EPL: Are Youth Teams Really Useful?

Interesting to see what been happening to Chelsea's Scott Sinclair. For whatever reason we have decided not to persist with him this year and loan him out for experience. I watched Charlton/WBA the other day and Charlton were really poor—but Sinclair was not even on the bench.

The other day, he was snapped up by Palace until the end of the season - but will he get a game? I really hope so as I think if he does not break into Chelsea's first team squad next year then he may never make it. He had a great loan at Plymouth the other year but has never really fulfilled the promise (according to our management). He certainly seems to me to be the type of player we should keep and cultivate as his pace could be an extremely powerful weapon in the EPL.

To me there is not a lot of difference between Sinclare and Walcott; what the difference is however is Arsenal gave and continue to give Walcott the chance to show his worth whereas Chelsea are reluctant to give any of the youngsters a try out.

Maybe its just because their squad is not as big as ours and there are occasion where they have to use him. The big difference to that statement would be the Carling Cup where he played regularly and although Sinclair got a couple of runs, and a goal if I remember correctly, he has not been able to break into the Carling Cup squad. Sooner or later, if we want to cut/reduce the transfer fees, then some of these guys have to be given a chance otherwise we are wasting our time with the reserve/youth academy aren't we..?

The following is a list of players who are playing regularly who are 21 or younger and have played on a regular basis prior to this season with many of them also having become International players.

Arsenal: Fabrigas 20, Walcott 19. Birmingham: Muamba 19. Derby: Barnes 19. ManCity:Hart 20 Ireland 21 Johnson 20 Richards 19. West Ham: Noble 20. Chelsea—Mikel 20 . ManU—Anderson 19. Tottenham—Lennon 20.

There are others but to date have, like Sinclare, made only the occasional appearance. Whilst doing my little research I noted that Chelsea's Jimmy Smith is 21 and as yet not made an appearance in the Prem. What chance him making it with Chelsea?—With ME 'NO CHANCE'.

Another player that springs to mind is Michael Mancienne 20, currently on loan at QPR from Chelsea. I've had the pleasure of watching this boy in action and he is a geniune talent who is more than capable being a first team player at Chelsea, given he plays at right back (his preferred position is however, center back). Chelsea however, don't seem interested in trying him in the first team and the reason for that, quite frankly is beyond me. Chelsea's youth team recently made it to FA Cup final, beating Aston Villa in the semi's. Just thinking about that, i wonder how many of these wonderful talents will eventually get the chance with the first team. In my opinion it'll be, None. 

To conclude, i don't see the point in having youth teams and reserve squads, if they never actually get the chance to prove their worth in the first team.

Thanks