Carpenter’s Corner #6 – A difficult conversation about the academy

The Chelsea fanbase is at war, again.

Like a swelling tempest, the transfer window brings a lot of pressure from the Chelsea fanbase towards the owners, players and staff.

The particular disagreement in question is a long-running cultural one that exists in every football club to some degree, but has become extremely prevalent at Chelsea ever since Frank Lampard’s original tenure as manager, it’s about the academy.

Ever since Lampard’s first stint as coach following Chelsea’s transfer ban, the conversation around the academy has gotten louder and louder.

Various well-known fans online confidently state that they know the solution if the club would just do what they think is right.

This column is not that. If you’re looking for guaranteed answers you won’t find any.

There is no one right way, and we should rightly be wary of people across all walks of life who have this approach to complex topics.

So, join me, as we have a (one-sided) discussion about Chelsea’s academy, laying out the debate on both sides, so that you dear reader, can make the decision for yourself.

The current disagreements throughout the Chelsea fanbase in relation to academy treatment and integration comes from divergent philosophies around how a football club should be run.

Some prefer to frontload the squad with players throughout the academy, utilising them to play.

Others prefer a pro recruitment philosophy, picking specific targets, using those academy players as a financial makeweight.

Chelsea fans are right in principle to want to utilise an academy like Cobham…

Most would consider it one of the best academies in world football, generating incredible talents like Reece James, John Terry and Levi Colwill on a regular basis.

As such, you could see it as foolish to not try and integrate as many academy talents as possible into the team.

Integrating academy players to first team level saves money in the long run for the club as they have to shell out millions for replacements less often.

Having a conveyor belt of academy products rolling into the squad is what allows Chelsea to go and spend big money on world class players.

Nobody is saying that Chelsea does not need to sign players outside of the academy, but a better system for creating pathways to the first team is positive for the financial health of the club.

Similarly, given the Chelsea recruitment teams ability to “miss” with expensive transfers in the past, it makes sense to promote academy players for a minimal cost before spending big on a player who might turn out to flop.

Chelsea have rightfully held criticism for a long time over their treatment of academy talents.

Players who could have been something special were unceremoniously sold off for pennies who have then gone on to perform.

It’s not that every academy player who comes through will be world class, but if you don’t give them the chance to prove it before you sell them, this will happen.

We’ve seen many academy players (especially recently) leave the club. These players for the most part are good enough to at least have a squad-based role at Chelsea.

We’ve seen other teams spend millions on our academy graduates, players like Guehi, Livramento and Gilmour are carving careers out for themselves in the Premier League when they could have easily done so for us.

Most of all, we know the talent coming through the academy is good enough because they played an important part in Chelsea winning the Champions League for a second time just three years ago.

Good coaching and experienced teammates played their role, but Chelsea have since sold off most of those Champions League-winning academy players for profit.

It can feel as if academy graduates are neglected by design, unless they are both head and shoulders above their contemporaries and have a pathway into the team.

It seems the standard for getting into the team is more driven by what you cost than what you bring, resulting in expensive players getting more leeway for sub-standard performances than academy grads.

There is also a financial incentive to sell academy players, further discouraging their integration into the senior squad even when they’re good enough to be a part of it.

The phrase “pure profit” is thrown around a lot now but it is true.

From a financial management perspective, it makes sense, but that’s a corporate and cold way to run a club.

Players from the academy are more likely to “get” the club more, the culture of it, the meaning of it and what it means to put on that shirt every time you play.

Other players need more time to come in and adjust to the club when we have already adjusted, passionate and capable players on our own doorstep.

Connor Gallagher and Alfie Gilchrist have been two big shining stars in that regard this season.

Gallagher has been made captain on numerous occasions and been one of the best performers all season, while Gilchrist has taken his opportunity with both hands and has already established himself in the senior squad.

That connection to the club now matters more than ever as more fans are feeling disconnected from the club than ever since the sale.

Players like Gilchrist and Gallagher always give effort and while that should be a given, we’ve seen from many players from the last two seasons that it’s not.

It’s a tired cliché but it’s true, they play for the badge.

Again, this is not a case of trying to fill the squad with only academy players, but all else being equal in elite sport, passion and effort make a key difference.

Having more players from the academy who embody that kind of mentality is exactly what the senior squad desperately needs.

However, it feels like many will not get the chance to prove they belong at Chelsea because their pathway to the first team has been blocked by (sometimes several) million-pound signings that some would argue aren’t better than what we already had.

Many Chelsea fans can agree that if we’re being honest, had we not had the transfer ban we likely would not have integrated any of the players that we eventually won the Champions League with, including our current club captain.

To get the most out of Cobham, the players within it shouldn’t need luck or favourable circumstances to break through, it should be by design.

The arguments for a lesser academy integration and a pro recruitment model are also valid, however.

Chelsea Football Club is an elite sporting institution, to compete at the very top level, top players a required first and foremost, that can come from the academy but it’s not all that likely.

Not every academy player can or should make it at Chelsea, that is what some forget.

The whole point of having an academy is finding the gems and bringing them through, while selling those who are deemed surplus to requirements to make funds available for other options in the market.

For the most part this is what Chelsea have done in recent times.

The most important two academy players for Chelsea to protect from poaching was Reece James and Levi Colwill which the club has succeeded in.

The bar is high for a reason and if we have the opportunity to improve a position in the transfer market, we should.

Chelsea’s poor recruitment at times in the past isn’t fixed by more or less academy integration, it’s fixed with better recruitment models and staff making the decisions.

If a player who can improve us comes from the academy, then that is ideal, but the onus needs to be on the improvement they can offer the squad, not the academy they come from.

Academy players do well through competition in the squad, as Cobham youngsters have that built in drive and competitiveness from a young age.

Bringing in players for the academy grads to look up to, learn from and bond with builds the cohesion of the squad more overall and brings up the academy players to the right level.

Often times academy players are coming from academy football, but proving it at the youth level and at the first team level are very different.

Intensity, speed, physicality and intelligence is all tested to a much higher level.

Chelsea is a pressured environment and it’s sink or swim for any player who walks into the club, there’s no space for passengers, academy or otherwise.

It may sound harsh but that is elite level competition and it takes a special kind of player like a Levi Colwill or a Reece James to break into the Chelsea team as a regular at such a young age and even both of them have struggled at times.

Most academy players at Chelsea won’t make it at Chelsea on the sheer power of numbers alone but that’s fine.

The cream will rise to the top at an elite academy like Cobham and if they don’t, they’d never make it in the first team regardless.

It will be obvious when Chelsea have another Reece James coming through because much like Reece James, they’ll already be head and shoulders above their teammates, like James was pre-Wigan for example.

Chelsea’s academy has always been used to balance the books since the Abramovich era and it’s no different now.

An honest assessment though will tell you that those who are sold (for the most part) go on to have mediocre to good careers elsewhere, they’re not moving the needle.

Chelsea have yet to let go of an academy player and truly regret it to the level of a Salah or a KDB.

The closest being Jamal Musiala who left for his own personal reasons that were nothing to do with the club.

Players like Lewis Bate for example were crowned as the next big thing, before being sold to much outrage.

However, Bate then struggled to get into a poor Leeds side and we’ve heard nothing about him ever since.

Fans online can sometimes overstress the importance of individuals in the academy and whilst the academy is vital for the operation of the club, it’s very likely there will always be another talented youngster to come through.

Unless they really are something truly special, academy players getting sold is the norm for most clubs and certainly most big clubs, not the other way around.

Similarly, there are issues with Cobham itself with a pro academy stance.

Cobham develops potentially world-class defenders so well but struggles with developing its more attacking players.

Chelsea therefore need to focus on getting the recruitment right for elite attackers because the alternative is integrating players who aren’t ready.

Everybody loves a Cinderella story with academy grads but football isn’t a fairytale.

Academy players should be integrated when they have the best possible chance of successfully doing so, when the culture is right and performances are going well to help boost confidence and give them every chance to succeed, not simply because there’s a gap in the squad.

It is not responsible or fair for the development of those players to integrate them if this isn’t the case.

However, it feels that this expectation of Chelsea’s academy to be integrated is more of a pressure at Chelsea than other top clubs.

This may be due to Chelsea’s reputation around academy players but even that has faded in recent years.

Chelsea have and do try to keep their academy players if they’re deemed good enough to stay, such as Callum Hudson Odoi who we turned down a huge bid for.

Chelsea have had a record number of debutants this season and it’s clear that the academy is an important part of the club to the owners, who by 2030 want to have twenty-five percent of the first team squad made up of academy players.

It is also difficult to ascertain how much time in the academy is enough to be considered “Cobham made”.

A month? A year? Two years? Ten? At what stage does time in the academy entitle a player to break through over buying a player instead?

The harsh answer is whether a player has been at Cobham since they were eight, or just arrived last season, nothing entitles an academy player to a break through, they have to do it themselves.

Some of the greatest legends and players for our club have been from Arsenal, West Ham and other clubs all over the world.

They’re no less Chelsea than anyone in the academy just on the basis of not starting there.

You don’t have to be in the academy or even be at Chelsea for that long to get the club, some players just do, It’s where the phrase proper Chels comes from.

Football is a business and the financial aspect is indeed very, very important.

As Chelsea fans, we can’t want elite players like Osimhen who will cost an enormous amount of money and also want to keep the academy players who can facilitate the move for the superstars everyone’s clamouring for.

There is too much money going around in football for it not to affect circumstances for academy somewhat.

There has to be a prevailing belief that only the best will make it and for the most part, they have.