How have Chelsea's on-loan youngsters done this season

Ok, its been a while since I wrote something on the blog. The season has not exactly turned out to be good one so far as we struggle to ensure Champions league next season. Inconsistent displays has meant that Chelsea languish in 4th, below Tottenham as of today in the league standings. With a FA cup quarter final at Old Trafford this Sunday and a first leg loss to Steau at the Europa league, all that remains is slim hopes of a title this season. We can just hope for the best to come from the FA cup and the Europa league while consolidating the Champions league spot will be of primary important.

We know how the current team has done- brilliant at times, but really inconsistent. But how have the youngsters on loan deals done so far? I had covered performance of the youngsters early in the season in two parts:

http://forthechelseafans.blogspot.in/2012/10/how-are-chelseas-on-loan-youngsters.html

http://forthechelseafans.blogspot.in/2012/10/how-are-chelseas-on-loan-youngsters_2.html

Now just before the end of the season, lets take a look as to what promising defenders Kenneth Omeruo and Patrick van Aanholt have accomplished this season(so far)

Kenneth Omeruo:
Nationality : Nigeria
Age : 19
Position : Center Back
Club: ADO Den Haag ( Netherlands)

Kenneth Omeruo has been impressive for both club and country this season and according to the lastest reports, Chelsea are planning to include the Nigerian in the senior squad next season.The Center back will have to fight for his chances with Terry,Cahill,Luiz and Ivanovic for a spot in the center back, but with a string of impressive performances at the back for Nigeria in its African Nations cup, Omeruo has certainly established himself a one for the future and may be in the senior squad as early as next season, especially with Terry struggling with injury and form this season and Luiz always prone to mistakes.Stats suggest that the Nigerian has really benefited from the loan spell, with him making 28 apperances for ADO Den Haag this season so far.

Appearances for ADO : 28
Goals : 2
Appearances for Nigeria : 6 ( Title Winning Campaign)


Total Appearances this season (Club and Country) : 34
Goals : 2

Verdict : With a couple of our defenders struggling for consistency, Chelsea should be recalling Omeruo next season and even if a loan spell is planned next season, a deal with another Premier League club will the better choice and there won't be any lack of suitors for his services.

Patrick van Aanholt
Nationality : Dutch
Age:22
Position : Left back
Club: Vitesse

Now that Ashley Cole has signed a one year extension to his Chelsea contract and with Ryan Bertrand waiting in the wings, left back may not be exactly a position of concern for Chelsea next season. There is no doubt that Cole can still do the work next season, but I am not the biggest admirer of Bertrand and between Bertrand and van Aanholt, I think the Dutch youngster is slightly better than Bertrand, especially going forward. After the exit of Alexander Butner to Manchester United at the start of the season,van Aanholt has made the left back position his own at Vitesse. May be the Chelsea hierarchy will wait till Cole leaves after the next season before they decide on van Aanholt,but I don't think that Bertrand should be the seen as the natural successor to the spot.  Chelsea should be considering van Aanholt also to the role


Appearances in Eredivisie : 24
Goals: 1

Demba Ba debuts in style as Blues thrash Southampton

New signing Demba Ba was immediately put into the starting XI by Rafa Benitez as Chelsea began their FA cup defense with a convincing 5-1 victory over Southampton at St.Mary's. Two goals on debut from the Senegalese striker and  goals from Moses,Ivanovic and a Lampard penalty followed Southampton's opener.

While Demba Ba's first goal was a simple tap in from Mata's effort, the second goal showed the real striker's instinct in Ba as his delightfully ran in to a through ball from Hazard and passed it past the Southampton keeper. Lampard won a penalty late in the game and chose to take the penalty himself,denying what would have been a debut hat-trick for the Blues most recent signing. Based on his debut, we can very well say that Ba will get more opportunities for a lot more goals with the likes of Hazard,Mata,Moses,Marin and Oscar behind him. He just needs to keep applying the finishing touches to the passes and he may well go on to become one of Chelsea's best signings. It would be interesting to see how Rafa manages both Torres and Ba. Based on this game, Ba has surely earned his right to start the next game, but Rafa will need to start the Spaniard up front against the Swans in the mid week Capital One semi final as Ba is cup tied. The same problem will arise when the  Europa League starts as Ba played for Newcastle in the earlier stages of the tournament. So basically Ba will be available only for the PL games and the FA cup,but if Torres's inconsistency continues, Ba will surely surge ahead of him as the club's main striker.Playing both of them together will also be another option that Rafa might need to consider.With Torres finding the back of the net much more and Ba a proven goal scorer,the selection dilemma is obvious ,but a nice problem to have for the manager.

Demba Ba signs for the Blues

Demba Ba had been a target of several clubs and it was always going to be difficult for Newcastle to hold on to the Senegalese striker once his 7 million buy-out clause was made public. With Daniel Sturridge moving to Liverpool for 12 million ,it left Chelsea with only Torres upfront and the need for reinforcements was even greater.Thankfully, Chelsea moved in quickly and snapped Demba Ba who has signed a 3 and half year deal at the Blues.

Joint 2nd top scorer in the Premier league this season, Demba Ba has proved his credentials in front of the goal and in the premier league and that's why his signing would well prove to be a very good one. Torres' up and down form is slowly testing the patience of the supporters and Ba's arrival will be a welcome boost to the team. Also, Torres has started almost every game, and it is important that he gets some rest.A proven goal scorer with familiarity with the English game was the need of the hour and Demba Ba fits the bill.

Demba may very well get some playing time or even start in the FA cup fixture at St. Mary's against Southampton and with the Capital One fixture against Swansea also coming soon,the timing of the signing is almost perfect. The embarrassing defeat against QPR at home in the weekend again proved the need of a poacher in front of the goal and Ba'a arrival might well prove the difference between success and failure in the coming months.

Hopefully Ba gets playing time in the same way Torres got. With the attacking midfield that the Blues possess , Ba will have even more chances to score than in his Newcastle days, so expect to improve a lot on his current PL goals tally. Hopefully Rafa will be unbiased in his selection of the striker.

Can't wait for Demba in action for the Blues.