It’s not controversial to say Chelsea don’t belong in the Europa Conference League. With a combined squad value of around £1 billion, give or take a few million, the highest in the competition’s short history, it’s hardly fair on the others.
By Alex Roberts
They’ll square off against Real Betis in the final tonight, aiming to become the first club in history to win all three ‘major’ European trophies. Their journey has been a cake walk but something interesting has happened along the way.
Enzo Maresca, rightly or wrongly, has come under a lot of scrutiny since taking over last summer. His style of play is dull, and the relationship with the fans is rocky, despite Chelsea achieving Champions League qualification on the final day of the Premier League season.
At a time when the supporter base is divided, one thing everyone can agree on is it’s nice to see the academy lads get some minutes on the continent. The most prominent of which are Tyrique George and Josh Acheampong.
George, a tricky little winger, has expertly filled the hole left by Mykhaylo Mudryk following his ban for failing a drug test. Most of his appearances have come off the bench, but Maresca is beginning to trust him more and more, starting him in three of the last four Conference League games.
He impressed in the new look league phase, but it wasn’t until the knock-out game against FC Kopenhaven he bagged his first goal contribution, providing the assist for Enzo Fernández’s 65th minute strike in the 2-1 win.
In the 3-0 win over Legia Warsaw in the quarters he scored his first senior goal for the club he joined as an Under-8. The look on his face said it all, overjoyed to score and relived to finally have that weight lifted off his shoulders. He went on to score the equaliser in Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Fulham, a valuable contribution to their UCL aspirations.
Acheampong primarily operates on the complete opposite end of the pitch to George. A lanky defender, equally comfortable as a right-back as he is a centre-back, Maresca has already professed his ‘love’ for the 19-year-old.
His journey was a little less straight forward. Frozen out due to a contract dispute with the club, he looked likely to be the next Cobham grad to head for the exit, desperate to prove everyone wrong.
After a few months, he finally put pen to paper in a deal that would keep him at Stamford Bridge until 2029, and he was back with the squad. He hasn’t look back since, playing the full 90 minutes in all of their quarter and semi-final games.
Unlike Gerorge he’s yet to score but that’s not exactly his game. With a 95.1% pass accuracy rate, 38 duels won, and 706 touches in his seven European games, he’s wise beyond his years, earning his teammates’ trust along the way.
There have been plenty more, in fact Maresca has handed more debuts to academy players (8) than any other manager in Chelsea history. The Conference League squad has been chocked full of teenagers, like a chicken shop in London at around 15:30pm on a weekday.
By the time the final whistle blew in the 1-0 win over Djurgården, there were five of them on the pitch. They’d all played for the club before, but one player in particular grabbed all the headlines, young Reggie Walsh.
Aged 16 years and 200 days, he should be worried about his GCSEs and acne, instead he’s Chelsea’s third youngest ever player, behind only midfielder Ian Hamilton and goalkeeper Kingsley Whiffen, who made their debuts in 1967. Who said Chelsea didn’t have any history.
A diminutive attacking midfielder with impressive close control and a decent eye for a pass, Walsh certainly made an impression. He was so good, the usually calm and collected captain, Reece James, swore on live tv while talking about how good he is.
Sam Rak-Sakyi (20), Ato Ampah (19), Shumeira Mheuka (17), Kiano Dyer (18), Harrison Murray-Campbell (18), and Genesis Antwi (17) all deserve shout outs too, the campaign has been a huge win for all of them.
What those outside of the Chelsea bubble may not know, is all of this comes at a very interesting time for the academy. Long serving and much-loved duo Neil Bath and Jim Fraser, the men responsible for bringing through the likes of James, Mason Mount, and Conor Gallagher, among others, have departed.
It was reportedly mutual, both were thinking of leaving and Chelsea were thinking of getting rid, easy enough. Several young stars were believed to be thinking about leaving but that doesn’t appear to be an issue anymore.
The dust has settled and Maresca has proven academy stars have a genuine future at the club, they’ll have to be really good at football though, Chelsea are still looking to sign the best youngsters from across the globe. Estêvão and Kendry Páez are just the beginning.
Football is cruel, it remains to be seen whether they will all make it, although coming through Chelsea’s academy certainly gives them a leg up. One thing’s for certain, there are plenty more where they came from.
Ibrahim Rabbaj has taken social media by storm for kind of looking like a young Mount and playing like a certain Argentinian. The ‘Moroccan Messi’ they call him, the kind of comparison that hasn’t been kind to plenty of ex-wonderkids.
With one eye on the future, amid all the chaos, perhaps things at Chelsea aren’t so bad after all.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
You can follow the Conference League Final with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.