Under-fire Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has revealed that he is likely to field his youngsters against Zilina in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
The English champions have already qualified for the knockout stages of the competition and will rest their top stars.
Shaky
Chelsea’s form has been very shaky of late, mainly due to a clutch of injuries to key players.
The absence of the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Michael Essien has lead to the club losing three out of their last four league games.
Depth
Chelsea are supposedly the strongest team in the Premier League, yet their squad is now almost paper thin. When Chelsea now loses a key player they are just not able to replace them with a player of similar quality
In the past Chelsea bosses would have been able to make substitutions to influence games. However in recent games Carlo Ancelotti has only had youngsters to call off the bench.
In their last game their bench contained only one player with any notable experience, Daniel Sturridge. Even Sturridge can’t claim to be highly experienced. The game against Zilina offers Ancelotti the perfect chance to let his youngsters gain some valuable first team experience.
Youngsters
Ancelotti talked up his youngsters telling Sky Sports News: “Josh (McEachran) will start against Zilina.
“He is ready because he has personality and he will play an important position on the pitch as a holding midfielder.
“I think he can put in a good performance. He is able to do this.
“As well as McEachran other young players will be involved in the Zilina game. There’s Kakuta, Van Aanholt, Bruma. I want to change things for this game.
“It is important. We can use this game to give the opportunity to young players to improve their experience. We need to take one point and it is possible to win.
Easy
People say that there are no easy games in modern football but this game against Zilina should be very comfortable. Zilina are possibly the weakest side I have seen play in this year’s Champions League. Marseille and Chelsea both took the Slovakian side apart on their own turf.
If Chelsea’s youngsters are as good as people say they are then they should be able to overcome the Slovakian’s with ease.
Highly-rated
Chelsea has been working on their youth academy for years and that hard work is now starting to pay off. The likes of Josh McEachran, Patrick Van Aanholt and Gael Kakuta are very promising youngsters. They have had a taste of first team action but they won’t fulfil their potential if they aren’t allowed to play in first team matches.
If the youngsters impress in the clash with Zilina then maybe they will get a chance in the Premier League with the Blues currently low on first team regulars. The champions are now level on points with Manchester United at the top of the Premier League and the pressure is on.
Pressure
Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti is now under immense pressure to achieve results but this game will be a distraction from the high pressure Premier League campaign.
Ancelotti knows that he can sit back a little and enjoy this game and maybe learn something new about his youngsters. If Chelsea doesn’t strengthen their squad in the January window those youngsters could prove vital to their season.
Is Ancelotti right to blood youngsters against Zilina?
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