Key Chelsea coach explains how he is preparing academy wonderkids for first team action | OneFootball

We wrote yesterday about Filipe Coelho, the new Under 21s coach who arrived at Chelsea this summer from Portugal.

He’s had a rocky start in terms of results, but as we pointed out, his job is not really to win games, but to develop the oldest players in the academy and to prepare them for the crucial transition to the first team. There are a number of really talented Blues reaching that stage now.

Looking back on his first few months in the job, the former Benfica coach said much the same thing about his role as the games come thick and fast:

“Even having so many competitions we do not look at the competitions individually, we look at all the competitions as an opportunity to grow the team,” Coelho said in an interview on the club’s website.

“No matter if the next match is the International Cup or Premier League Cup or the EFL Trophy or Premier League 2, it’s about making things better and improving the players for the next match, no matter what match or competition it is.”

Filipe Coelho at Cobham for preseason. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)

Coelho’s Chelsea youth gearing up after a slow star

There are a number of really talented players in Coelho’s squad – some of whom are actually far too good for that level. There’s plenty of time to get results going in the right direction, but by May this team should be back to its usual position of stomping all over most rivals, domestically and in continental competition.

As always, the EFL Trophy is an interesting competition where our youngsters are pitted against senior players from lower divisions. That’s a crucial part of the development of our young players – although for someone like Harvey Vale, who has a season of men’s football already under his belt, it’s still a step down.