Chelsea Roundtable: Which Youngsters Should Be Integrated and How

A few debates have been going around various sports sites regarding our fringe youngsters here at Chelsea. Knowing we all have huge opinions on these issues, I decided to hook up with our own Chelsea Community Co-Leader Alan-McGuinness and our good friend Marcus to discuss the matter.

The question was, which of the youngsters should be integrated into the first team and how?

Salomon-Gonzales

Franco Di Santo is a youngster that has got me really excited, and I'd love to see him get playing time. However, it isn't as straight forward as that, and we all know it.

Playing/training alongside Drogba and Anelka, Di Santo will probably see minimal, if any, minutes in league matches. Carling Cup is where he could and should make his mark.

Big Phil has blatantly stated that he wants all four trophies, which means he'll field our best players every single game, regardless of the occasion. This again means that Di Santo will have to work extremely hard to even get into the Carling Cup squad. If he does that, the sky is the limit.

To me, there is not a lot of difference between Sinclair and Walcott. They are both extremely fast and have the occasional eye for goal. What the difference is/was 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 difference again would be the Carling Cup, where he has played regularly, and although Sinclair made a couple of appearances, and a goal if I remember correctly, he has not been able to break into the Carling Cup squad. Again, this is where he could and should make his mark.

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..?

Michael Mancienne will unfortunately struggle to see any minutes at all. I've had the pleasure of watching this boy in action in his time at QPR, and he is a genuine talent who is more than capable becoming a first team player at Chelsea.

Chelsea however, don't seem interested in trying him in the first team, and I'd be very surprised if he sees any minutes on the pitch at all this season.

Marcus

I think it's great that Chelsea has some young guns in waiting to play. The question is: Will they ever see the light of day? I think that we first need to look at the philosophy of the manager and go from there. Scolari has stated on numerous occasions that the goal of Chelsea FC will play to win all in all competitions.

From a fan's perspective, this is a great winning attitude to have, and we all want to win trophies. However, with all the young guns waiting in the wings, how will they ever play? 

I think that one of the ways that Scolari can involve the young guns is through the Carling Cup. In the last Carling Cup match versus Portsmouth, he started a strong team, but he made changes to the lineup. I think this could be a way to include Di Santo and Sinclair.

Let Di Santo play the second half of the Carling Cup, or the whole game for that matter. You could pair him alongside Anelka in a 4-3-3 formation or sub him as a lone striker in the second half if the game is wrapped. I think Chelsea fans would be fine with this setup.

Also, if he got hot, it could lift his confidence and make Chelsea fans ecstatic about our striking position. I think that bringing him as a sub during some Premier League matches, FA Cup matches versus weaker opponents, and even starting Champions League games, if we have already won the group stage, which could give him some valuable experience.

Some of these suggestions maybe slightly controversial, but I say why not? It would be great to see that day where we wouldn't have to go into that transfer market to get a striker because we've developed ones that we already have (at least for a few years anyway). All these suggestions could give Di Santo some valuable playing time.

On the other hand, it will be a bit tricky to include Sinclair, since our midfield is a bit clogged, and if we ever move to a consistent 4-3-3, Sinclair's chances will be extremely limited.

I would advocate Sinclair getting him some game time in the Carling Cup and coming on as an occasional sub in a game that we have firmly wrapped up. Looking towards Sinclair's future, I think that Scolari's decision on Ballack's future could be a key for Sinclair. (Ballack's contract runs out at the end of the year and Deco's at the end of 2010).

If Ballack isn't retained, then the chances for Sinclair to be included in the first squad will increase for 2009, if only by a little bit. With both of them possibly gone by fall 2010, he'll definitely get some first-team experience.

Well, whatever happens, let's hope that Chelsea will have lifted a few trophies by then and that some of our young guns have gotten some good quality playing time.

Alan-McGuinness

First of all, I think they have to be ready to make the step up to the first team. Once that judgment has been made, they should train with the first team and get to know the other players and become accustomed to the intensity.

Cup competitions such as the Carling Cup and FA Cup should be used to give the likes of Mancienne, Sinclair, and Di Santo some playing time and help them build up vital experience.

Sinclair and Di Santo are more advanced down this path than Mancienne. With these two, I think they should get some minutes in league matches and maybe even start them against teams down the bottom of the table. I wouldn't recommend doing it away from home in front of a hostile crowd, where they could freeze or not to perform to the best of their ability.

Mancienne is yet to make his first-team debut, so I think he should be eased in more gradually. He has appeared on the bench a number of times over the past few years, and I think he should play alongside John Terry in a cup game, maybe not for 90 minutes, but enough to get a feel for what its like playing in the first team.

I'd like to see Scolari use the Carling Cup like Arsene Wenger uses it, but I don't think that will happen. It seems the approach taken under Mourinho (a strong team with one or two youngsters in the 16) will be continued. Of course, that could all change if we get a really talented crop of youngsters coming through...