Chelsea must show they’re still the place to be for young talent.

Chelsea are never going to be able to give out opportunities to every young kid who comes through – there’s just no room for that when results are paramount. But they can certainly do a better job of identifying their brightest prospects and then making sure they feel valued and are given the chances they deserve.

Even the chance to be in a senior matchday squad and maybe play a couple of minutes at the end as a substitute gives these youngsters the sense that there’s forward progress in their career. Every time some hopeless squad player we can’t shift from the books gets on the pitch instead of them, it’s further evidence that they don’t have a clear future at the club.

 

 

This is something that needs to be a focus from the very top of the club down – managers need to know that playing academy players is very much part of their job and part of the team’s big picture strategy.

Following Mark Robinson’s departure, Chelsea confirms Filipe Coelho as the new Under-21s coach

Filipe Coelho has been named the new manager of Chelsea’s Under-21 team.

The 39-year-old Portuguese coach has been brought in to take the role of Mark Robinson, who departed Stamford Bridge last month after two seasons to take the helm of Burton Albion, a League One team.

After initially joining Benfica in 2006, Coelho spent 16 years working in the youth setup, coaching the U19s squad throughout that time.

His most recent position was at Estoril, where he led the free-scoring U23 team to a league and cup double in an unforgettable 2023–2024 season.

Now, Coelho takes charge of a gifted Chelsea U21 team comprised of highly regarded young players who finished fourth in Premier League 2 the previous season and went on to defeat both Brighton and Arsenal to go to the elimination play-off semifinals, where they were defeated by eventual winners Tottenham.

They also advanced to the quarterfinals of the Premier League International Cup, where they were defeated by PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands, and the last four of the Premier League Cup, when they were crushed by Fulham, a rival team from west London.

Chelsea released a statement on Thursday stating, “Chelsea Football Club is pleased to announce the appointment of Filipe Coelho as the club’s new Under-21s head coach.”

“The 39-year-old, who led Estoril’s Under-23 team to victory in the Under-23 Liga Revelacao, has joined the Blues after an outstanding season as head coach.

“Coelho had previously worked at the esteemed Academy of Benfica.” After beginning his career in the club’s junior setup in 2006, he advanced from assistant coach of the Under-14s to head coach of the Portuguese powerhouses’ Under-19s ahead of the 2022–2023 campaign. Filipe, welcome to Chelsea.