money that will seriously allow them to compete at the top of the Premier League, if we stay in a 42,000 seater stadium we will become the smallest big club, despite the money behind us.

A move is what's best for the club in the future, it's a perfect opportunity to start a new chapter in our history, like Arsenal's but with trophies. Stamford Bridge will always be a part of our club but a new stadium is needed for the future, otherwise we will become Liverpool, and nobody wants that.

The season so far

Because Samsung Bridge has launched 11 games into the season, I thought it would be good to go through the season so far.

Chelsea's start to the season hasn't been great, but, seeing as this is the biggest change the club has seen since Mourinho left in 2007, I think it's difficult for Chelsea fans to complain. Under Jose, Chelsea were a powerful team, we could play football at times, but we had an ability to play in long to Didier Drogba and bully our way past opponents and win games. Under AVB, Chelsea are a different team, there's a style and a guile to our play, the signing Juan Mata has typified the move to play more 'vertical' passes.

The season started with a 0-0 draw away at Stoke, a game on another day, Chelsea would have run out 3 or 4 nil winners, Chelsea dominated the game and were just unfortante not to come away winners. Chelsea play a possesion game under AVB, with the 'vertical and horiztional' passes that make up AVB's footballing physolopy. In Chelsea's first four games they finished with possession stats of  59, 60, 68 and 56 per cent respectively.

The first defeat came in the fifth game of the season, away to Old Trafford to an in form United team. Again it was a day, in which on another day Chelsea could have won. United stormed into a three goal lead which was always going to be difficult to recover from. Fernando Torres pulled one back straight after half time, but it was his open goal miss that would ultimately seal the game in Manchester United's favour. It's a bit harsh to say Chelsea played naively, but they left too many gaps for United to exploit, and perhaps a more experienced manager would have stopped, but it's never in AVB philosophy to let other teams dictate his play.

Chelsea bounced back in the league and recorded 4-1, 5-1 and 3-1 victories over Swansea, Bolton and Everton. But then came the first blip of the season, defeat with nine men away at QPR rocked the squad, the game saw the first clear signs of the tactical genius we have at the helm. With two less men than the opposition, AVB made sure that central defenders Terry and Luiz played a rotation to go forward to help the attack and midfield, it was another game like Stoke, Chelsea came away with disbelief that they hadn't got anything from the game.

The John Terry racism allegations that came out from that QPR game, obviously didn't help the squad as they lost their first home game of the season 3-5 to Arsenal. There was an openness to the game that Chelsea haven't seen since pre Abramovich. The score could have been in favour of either team, but some slack defending allowed Arsenal to grab all three points, something AVB should look to fix quickly.

With a team in 'crisis' according to the national press, we next headed to Blackburn and snatched a 1-0 win despite being under pressure for the last twenty minutes, it showed that the steel is still in the team and to be able to hold on to a clean sheet for the first time since the opening game of the season. All that has left the team in 4th place with 22 points, 9 points behind Manchester City, but still in touching distance.

Positives:
There is a real exciting change happening at Chelsea, we have a manager with a clear footballing philosopy, that makes sure his team plays with a style. Signing players like Mata, shows the club is moving in a new direction.

Negatives:
Defensively the team has been poor and have been found out by better teams like United and Arsenal, because of the sheer size of this transition it may be a couple of years before we win a trophy but we must stick as one under AVB and we will see success.