Chelsea Youth: The future starts now Roman!

Roman Abramovich was again reminded of the talent pool at his club’s multi-million academy programme after Chelsea reached the final of the FA Youth Cup for the second year in succession.

Nathan Ake and Jeremy Boga celebrates during their victory over Liverpool

With a performance full elegance and numerous, the young Blues edged out Liverpool with a 4-1 aggregate over two legs, setting up a grand finale with Norwich. At Stamford Bridge Friday night, they were a joy to behold.

Liverpool, who had arrived with a 2-0 goal deficit from the first leg at Anfield a week earlier, drew the first blood early in the game. Yet there was no sense of panic about the ability of the Chelsea side to bounce back, which they did. Such is their quality at this level and it has never been in doubt for some time now.

The Blues youngster’s FA Youth Cup run continued after  the impressive campaign their U-19 side- largely the same squad- enjoyed in the NextGen Series (a youth version of the European Champions League), where they also reached the final.

After following both competitions till this stage, a certain question triggered my mind: how on earth did Rafa Benitez miss the chance to showcase the talents of both Lewis Baker and Ruben Loftus-Cheek despite the paucity of his first team squad in this marathon season?  

Midfield crisis

Benitez was aware he would not be allowed to procure his own players given his short-term deal. He lost Oriol Romeu early last December; one of only for midfielders for the pivot role, then had to release Mikel for over a month at the African Cup of Nations in South Africa. That meant only Ramires and the ageing Frank Lampard, who was just returning from fairly long injury lay off, were left to juggle the games between themselves, together with David Luiz, as an emergency cover.

So how could Benitez be so uninventive not to realise the talents of Baker and Loftus-Cheek and drag them into the position when left with only two options? Truly it was the Spanish manager’s decision to adapt Luiz to the pivot role, especially while Mikel was away and the Brazilian filled the void to a respectable level of performance.

But I’m baffled by Benitez’s weird decision to re-tune Nathan Ake, another natural central defender as a backup for the pivot role rather than discovering the obvious abundant potentials in Loftus-Cheek and Baker, both central midfielders. The duo’s performances in the NextGen Series and the FA Youth Cup suggest they only needed the manager’s trust to build their confidence.

Ake, 18, though made strong impressions against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup as well as the Europa League quarter final clash at Rubin Kazan, but Baker- also turns 18 next week- would have benefited more this season, especially with his tremendous progress at youth level. The Luton-born youngster was voted the NextGen Series MVP and his brilliant technical skills would need to be harnessed by Chelsea.

Baker’s ability to deliver set pieces, corners and freekicks inclusive, rubbished the weaker foot theory, same way his mental strength, maturity and leadership potentials would have caught the eyes of some coaches, especially in terms of need. He is an admirable top talent who can also play in an advance midfield position, with impressive work rate and tactical awareness.

I have been really impressed with the brilliance and guile of Loftus-Cheek too. Not only is he able to navigate as a box-to-box midfielder, he possesses an amazing level of composure beyond his age. Loftus-Cheek has come under the media microscope for his lucrative professional contract with the Blues whom he joined in the under-8 category (we know Chelsea often do those outrageous deals), but the club have got a real gem in the 6ft 1 youngster.

Good enough, old enough
Many times the argument is about age, yet Josh Mcechran starred for Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League at 17 and Cesc Fabregas broke through as a teeanager. I believe Loftus-Cheek has even got more presence and personality than Mceachran to grow into the pivot role if given the opportunity. It was a shame Benitez didn’t exploit this possibility with his lean squad.  His composure brings echoes of John Mikel Obi on arrival Stamford Bridge in 2006, though Loftus-Cheek appears to be gifted with better technical prowess.

Mikel had arrived as a 19year old with only six senior football appearances, made sporadically over two seasons in Norway, and suffered during a year-long transfer wrangle between the Blues and Manchester United before he eventually signed. Despite the presence of top class midfielders like Michael Essien, Michael Ballack, Claude Makelele, Frank Lampard and a young Lassana Diarra, the Nigerian still made a staggering 42 appearances, including 24 starts in his debut season. That happened after only playing 37minutes in his first six games.

Trust
So the then manager, Jose Mourinho put huge responsibilities on a young shoulder, and Mikel grew into it and became an important player for the club. It would be interesting how the Special One will fair now that the club have more talented and exciting academy player, if the Portuguese returns to West London in the summer.

But it would not be entirely fair to blame Benitez alone for not taking advantage of the small squad, his predecessor, Roberto Di Matteo was also guilty of the same problem. Chelsea had only Fernando Torres as the striker before Demba Ba joined the club from Newcastle in January, yet Di Matteo did not look in the direction of  Islam Feruz,  the best striker in the academy, not even as a sub. Yet he suffered a traumatic experience with the Spanish top striker, a situation that contributed to his sack.

After spending over £60million to upgrade the academy and assemble some of Europe’s best talents at their age, Abramovich must realise the progress of his club’s youth structure needs to be a key agenda for the new manager and put an end to cosmetic development programme. The truth is that, it is not only about showing off, it is about the future of these promising starlets.It has spiral effect on club's corporate image too.

It is about time these blossoming talents made the next step after conquering their peers, or else the glamour will soon fade out of the façade of his talent factory.

Adefemi Olubayo: Two years later...still hurts

Every member of my family knows I'm poor in keeping memory of anniversaries: birthdays, weddings, deaths etc. By that I'm not only referring to those of friends and associates but also mine.

NO WAY!: Adefemi blocks Messi  Beijing Olympics football tournament

I'll have to get calls to be reminded of my birthdays or wedding anniversary by my siblings virtually every time and indeed one of them did that again just a few days ago to remind me it was her birthday. Initially they were struggling to cope with me, but now it appears they've come to understand I can't just help the situation. Well I've managed my memory very well, both academically and professionally anyway.

So it took late Olubayo Adefemi's ex-girlfriend (don’t bother me about her identity) to privately send me his picture to be reminded today was exactly the second anniversary since his shocking demise in 2011 in an auto-crash in Greece. I had to quickly put this together in memory of a late friend. It was a picture that epitomised his passion for the national team.

My relationship with Olubayo was a subtle professional affair that metamorphosed into a personal one. It started with my first interview with him in 2005 after he helped Nigeria to a runners-up finish at the FIFA World Youth Championship in Holland.

Led by Chelsea's John Mikel Obi, Olubayo played a key role in that competition which only took the genius of Lionel Messi's two penalties (he created and scored them) to help Argentina triumph over our Flying Eagles. It was a painful final but it was arguably the tournament that drew global attention to Messi’s genius, and profiled Olubayo and some of the top players today. Manchester City's Pablo Zabaleta was captaining the South Americans while his teammate Sergio Aguero was a second half subtitute in that final.

Olubayo's 70th minute goal followed by his rowing celebration in the semi-final against Morocco caught the eyes of many but he was colossal for the team throughout the competition. His appearance for Nigeria, three years later, at Beijing Olympics, where he was also ever-present, turned out another great experience but it took a Messi-inspired Argentina, once again, to stop Nigeria from a top finish.

From my 2005 experience with Olubayo, he appeared a down-to-earth person who was ready to work his way up his career to become a top footballer, even with his less flamboyant technical talent. "You know it's not easy for players like me who play in Israel to play for the senior national team even if you're good enough and this is my dream. I can see it's the players in top leagues who get the profile from the media, so maybe you look in our direction too," he told me in 2005.

I understood his feelings but advised him to keep working hard, and that I was confident he would make it to the Super Eagles. I wasn't just encouraging him, I really felt he had the right attitude and commitment to compensate for his limited skills to climb up the ladder. Every top manager likes such characteristics, most especially at national team level.

Why? Because the national team won't offer players the financial fulfilment they get at club level, where they earn their livelihood, so some intrinsic incentives are needed. Hence top coaches look for more than talents, especially as they have to bring together egos from different clubs, with ranks in wages. Those are some traits the current Nigeria coach, Stephen Kasha confirmed he didn’t feel with the duo of Obafemi Martins and Osaze Odemwingie, which made him, leave them out of the African Cup of Nations squad.

Olubayo Adefemi eventually played for the senior national team, featuring in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers before missing out on South Africa following the sack of coach Shuaibu Amodu, who was replaced by Lars Lagerback.  He was sad to miss the squad as he was looking forward to playing against Messi again.

“You think he would be running past our (Nigeria) defenders like he does in La Liga against those defenders who couldn’t put a foot in and stop his runs? We don’t fear him a bit and you saw that at the Olympics,” he told me after Nigeria were drawn against Argentina.

He was such a fearless fighter and a patriot. Adefemi was always relishing the national call and he served the country playing in different positions. He was loved by the coaches because he could adapt to situations in the team without moaning, without ego trouble.

The former Hapoel Tel Aviv and Rapid Bucharest defender was sociable too and had a good relationship with the media, as well as active on social media. He was simple and nice. Adefemi and I gradually grew close and I recalled he personally gave me a set of his national team kits on return from the Beijing Olympics.

Bayo, as I referred to him, would happily seek my advice on more personal matters and professional decisions as he gradually found me trustworthy, at a point asking if I could help him in securing an agent. I declined because I was conscious of my integrity as a journalist. I was frank to tell him I wouldn’t accept a remedial PR task ‘to defend you if you soil your image in the public domain.’ He never did.

Adefemi suffered some travails too. His spell in Bucharest ended in dispute after five months due to his unpaid wages. FIFA eventually granted his request to terminate the contract. He was also involved in a contract hitch with Austrian side, SC Rheindorf Altach before joining former French Ligue1, US Bolougne in June 2009 side. The situation didn't help his national team progress. He moved to Greek side Xanti after Bolougne were relegated and played as a regular until death.

I wept on hearing of his demise. It came a few weeks after our discussions on his wedding plans, during which I offered him some advice. It was a Facebook conversation (we spoke many times on phone too) and I was surprised when he told me this: “Do you know I have been forwarding your messages to my fiancée since? I found them helpful and I felt I should share them with her.”

Olubayo Adefemi was not only a great professional as a footballer, but also a wonderful man whose charming personality touched so many, including his childhood friends, with whom he remained in contact till his death. He died a hero… yet still feels he is still with us.

Petr Cech: An Unsung Hero

Neville Southall, the Welshman who won the European Cup Winners’ Cup with Everton, was the last goalkeeper to have won the Football Writers Award (FWA). That was in 1985, the same year the Merseyside outfit lifted the continental trophy.

That was 28 years ago, the last time the journalists- some of whom cover around 60 football games a season- deemed a goalkeeper worthy of being crowned the most outstanding player of the year. It is quite an astounding data that clearly indicates the subdued treatment the position of the goalkeeper has enjoyed in the hands of the writers. Pity.

It is a situation that is extended to the defenders, with the last winner of the FWA being former Liverpool star, Steve Nicole who took the honour in 1989. So it is obvious the beautiful game is defined by beautiful goals yet some of the brilliant moments in the sport have involved great contributions from the back men, with high catching saves from goalkeepers and superb interventions from defenders.

Decisive

Chelsea needed Demba Ba’s classy finish to advance to the semi-final of this year’s FA Cup on Monday at Stamford Bridge against United but they would remember even more the brilliant heroics of their legendary goalkeeper, Petr Cech.  Cech, who was wearing the skipper’s armband in the absence of John Terry and Frank Lampard, made two world class saves to deny Javier Hernandez.

 Hernandez’s first strike had a wicked swerve that displaced the Blues number one, only for the Czech international to make an acrobatically instinctive save to clear the ball with his right foot. But the second was a competent contender for the “moment of the game”- a strong left palm to divert the Utd’s striker brilliant header over the top of the bar.

 That second save was an epitome of Cech’s remarkable contribution to Chelsea’s successful era in the last decade under Roman Abramovich. His two saves underlined his significance in those exploits than a passing recognition.

Chelsea’s expansive style have seen them score 59 goals in the Premier League this season and conceded 32, yet Cech has had to account for 99 saves from 28 games to salvage the team (Manchester City’s Joe Hart has only 48 saves from 30 matches). The legendary goalkeeper has made 180 saves in all competitions for the Blues this term, continuing from where he stopped last season.

Last November, he recorded 10 saves in a group game against Juventus, despite the Blues’ 3-0 loss in Turin, a landmark performance for a single Champions League game but no one reckoned with his heroics, not least as the defeat led to the sack of manager Roberto Di Matteo.

Cech’s 58 saves were instrumental to his club’s UEFA Champions League success yet  Didier Drogba’s contribution still appear to enjoy better fond memories. Without underestimating Drogba’s exploits in the run, Cech deserved even more plaudits for his performances against Barcelona as well as in the final victory over Bayern Munich.

Drogba scored two goals in the three games; two-legged semis and the final. But Cech made nine saves in both games against Barcelona and saved three penalties in the final, including the one conceded by the Ivorian striker in extra time.

Fabulous start

Much has been written about Franco Zola’s greatness and Frank Lampard’s goalscoring consistency in Chelsea’s remarkable success since the 2004/2005 season, but Cech must be considered in the same line of achievement.  Bought for only £7million from Rennes of France, the Blues goalie has survived life-threatening injury problems to remain the club’s undisputed top safe hands.

Even for the current campaign, Cech has had to cope with elbow injury to be available for Chelsea, with a surgery postponed till the end of the season to correct the problem. His consistency has left the club’s new acquisition, Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois to continue his loan spell at La Liga side, Atletico Madrid, despite the later’s remarkable progress as a top goalkeeper.

Cech’s off the field personality is also admirable, an erudite man who is competent in several languages and enjoyed the profile of one of the most recognisable faces in the game. He’s been voted his country’s best footballer consecutively since 2008 after first claiming the gong in 2005.

No doubt when the folklore of Chelsea is being written by men of history, Big Pete must take his deserved position as a legend of Stamford Bridge who symbolises greatness as a footballer and a role model for the sport.