ACADEMY: Chelsea dominate the U21s but some good individual performances 

03/21/2025 02:46 AM

The U21s suffered a tough 3-1 defeat against a talented Chelsea side last Friday afternoon. The Blues U21s named a strong team with numerous players from their development side named in the senior UEFA Conference League squad against Copenhagen the previous day. 

Also, if a further reminder was needed of the quality of the Chelsea squad, £17m summer signing Omari Kellyman started the match on the right side. The player tasked with defending Kellyman was newly promoted Norwich full-back Vatan Ozcan (17), and the Turkish international stood up to the challenge admirably. 

Chelsea utilised the quality of their squad well, delivering a faultless first-half performance, where they piled overwhelming pressure on the young Canaries. Although the Blues only went into half-time at 2-0, it could have been much more were it not for the goalkeeping heroics of Ellis Craven. 

Since returning to the U21s side, Craven has delivered two positive performances this month—making a plethora of impressive saves against both Blackburn and Chelsea. This was particularly apparent against Chelsea where he made multiple sharp reflex saves to keep his side in the game.

One of the saves was particularly outstanding and can be viewed here on Instagram. 

After a couple of loan moves, Craven's goalkeeping has matured, making more calculated decisions while implementing the beliefs of the coaching staff. Playing more frequently has undoubtedly helped his rhythm, but it’s a credit to the youngster for forcing his way back into the side after it looked unlikely at one stage.

Despite the U21s now playing for just pride and self-development, he will be itching to play against Arsenal, at Carrow Road on Monday, March 31 (KO 7pm).

Against City, Chelsea’s press was exemplary, winning several turnovers in the Canaries' defensive third and putting the hosts’ back four under severe pressure. 

To their credit, City’s U21s have stuck to their philosophy throughout the season, building up from the back starting with the goalkeeper. However, this didn't play to their advantage last Friday, as they made a few errors in build-up play – conceding possession in their penalty box.

While they recovered from the situation with some last-ditch defending, they need to make better judgements about when to play and when to go direct. 

Given Craven has played in recent games, his confidence on the ball is unmatched, meaning the outfield players have to take greater care in possession as it's likely to go short more frequently. 

Although the U21s’ build-up play was underwhelming against Chelsea, it's been generally satisfactory across the season, with Charlie Wilson and Theo Adelusi displaying confidence on the ball. 

Adelusi has been particularly impressive in possession as he's fantastic at identifying obscure passing lanes and scanning the pitch before executing purposeful passes through the lines. 

^{Theo Adelusi has been a fantastic option for the U18s, and U21s this season. Credit: Gorleston FC}

Considering the 17-year-old defender has played in every position across the backline this season for both U18s and U21s, he deserves massive credit as he's rarely made a mistake – increasing his stock internally. 

From August to December, Adelusi was used as a left-sided defender but after Christmas, he operated as a right-centre back with his performance level remaining constant. The teenager has also experienced playing as a right-back for the U21s, which enhances his footballing understanding. 

Despite the U21 defenders being confident in possession, they heavily rely on AJ Bridge’s phenomenal technical qualities to get them ticking. Bridge is fantastic at finding intricate areas of space to receive the ball and progressing it up the pitch with a variety of short and direct passes.

Bridge's technical precision was demonstrated perfectly against Chelsea, where he played a terrific long pass towards the right flank, which ended with Errol Mundle-Smith grabbing a consolation. 

But due to Chelsea implementing their pressing triggers superbly, Bridge found it hard to influence the game as frequently and effectively as he would have liked.

As in multiple games this season, the U21s’ main threat was provided by their wide players with Mundle-Smith producing another promising performance. The versatile forward made numerous marauding runs forward, twisting and weaving around opposition defenders. 

Mundle-Smith's threat was so dangerous that Chelsea made a direct substitution at half-time, introducing a greater physical profile to negate his attacking threat. As a result, Errol's threat was reduced slightly in the second half, but he scored a fabulous goal by cutting inside before converting into the left-hand corner in a composed fashion.

Playing strong opposition such as Chelsea makes it difficult to become an attacking threat from many angles but City were still incredibly one-dimensional – mainly looking for Mundle-Smith to try and create something out of nothing. 

There have been moments where the U21s have constructed promising patterns of play across all thirds of the pitch, opening up the opposition fluently with sharp combinations and quick intensity. The central midfielders have been responsible for these elegant moments where they connect the play efficiently. 

However, most of their attacking play originates from their wide players receiving the ball on the halfway line, before running at opposition defenders. Brandon Forbes and Mundle-Smith have been excellent at executing this using their acceleration qualities. 

Regular changes to squad personnel haven't helped the U21s but there should have been more growth from an attacking perspective across the campaign. They have struggled to open up their opposition during settled possession and have failed to construct intricate patterns of play that move defenders around. 

They are more suited to playing on the counter-attack where space becomes available and they can produce moments of individual quality. This has been demonstrated throughout the season as a fair proportion of their goals have come from transition sequences. 

Also, although the team struggles to create huge opportunities, they haven't taken their chances when it counts, resulting in the team regularly chasing games.

The side’s talent and potential are clear, but they need to show their quality more regularly to win more matches.