Harvey Vale, Jude Soonsup-Bell, and Xavier Simons take a bow. Chelsea fans have called and Thomas Tuchel has answered.
Chelsea’s Carabao Cup clash came with a win against their west London neighbours, Brentford. With all the injuries and positive Covid tests, Chelsea have not been fortunate with their usual vast selection possibilities.
Following their draw against Wolverhampton, Thomas Tuchel expressed his distaste for the circumstances that the club was in, however he decided to take the fans' advice.
Blues supporters took to social media calling for the academy players to make their first-team debut to avoid any further risks. Whilst Tuchel probably didn’t start the day looking through Twitter and Facebook for advice, he gave the fans what they wanted and the young prospects did not disappoint.
Can we just take a moment for young Harvey Vale? Goodness me, he has not failed to deliver since his senior call up. He has lived up to the hype in my eyes but that was to be expected.
The link-up between him and Soonsup-Bell just 16 minutes into the first half was impressive as they found the feet of Ross Barkley, who was unable to bury the shot into the back of the net.
As frustrating as it was to watch Barkley scuff a couple of chances, Chelsea fans were gifted with the almost telepathic link-up play between the two Cobham graduates.
Vale and Soonsup-Bell made their passes between one another seamless. It's nice to see that our Cobham graduates with another opportunity could potentially take the game into their hands.
Experience is key for these young prospects. Xavier Simons for me was a stand-out. Whilst I had already expected Vale to hit the ground running with JSB, Simons was a question mark for me, yet he delivered on quality.
He was caught out in possession a number of times but the 18-year-old's recovery was exceptional. Often getting back to win balls ahead of captain Cesar Azpilicueta, whose acceleration could not compare.
In the end, it was an own goal and a penalty to win Chelsea the match seeing them through to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup.
Both goals came once the academy prospects had left the field through substitutions. Considering that they only had two days of training to get fit and ready for this match, I'd say the graduates did a solid job.
Wouldnt' have had it any other way. Actually, a goal from one of them would have been nice, but they will surely have their chance again later down the line!
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