With the likes of Filipe Luis and John Terry in the crowd, the next generation of Chelsea football club will be eager to impress on the day that marks the 110 year of the club. After comfortably seeing off Zenit St. Petersburg in the previous round, Chelsea set up a tie with Atletico after the Spanish side saw off Arsenal.
In the company of many famous faces, Chelsea’s youngsters had enough to see off the Spanish sides. The likes of Isiah Brown and Andreas Christensen who were at Wembley to see the first team lift the Capital One Cup recently, put themselves one step closer to silverware. A first half own goal from Atletico Madrid’s Manzanara and a late Dominic Solanke goal was enough to secure the victory.
Christensen’s Versatility
Andreas Christensen has been touted as one of the brightest prospects to come through the youth ranks at Chelsea. Whilst he usually slots into the defence of the youth teams, he today partnered Charlie Colkett in midfield with Jermaine Boga sitting just in front of the duo. Christensen showed quality distribution on the ball, patrolling the midfield well. His defence intelligence showed, as well as managing to cause threats going forward. Christensen was close to reaching the end of Isiah Brown cross in the opening goal that was eventually put in the back of net by Atletico’s Manzanara. It was Christensen who found the final pass to assist Solanke with just minutes left on the clock. His versatility could be something that is very valuable in the future and will only aid his cause for a place in the first team.
Boga struggling defensively
Jermaine Boga featured heavily in the early stages of the first team’s pre-season campaign and even bagged a few goals, the attacking midfielder is another bright talent that is highly regarded at Chelsea. Against Atletico he featured in a midfield three, looking to give an attacking threat. Boga struggled to make an impact in the first half, often struggling to carry out his defensive duties resulting in Atletico finding more space. Despite this, as the game started to open up in the second half Boga began to find space. His attacking threat soon improved but the final pass eluded the Frenchman.
Controlled Colkett
Playing alongside Christensen and Boga, Colkett’s performance went under the radar. One of the Blue’s unsung heroes in, the young English midfielder added quality and composure to the midfield. Just one of the few Chelsea’s players that kept their final ball at a constant high level. He managed to control the pace of the game and dictate play for the Blue’s, even when the lead was a slender 1-0. Colkett showed signs of great maturity which aided Chelsea’s fight for victory.
Adrian Viveash is very talkative
Throughout the game there was a ringing noise of Chelsea coach Adrian Viveash. If there was ever a doubt that Viveash didn’t demand enough of his players, they were soon vanished. The Blue’s coach was constantly on to his players, with not a minute going back where instructions were not being roared at the Chelsea players. Which then sprung the question from the Eurosport commentary team, of how many decisions are the players making for themselves? The constant sound of instruction after instruction showed at times, the players at times seemed more focused on looking back to the bench rather than remaining focused on the pitch. Quite clearly is it something the young players are used to, however it does seem like something that could come back to haunt the players in the future.
