What's your opinion on Frank Arnesen?.

(Source Mirror)

As we all know Frank Arnesen has announced that he is leaving the club when his contract expires at the end of the season. People have a very divided opinion about Arnesen. There are people with the opinion that he hasn't done enough and people who have the opposite opinion. Arnesen himself commented himself the other day and stated that he believes the club should be very excited. He said:

“The club should be very excited. Since I came here five years ago, not only the players who have come in but also the staff who have come in to train them are at such a high level. I say that because I see it every day and it is some of the best around.

How do you measure that? You measure that every week by the way we are playing. I am here every Sunday if I can be and I watch Under 9s, Under 10s etc. and I have seen progress over the past few years. It is not just that we are winning games but the way we have started to play football.

We have a new system, a new philosophy, and you can see the players and the coaches, they have everything under control.

You see players who are 12, 13, 14 years old and the way they play football is marvellous.”

If we are looking at the whole Arnesen project and what he has delivered then some people look at our first team for the past few seasons and see the likes of Scott Sinclair, Franco Di Santo and Miroslav Stoch leave the club or others such as Ryan Bertrand, Michael Mancienne and Jack Cork farmed off out on loan every season and realise they will probably never get the chance.

The thing we do have to remember is that when he came to the club everyone expected the next John Terry to come along in the space of five years. With the new training facilities being built everything was put in place for the development of our younger players to happen. Like he has said in his interview above it was also about getting the right people in place. This of course takes time.

The problem we as Chelsea fans realise (and I say this before this season and what's happened with our squad) is that we see the world class players in the team and in reserve and we think to ourselves they aren't ever going to get a chance. That's because of the quality we have and had in the past five years in our side. Our bench was renowned as being the best in the league. This season, this has changed as we have seen established names leave the club and with the injuries we have had, seen our youngsters become named in the 18 players week in, week out.

Granted some players probably would never have flourished at Chelsea. Maybe some players who have left have found "their level" and will become major players in certain leagues. Scott Sinclair for example has taken the Championship by storm this season, but you do have to wonder if he would be able to do the same in the Premier League.

Getting back to the question at hand, we have to look at the positive and that's what we find ourselves focused on more this season than any other. The ruling the teams will have to abide by has helped and with our squad of just 19 first teamers, the youth are finally getting their chance. Van Aanholt, McEachran, Kakuta and Bruma have all appeared for us on the pitch, some more than others, this season or at least have been named as regulars on the pitch.

I know its because of our injury problems mainly but you would still find a couple there on the bench when everyone is fit. What's important to remember here is what Arnesen is saying, Chelsea have been left in good hands with a great Academy set up and should continue to see the youngsters coming through more than ever in the coming seasons. The fact that remains at Chelsea, along with the big sides aiming for domestic and European glory is that we want success now and we have spent money in the past to strengthen our squad in order to obtain silverware.

Ideally we all want the Barcelona model of today. I sat and watched the Barcelona v Real Madrid game on Monday night and was blown away by how they played them off the pitch and let's face it destroyed Madrid. Let's take a look for a second at the two sides. They very much resemble Chelsea five or six years ago (by spending big money on players) to the Chelsea side we are trying to build.

Madrid for example had one maybe (I am not sure) home grown player in their side in Casillas on the pitch, the rest paid for with extortionate amounts of money as their president splashes the cash to bring the title and Champions League glory back to Madrid, A La Chelsea when Roman first came to the club and the season after.

Barcelona however, have gradually introduced home grown players and have eased out the bigger overseas names and have amazed everyone. I think the commentator mentioned there were eight Barcelona players on the pitch who have come through the ranks at the club. Valdes, Puyol, Pique, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro and Messi were players from their Academy who are now first team regulars. This is the model Chelsea and the rest are looking to follow.

So I am asking you the Chelsea fans the questions bearing in mind only really now are we beginning to see the youngsters making some sort of impact at Chelsea. With ArnesenLampard albeit in a few years yet:

What do you think of Arnesen leaving and do you think he has done a good job?

KTBFFH