Jose Mourinho has admitted for the first time that Chelsea may not be the best environment for young players trying to break through.
This comes as a major disappointment for the numerous talented youngsters in Chelsea’s ranks. They have just qualified for the FA youth cup final. Chelsea continue to have an incredible presence in the latter stages of the FA youth cup. Yet, this is not exactly translated into players for the first-team. The club continue to buy top players, as the younger ones are often sold or loaned to different clubs.
Criticism has been pointed to the continuous rotation of managers, who go for the experienced players rather than the inexperienced ones due to the fear of losing their jobs. Mourinho has introduced some youngsters into the team this season. The likes of Solanke and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have been seen in the fringes of first-team. One of reasons for not using them on a regular basis is the fact that Chelsea do not have the luxury to drop results. Mourinho has pointed that he has used youngsters when there is little pressure in a match. Chelsea will be playing against Leicester City or Manchester City in the final of the competition.
“For a player to play in the Chelsea first team, they must be ready. There is no space with this level of demand and responsibility and pressure, there is no space for a player that is not ready.For example, when did I play [Dominic] Solanke? I played Solanke while winning 5-0 against Maribor, in a competition where we qualified easily in the group phase.I cannot play Solanke against Southampton with 30 minutes to go and the score at 1-1. I can’t. I think next year Ruben will be ready. Pre-season, he will start with us immediately,” said Mourinho.