This Wednesday 17th March sees the Chelsea Youth team enter a FA Youth Cup Semi Final for the second time in 3 seasons, hopefully the kind of thing we can keep going through the years now. This years run has really been something special with the boys really growing in confidence and ability with every round that passes and some really excellent stand out performances also from a number of players. Different to the previous rounds of the cup the Semi finals are played over 2 legs, the first leg of this tie being away from home at Ewood park where Blackburn Rovers will hope to have a nice result to take to the bridge. Tickets for this fixture are available at £3 per person and the club are saying that only 3,000 are going to be allowed inside the bridge so of you can get your tickets and get down to the bridge for the return leg.

Dermot Drummy, i have to admit may be starting to prove me wrong, i have critised him in the past for not being strong enough as a Coach of the U18′s and not getting the best out of the players and most importantly i critisised him for not taking the Youth Cup seriously when he took after last season and saw a lacklustre performance see us go out to Liverpool. This season though he has done very well, he has got these boys playing brilliantly as a group and have clearly had a very good go at the Youth Cup, also in the regular Youth league he is getting them playing and results are looking very good now and performances have certainly improved. So i am happy to say that Dermot this season is proving me wrong.

Team selection is going to be something of a headache for Drummy with a number of players back from injury and on top form looking to be included in a team that has no weakness. It would seem the mysterious absense of Billy knott is set to continue and with strong representation at Centre back i am sure that the impressive Aziz Deen-Conteh will continue at right back. Billy Clifford will most certainly continue at right back hope to continue his good form also. Centre Back is the first place where Dermot will have something of a headache. Jeffrey Bruma looks set to continue to play in the FA Youth cup with is excellent news because his experience and leadership has been a big factor in this run, but the questions is now who to partner him? Does Dermot go with the young and excellent Danny Pappoe who has had a fantstic season so far or does he go for the highly rated Rohan Ince who has been out for the season with a long injury. My feeling is that he should stick with Pappoe and i am sure that Drummy will do the same.

With 4-3-3 being the prefered formation for this cup run there are a couple of players who are hoping they will get included. The main question is over Jacopo Sala and Milan Lalkovic. I am sure that we will continue with C.Clifford, Kaby Djalo and Josh McEachran in the midfield 3 all of whom have been brilliant so far in the cup all bringing their own unique style to the midfield and creating somthing that works very well indeed. Jacopo Sala may feel that he could be included in there but i think it would be wrong to break up that midfield 3. Gokhan Tore is a definate starter on the left wing and will hope to dazzle the defenders again with his quick feet, his crossing has also been a feature of this cup run and hopefully that can also continue as i am sure that Mitrovic who will play upfront will look forward to getting on the end of those crosses and continue his excellent scoring run in which he has bagged 15 goals for the youth team so far this season. So the only question left is do we play Sala or Lalkovic on the right? I think Sala has the more experience but seems lately to prefer playing down the middle, Lalkovic can be a little greedy at times but has some good skill. Either would be fine for me but i think Drummy may go for Sala.

So can Chelsea produce another strong performance? So far this run we have absolutely dominated teams and barely given them a sniff, Blackburn will be tough opponents though and they have a good reputation. However should we get a win at Ewood park i think that would almost gurantee us a place in the final and i think we are more than strong enough to get that win and to do the business at the bridge also. Players are making reputations for themselves in this cup run and that will take them a long way, just look at the top performers from the last Semi finalists – Van Aanholt, Bruma, Mellis, Kakuta and Stoch. 2 years down the line will we looking at some of these players and thinking they are ready for first team action? My feeling is yes and possibly with more of the team.

So watch the game on Chelsea TV, if you don’t have Chelsea TV then get the highlights from myself either on this forum or from my YouTube profile and see how good these lads are. And don’t forget the second leg at the bridge is 22nd of March so get yourself down there to cheer them on if you can.