Jose Mourinho Misses a Trick by Not Playing Chelsea's Youngsters in Bolton Win

STAMFORD BRIDGE, LONDON — Chelsea will travel to Shrewsbury Town in the fourth round of the Capital One Cup as reward for a 2-1 victory against Bolton Wanderers.

It's an unglamorous draw that won't exactly excite fans of the Blues, but for Chelsea's youngsters, they must be relishing the 320-mile round trip. After all, given the low-ranking opposition, they may well get a game.

It should have been the case against Bolton too.

The Trotters arrived at Stamford Bridge sitting 21st in the championship with just one league win to their name all season. And in their previous two Capital One Cup outings they needed extra time to overcome Bury and Crewe Alexandra.

With all due respect to Dougie Freedman's side, they are far from the Bolton we once knew in the Premier League.

In front of a near sell-out crowd, Chelsea were always going to be favourites in this tie, giving Jose Mourinho the ideal opportunity to field some of his young stars.

Instead, with the exception of Nathan Ake, he opted for a line-up full of regulars, leaving Andreas Christensen and Lewis Baker to cut frustrated figures on the bench for the entire 90 minutes.

It was odd, especially given that only in July Mourinho had spoken so highly of the latter.

"My conscience tells me that if, for example, Baker, [Izzy] Brown, and [Dominic] Solanke are not national team players in a few years, I should blame myself," the Chelsea manager had explained, per Oliver Todd of the Daily Mail.

"At 16 or 17 I don’t think it’s good for them to go somewhere else to play, like in the Championship. At 17 they have to train with us and they have to learn with us. They will learn a lot."

Watching on from the sidelines against Bolton, it's difficult to see what Baker and Christensen would have taken from this game.

Surely their development would have been best served playing competitive football beneath the lights at Stamford Bridge in front of a crowd willing them on.

Now was the time for them to play, to be given their chance, yet instead it was the bigger stars given a run-out.

Even late on in the game, with Chelsea 2-1 up and in control of proceedings, Mourinho's substitutes were Didier Drogba, Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic.

The rationale was clear for Chelsea to close the game out, although where is the trust in these young players?

Bolton manager Freedman commented in the post-match press conference that it was a sign of the respect Mourinho has for the cup competition and his team, but if Baker and the rest are so highly rated, fielding them would hardly have represented an injustice.

Indeed, the Capital One Cup is a competition that prides itself at being a launchpad for many high-profile careers in English football. Take Cesc Fabregas, for instance, who made his Arsenal debut in the competition against Rotherham United in October 2003.

The Spaniard made the most of that opportunity early in his career to become a key player for his club. And 11 years later, Chelsea paid £27 million for his services.

It would be folly to predict Baker will go on to scale similar heights to his teammate on the back of one appearance, yet it's games alone that will give him the opportunity to at least make an attempt at emulating Fabregas' feats.

Chelsea have made massive strides with their youth system in recent years. The club has claimed two FA Youth Cup titles in three seasons and has an exciting crop of talent appearing on the brink of coming through.

If the likes of Baker aren't going to be given their chance in the Capital One Cup, though, when will it come?

The performance of Ake against Bolton brought the Chelsea crowd great enthusiasm and it wasn't lost on the Chelsea management either.

"Everyone was determined to put in a performance tonight [...] Nathan Ake, who is a young player who has played in the first-team before, was pass-perfect. I don't recall him making a poor decision all evening," said assistant manager Steve Holland.

Ake outlined his talent and in the process, demonstrated the need for his fellow academy products to be given their chance.

The Dutchman shone, standing out alongside his more senior colleagues. It can be done, a Chelsea youngster can rise through the ranks to impress with the first team.

Mourinho missed a trick by not extending Baker and Christensen that opportunity against Bolton.

*All quotes taken firsthand, unless otherwise noted.

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Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes