Alfie Gilchrist is the latest Cobham success story; now the onus is on Chelsea to aid his development

Posted on by Harrison Burridge

Football can ultimately be boiled down to a few simple components and at the heart of supporting your club is watching products of your academy progressing into the first team and demonstrating the value of the pathway.

Alfie Gilchrist this season has been one for Chelsea who has climbed the rungs of the ladder to ascend into the first team but his future is clouded.

Clouded by the current landscape of the club and outlook in particular to those produced in their own backyard.

Less than 20 miles from Stamford Bridge, lies Chelsea’s Cobham training base in the north of Surrey. Inconspicuously out of sight from the hustle and bustle of West London but a venue that holds equal importance to the success of the Blues.

A clear example comes in the form of academy graduates Tammy Abraham, Tino Anjorin, Andreas Christensen, Billy Gilmour, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Reece James and Mason Mount all playing parts in Chelsea’s 2020/21 Champions League winning campaign. Or more recently the re-introduction of Trevoh Chalobah to the first team set-up in a seamless manner with Mauricio Pochettino calling on the Englishman in every game bar one since his first minutes of the season.

However, the relationship between the club’s first team and their academy is constantly under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Recent times have seen academy products moved on in favour of shiny expensive additions to the first team set-up for no obvious on field improvement with the Blues on for their second successive mid table finish.

The last few months has seen a new name enter the picture. Alfie Gilchrist – a commanding centre back – has progressed from captaining the club’s Under-21 side to being a regular member of the first team squad. 13 appearances with three from the start have totalled 268 minutes in the fledging days of his Chelsea career.

A handful of minutes in the dying embers of the victories over Crystal Palace and Luton Town endeared Gilchrist to the Chelsea faithful with a chaotic block using his head in the former and vital tackle in the latter displaying his character and capabilities. Not necessarily pleasing on the eye but equally as important as any other player.

His importance has been furthered by the natural versatility in his game with the majority of his minutes coming on either flank of the defence rather than the heart – where he has plied his trade in academy football. The ability to fill in wherever needed is one of the great positives of Cobham with the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Lewis Hall, Mount and Hudson-Odoi in years gone by all being deployed in positions that don’t suit their strengths.

At the same time, your greatest strength can be your greatest weakness. Those names mentioned suffered and became victims of their versatilities in being denied the opportunity to flourish in the positions they honed their crafts in for numerous years.

Therefore, the next logical step in Gilchrist’s development would be a loan move to facilitate regular senior first team football in his preferred position, something that has been hinted at in recent weeks from the club. But picking the right club and environment for the defender to thrive at has to be top of the agenda especially with the recent track record of loan moves.

Andrey Santos, Armando Broja and David Datro Fofana are a few who have had moves transpire in a manner they wouldn’t have wanted and some of the reasoning for which can be traced back to the hierarchy in West London. This is without mentioning the Hall fiasco that saw him signing a long new contract and moving across London to Crystal Palace for the season before jetting off up north for a permanent switch.

That situation will act as a stark reminder to Chelsea fans of how quickly the attraction of selling academy products for ‘pure profit’ can appeal with the club’s financial situation constantly in the spotlight although the 2022/23 accounts went some way to easing fans’ fears. Every window Conor Gallagher and Chalobah are touted as available for sale with both remaining at the club although the upcoming summer window could spell the end for both.

Both of those however are players who benefitted massively from several loan moves before becoming first team regulars. It is a strategy that was also pivotal in the journeys of several of the group involved in the 2020/21 Champions League success.

All eyes are on the club as Gilchrist, arguably the first academy player to properly breakthrough under the new ownership, sets out on his own journey but one that won’t reach the end destination many desire if the correct building blocks aren’t put in place in the coming weeks and months.

Written and edited by Harrison Burridge (@hburridge2)

Follow us on:

Leave a Reply