Chelsea’s Development Squad were in action last night – but it was a weaker team than usual.
The sheer number of kids called up for the first team meant that there were some changes to the usual line-up. Alfie Gilchrist and Josh Acheampong were to watch the thrilling 5-4 win over Brighton and cheer on their regular colleagues having played for the first team against Spurs.
Matt Davies-Adams also noted a more surprising presence – that of Romeo Lavia, the £58m signing for the first team who has been plagued by injury since arriving from Southampton last summer.
We suppose that given he’s been shut down for the season and won’t kick a ball in anger until preseason, there’s not much else for him to do other than go watch some games. And he certainly had a thriller on his hands here. Chelsea made it through the round of 16 in the playoffs to the Quarter Finals, with 3 goals scored in extra time after Brighton grabbed an 85th minute equaliser.
The poster boy for a disastrous plan
Unfortunately for Lavia, he has rather become the figurehead for the whole of the last two years’ catastrophic signing policy. We signed him when we didn’t really need him, we massively overpaid for him, then he got injured and didn’t make a single start all year.
But none of that is his fault, and he shouldn’t be blamed personally. As with a few others in this squad, he’s just going to have to write off this season as though it never happened and start fresh next year.
It’s good to see him doing things like this, just to show he’s integrating with the squad. It’s also a reminder of just how young he is – he must have friends still playing at that level.
Onwards and upwards, Romeo. We’ll see you in preseason.
