Well this game was certainly a completely different prospect to all of the other games so far in this seasons FA Youth Cup. Once again though this bright team of players managed to dominate the game with neat passing moves on a pretty poor pitch and create some good chances. The difference with this game was that Blackburn were out for a battle. Unusual at youth level to see a team play this way as development of the players is usually the priority but it most certainly was not the case last night.

The team set out in the now familiar line up with Jacopo Sala in for Milan Lalkovic who dropped to the bench. The game started how it was to carry on throughout. Chelsea making some neat passes and Blackburn absolutely steaming in to the tackles to stop us playing, more times a lot harder than the ref should have allowed. Connor clifford in particular was victim of a few cruinching tackles and he was pretty lucky to be able to carry on playing. As the game went on the Chelsea boys made the mistake of letting the aggression of Blackburn get to them and started to react with some hard tackles of their own which was disapointing as they didn’t need to they just needed to get on with their game but i suppose the lack of protection from the ref got them upset.

The fallout from the continuing hard tackles from Blackburn and the retaliation from Chelsea was an all out pitched battle in the middle of the park after Jacopo Sala had gone in hard on a Blackburn player and the Blackburn player reacted angrily and faced up to Sala, then the whole of both teams were involved. As this was going on, just away from the main bulk of players i saw Kaby Djalo sling a right hook right on the Jaw of a Blackburn player, at the time i was just hoping that the ref didn’t see it! Unfortunately he did see it and the ref sent off Kaby thankfully there was also before that the same player had kicked out at Kaby which was also spotted so he also got his marching orders. They were the only 2 players to be sent off but Sala received a booking for the initial foul.

Just after that incident was Blackburns only real period of pressure on our defence which was easily managed by our back 4 without too much hassle. For the rest of the game though it was all Chelsea in control with some very nice passing, McEachran showing a masterclass in how to effortlessly create space for himself, Gokhan Tore tormenting the full back again showing great ability and skill. And Mitrovic working hard to battle with the defenders. All in all it was a very pleasing performance, and had we just got on with the football it may have been better for us. We should have scored more goals but a 1 – 0 win in the away lef is very nice indeed and we now go back to the bridge where we can look to build on that and take us through to the Final which i am sure we can.

For the next leg now Kaby will be suspended so that will mean that Jacopo Sala will slot into the midfield role and Milan Lalkovic will step to the wings. Lalkovic looked threatening when he came on and created a couple of good chances but during 90 minutes against this physical side i hope he can cope. Hopefully we can get a ref as well that will clamp down early on the overy physical side of Blackburn before it gets out of hand.

Our goal though unusually wasn’t even scored by ourselfs, from a corner the ball was put into the back of the net by a Blackburn player Tom Hitchcock, Chelsea fan and son of Kevin Hitchcock. We had enough other chances to score but unfortunately couldn’t take any of them and that one goal was enough for us to take a lead back to the bridge. 2 goals or more would have killed the tie off and i think we deserved it too, but it wasn’t to be. I think on that performance we can be happy with the 1 goal lead because as far as threats on goal Blackburn had little to offer and i feel we can contain them easily at the bridge.

This team is a very good example of how the 4-3-3 works best. 2 Battling midfielders with one creative midfielder ahead of them, 2 fast and skillfull wingers with the big target man down the middle. Exactly how we looked in the first team in Jose’s first 2 seasons. This formation with the right players is so hard to play against and i would love to see us emulate that in the first team again and one day a lot of these players doing it for the first team too.

Player Reviews:

Sam Walker – Sam has virtually been a spectator throughout this FA Youth Cup run this season. This game was only marginally different. Sam is proving to be a very talented young keeper and i like the way his development is going. His shot stopping is top drawer and he is really doing well with taking his crosses, last night he dealt with them very well indeed, didn’t put a foot wrong and pulled off one very good save in particular (which will be missed off the highlights as my sky messed up the recording at that point). Not even Sam was allowed to escape the physical nature of Blackburn and with one kick from his hands was subjected to a late kick for no apparant reason, didn’t put him off the kick though. Good performance from him when it was needed. 7

Billy Clifford – Billy is developing very nicely as a right back. This game he was very much the same as normal. His main attribute is to get forward well and support the winger infront of him, he got in advance of Sala plenty of times in the first half and was able on many occasions to get ahead of Jacopo Sala and det a delivery into the box. He is also a tenacious little player so what not fased by the aggressive nature of the blackburn game. 7

Aziz Deen Conteh – Probably Aziz’s worst game of the cup run so far, which is being pretty harsh on him considering the performances that he has put in this cup run. First half he got causght out of position or got beaten a little too easily, but he was up against a big and physical player. Second half was much much improvement from him and he was more controlled in defence and got forward very well a couple of times, one in particular with a very nice cutting run into the box. Very much like the look of Aziz and is continuing a tradition we have of producing good left backs. 7

Daniel Pappoe – Danny was given the nod ahead of Rohan Ince even though Rohan has the experience and Danny is still a schoolboy. Again a very nice performance from him indeed. More to do in this game than in a lot of the other ones but physically as you would expect he coped with no problem with the birmingham attack. He was also quick and able to nip in and beat the attacker to the ball. Hs formed a very good partnership with Jeffrey Bruma in the cup and will prove very dificult indeed to get past them in the next leg. 7

Jeffrey Bruma – Captains performance from Jeffrey and he showed great leadership in this game also. When the fight broke out he was there trying to clam things down rather than getting involved, showed great maturity. Having been on the bench for last nights Champions League game it was quite a difference for him and he had to take a cab to Blackburn after the game so didn’t get a lot of sleep. Very controlled and assured performance from him, showed his class again. 8

Aliu ‘Kaby’ Djalo – Dissapointed in Kaby because of the red card. No matter what the other player had done to provoke him he should never have reacted in that way. And as academy Captain he should be trying to set an example. He will be in trouble with the academy bosses over this and will miss the next game, not too sure if it is a 3 match ban or not, if it is he will miss the final too. Before that though he was playing well alongside Clifford, breaking things up and getting attacking moves going, shame it was overshadowed by the red card. 5

Connor Clifford – As i mentioned in the match report Connor became somthing of a target for the Blackburn players tackles and he took 2 particulary nasty challenges which left him down for a while, and that is hard to do with Connor. But Connor is a robust player and carried on as was more than happy to get stuck himself. He was the engine on the midfield and was able to snuff out attacks coming down the middle. As usual he was not afraid to take on a couple of shots from distance, none of which in this game were troubling the keeper. Still a good showing from Connor. 7

Josh McEachran – Josh has really improved as the season has gone on. Just looking at these FA Youth Cup games it is very clear. It is hard to do justice his ability trying to write in words. Some of the things he does to create space for himself look so effortless and easy but they are not that straight forward, he can work well under pressure to and is quick to see and opening. Rarely giving the ball away he was alway available in the attacks as they were building up. Josh is a key player for this team in our attempt to win it, and i think he will be eligable next season also which will be a big deal. 8

Jacopo Sala – Jacopo has become a bit of a strange player to me. Last season it was very clear his ability. Playing wide and able to get some brilliant crosses in and beat his man when needed. This season he has taken a more central role at times and looked very comfortable and when played out wide has looked a little lost, i think because this 4-3-3 needs fast quick wingers like Tore and Lalkovic. Sala did play well though and was involved with a lot of good things, some very neat quick flicks which showed good vision from him. He did get carried away more than the other and was the one who commited the foul which kicked off the fight. 6

Gokhan Tore – I like Gokhan Tore very much and i am so pleased we scouted him. He is a joy to watch because he can do some brilliant tricks and beat his man with pace and skill which he does so often so well, but physically he can cope with anything because he is built like a tank! He also rarely gives the ball away and can work in tight spaces to create a yard of space to do what he needs. Crossing wasn’t as good as it has been in previous rounds but still a great show put on by Gokhan, needs to start adding goals to his game but i don’t want to be too harsh on him because he was a main player again last night. 8

Marko Mitrovic – Marko is very much developing into a young Didier Drogba. His hold up play is comming on leaps and bounds and in this game he held his own against some robust challenges whinning the ball and holding it up, bringing others into the game. His goals ratio is fantastic also, didn’t score this time around but came very close a couple of times and was causing their defence problems all night long. 7