Incredible England stat shows why Chelsea deserve criticism for fumbling academy stars
Today at 01:06 PM
Former Telegraph head football writer Henry Winter has just put out a Tweet which has gained quite a bit of interest.
Winter pointed out that 3/4 of the defence which England have put out against Ireland in today's friendly game was produced by Chelsea's academy.
Tino Livramento, Lewis Hall and Marc Guehi were all at Cobham until they finished their development. It's a pretty amazing stat, especially when you consider Reece James and Levi Colwill are Chelsea produced Premier League regulars who could easily be starting for the Three Lions too.
There is a very realistic scenario where the England back four at the next Euros or World Cup is made up of 4 Cobham graduates – especially now former Blues boss Thomas Tuchel is in charge.
Chelsea's brilliant academy providing threequarters of England's defence, full-backs Livramento and Hall and centre-back Guehi, plus Gallagher in midfield. #CFC academy produces such talent but how much stays? (James, Colwill obv).
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) November 17, 2024
Chelsea deserve criticism as well as praise for England dominance
Some angry reply guys under Winter's Tweet are demanding Newcastle get more credit for the progress of Hall and Livramento, who both play there now. But let's face it, they both left Chelsea as pretty mature players, not as 9 year olds. Eddie Howe and Newcastle deserve credit for buying them and using them (they never would have got these opportunities at Chelsea, let's face it), but their ability all comes from their tutelage at Chelsea.
As Winter points out, for as much as Chelsea deserve credit for producing these players, they also deserve criticism for the fact that none of the 3 stayed at the club. If you don't provide the chances for them to play, they're never going to stay, and all the time, money and effort put into developing them was wasted, ultimately.
