Jose Mourinho was perceived as not willing to give youngsters a chance even though he always seemed to have plenty of choice in the older part of his squads making selecting youngsters pretty tough. Antonio Conte has a number of youngsters in his first team squad and no matter what the choices available to him he managed to finish Saturday’s 3-0 win over Leicester City with no fewer than 3 academy developed youngsters on the pitch. Conte brought Nathaniel Chalobah, Ola Aina and Ruben Loftus-Cheek off the substitutes’ bench in the second stanza to inject some fresh legs into his side and give the 3 players valuable minutes on the pitch in the first team.

Sure it was an easy game to use the youngsters in as the result was wrapped up and there was not much pressure on the 3 players but it still showed his willingness to give them an opportunity to impress. Such opportunities have been in short supply under previous managers who clearly felt the pressure to get results was too great and therefore were not willing to gamble on the performances of youth players.

Speaking after the match Conte made it clear that age plays no part in his selection process. As ESPNFC reported he had this to say on the topic,

“People who know me will know I don’t gift a place to anyone, only those who deserve to play will play for me. It is important for Chalobah and Aina to understand this.

“When I have called Chalobah he has always answered me in a positive way. If they are ready I will put them in.

“In the future they can play from the start. Age is not important. I made my first appearance in Serie A at only 16.”

It is certainly a breath of fresh air to hear a manager with this kind of philosophy at the helm of the Blues and it bodes well for Chelsea’s young stars who might finally get some good opportunities to show their stuff in the first team.