15-16 賽季青訓回顧 - 切爾西足球俱樂部 Chelsea Football Club

https://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2016/06/
the-young-generation--academy-season-reviewed.html

The Young Generation: Academy season reviewed

Fri 10 Jun 2016


In the third and final part of a series of interviews looking back on the
2015/16 campaign in the Chelsea Academy, we speak to the head of youth
development, Neil Bath.


Bath can reflect on another season of extraordinary achievement for our
development sides, with the FA Youth Cup and UEFA Youth League both
successfully retained by our Under-18 and Under-19 teams respectively.
There were first team debuts for three 18-year-olds, Tammy Abraham, Jake
Clarke-Salter and Fikayo Tomori, all of whom were signed as Under-9s.


Meanwhile, many of those who progressed into the senior game on loan have
fared well too, with Lewis Baker, Jeremie Boga, Izzy Brown, Andreas
Christensen, Todd Kane, Charly Musonda and Dominic Solanke all featuring
regularly in Europe's top leagues.


After 12 years in his current role, Bath is clearly seeing the benefits of
a long-term overhaul of the youth development programme that began over a
decade over. Young English players signed from the local London and
south-east region at eight years old are now graduating as professional
footballers after 10 years in the system, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek
frequently in the Chelsea first team last term.


'When you look at youth development in the modern game, where the average
age of a starting debut in the Premier League is 23, it is clearly a
15-year development programme for the players from when they sign as
Under-9s,' Bath tells the official Chelsea website.


'The reality is it is going to take that long to become an established
Premier League player. We now have a model where players join us at
Under-8 to Under-11, start having increased contact time and then join our
full-time school programme at Under-15. They will then progress to become
full-time scholars, experiencing tournaments like the Youth Cup and UEFA
Youth League as well as international representation, which is really
important for their development.


'Following that, we will then look for them to experience a senior loan if
the time is not quite right for them to join our first team squad. Players
like Christensen, Solanke and Musonda have experienced that this season
and it is just another part of their journey to becoming Premier League
players.


'In short, it's very much a long-term strategic plan and we are fortunate
to have a board and an owner that have been patient and incredibly
supportive with our development programme.'


Trophy successes in the premier domestic and continental competitions are
understandably celebrated, though Bath is quick to emphasise these
achievements mark the start of a journey, not the pinnacle.


'In many ways the trophies can be seen as the highlight of our season but
I take just as much pleasure in how players like Christensen have
performed this year,' he says. 'A 19-year-old centre-half experiencing his
first taste of senior football and he has practically played every week in
the Bundesliga for Borussia Monchengladbach. Not only that, he has also
helped them qualify again for the Champions League next season and made
his senior international debut.


'It is always interesting to see how players handle breaking into the
senior game and developing away from the club for the first time. It's
about taking your opportunities and Andreas has certainly done that this
season.'


Part of the academy journey that Bath oversees involves young players
playing in competitive tours and tournaments, both domestically and
overseas. These experiences stand them in good stead for their future
involvement as scholars, while learning how to manage time off the field
on tour also proves useful for future international involvement.


'By the time a player makes his debut in the Youth Cup, he has already
played in about 30 or 40 different tournaments with different age groups.
This means when they get to the big tournaments at Under-18 and Under-19,
you are quite confident about their mentality, mindset and preparation,
which does give them an advantage.


'Our Under-15s have won the Premier League International Tournament and
the southern section of the Floodlit Cup this season, while our Under-14s
and Under-13s were runners-up in the Premier League domestic and
international tournaments respectively. Along with a number of overseas
tours that we have won at the younger age groups, it has been good for the
boys to experience that environment and get a taste for winning.'


Five of our youngsters tasted success for England Under-21s last month as
they triumphed in the Toulon Tournament for the first time in 22 years.
Loftus-Cheek was named player of the tournament, while Baker won the
golden boot with four goals.


'It was fantastic to see so many of our boys helping England to success at
Toulon,' says Bath. 'We have quite an even distribution of youth
internationals throughout the England age groups, plus of number of
international players representing their countries, and it's just another
part of their development as young players.


'It's important for us to work with the governing bodies to ensure we're
all pulling in the same direction. What has changed over time is that
there are now so many more people surrounding young players and more
influences on them, from academies, international football, agents,
family, friends and social media. There are so many more opinions going
into players so it's important that we work collectively to ensure those
messages are coherent and of benefit to the boys in their football and
academic education.'


After 10 years in the Chelsea Academy, defender Kevin Wright is set to
move on this summer. The 20-year-old was part of FA Youth Cup and Under-21
Premier League triumphs in 2013/14 and now looks to take the next step in
his professional career.


'Naturally we wish Kevin all the best and hope that he can continue his
career in the game. Chelsea has been a big part of his life for the last
10 years and he knows we will remain here for him if he requires any
support or help further down the line.'


There were end-of-season awards presented to Fikayo Tomori as Academy
Player of the Year and Josh Grant as Scholar of the Year. Both defenders
excelled as part of the collective successes, with Tomori scoring in both
Youth Cup and UEFA Youth League finals.


Similarly, Jake Clarke-Salter and Jay Dasilva were given special
recognition for the remarkable achievement of three Youth Cup triumphs.
The pair, who won the trophy as schoolboys in 2013/14 before back-to-back
successes as full-time scholars, join a select group with five others who
collected a trio of winners' medals 60 years ago as part of Manchester
United's Busby Babes side.


Despite significant success in recent years, including five FA Youth Cup
wins in seven years, Bath works hard to guard against any kind of
complacency. He knows the programme must constantly evolve and advance if
the club are to remain at the forefront of youth development.


'The competition in those early ages of recruitment is getting tougher and
tougher so ensuring that we stay ahead in terms of our coaching setup and
delivery, education programme and facilities is paramount to creating an
environment and culture that players and parents want to join.


'For example, we will have a new permanent indoor facility operational for
the start of the new season that can be used all year round. Also, on the
first day of pre-season we will have a meeting between all full-time and
part-time staff to review our technical programme and explore how we can
kick on again. It is vital that we don't stand still, we keep learning and
improving to stay ahead of the game.'

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以伊露維塔的名為證發誓 — 若有誰敢奪取屬於我們的藍色之心，不論對方是天使
、惡魔、男人或女人，包括尚未出生者，若有任何的生靈，不論偉大或渺小，是善
還是惡，我們都將懷著復仇與憎恨之心直追到天涯海角，直追到世界結束之日。

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