Chelsea Fan View: Will Ruben Loftus-Cheek ever break into Antonio Conte's plans?

To see Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham making their debuts for England against Germany on Friday was a delight for any Chelsea supporter, writes Blues fan blogger Dave Chidgey.

As two of the shining lights of Chelsea’s much vaunted academy, it may well also have been vindication for Michael Emenalo, under whose remit the Chelsea youth system fell. I suspect he may have had a smug look on his face come Saturday morning.

If one also counts Jack Cork and Ryan Bertrand then Chelsea had four youth products playing for the national side that night.

The fact that Loftus-Cheek was unquestionably man of the match will not have surprised anyone who has seen him dominate at youth level, for club and country. He is a young man of rare talent.

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I was reminded of another Chelsea player from days-gone-by who also put in a man of the match performance against Germany (or West Germany as they were then) on his debut.

Alan Hudson’s debut against the world champions in 1975 was equally thrilling. Franz Beckenbauer, the West German captain, commented afterward that he had never seen a better international debut. Hudson pulled the strings in midfield that day as England chalked up a noteworthy 2-0 win.

Sadly he had left Chelsea a year before and was by then playing for Stoke City. More pertinent, that debut failed to ignite what should have been a long and fruitful England career.

One hopes that the same fate will not befall Loftus-Cheek. Chelsea supporters certainly hope that he fulfils his enormous potential and enjoys a long and successful career for both Chelsea and England.

While there are similarities between Hudson and Loftus-Cheek, the differences are stark and perhaps sum up the frustration supporters have with the modern game and the difficulties for youngsters succeeding at clubs like Chelsea.

Born a stone’s throw from Stamford Bridge, Hudson commanded a regular place as Chelsea’s playmaker at the age of 18 and played a major contribution in Chelsea reaching and winning the 1970 FA Cup and finishing third in the First Division. In 1971 he helped Chelsea win their first European trophy, the European Cup Winners’ Cup beating Real Madrid after a replay. Three years later at the age of 23 the club sold him and arguably lost one of their most naturally gifted home-grown players.

The idea of an 18 year old not just playing regularly for Chelsea but as the side’s playmaker in 2017 is fanciful to say the least. Loftus-Cheek is already 21 and has yet to establish himself at Chelsea.

His natural ability, grace and languid style are redolent of Hudson in his heyday. Great players always seem to have more time on the ball and less need to hurry. Loftus-Cheek is such a player and he exhibited these skills against Germany, the world champions let us not forget, with alacrity. Few will forget the double nutmeg he executed with aplomb. Antonio Rudiger, his Chelsea team mate and opponent on the night won’t, that’s for sure.

But Loftus-Cheek plays for a very different Chelsea than the one Hudson graced all those years ago. That Chelsea was not expected to challenge for and win titles year on year. More to the point, Alan Hudson’s competition for places came predominantly from local talent of his own age or the odd signing from the British Isles.

Current Chelsea managers have no incentive to promote the home grown players while their job description has ‘winning trophies’ as its first non-negotiable item. Given the healthy transfer kitty they are provided with they will be more eager to buy established and proven talent, often from abroad.

But who is to say that the likes of Loftus-Cheek are not better than the expensive foreign talent brought in? His performance for England would seem to indicate that we have a diamond that needs to be nurtured and polished or better still given a chance rather than being out on loan for Crystal Palace.

It seems distinctly odd that Loftus-Cheek has more chance of making it in the national side than he currently does for Chelsea. It is clearly a dichotomy that he may be good enough for England but not Chelsea, but perhaps that also says much about the relative quality of international football vis-à-vis elite European club football.

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It has to be said that in his brief appearances playing for Chelsea, Loftus-Cheek did not catch the eye to the extent that he did playing for England on Friday. Perhaps this performance was what he needed to give him confidence that he can do it on the main stage and also a timely reminder to Antonio Conte that he has a rare talent at his disposal.

Credit too to Southgate who encouraged him to play his natural game in his preferred position thereby giving him every chance to show his talent. One wonders whether he was given the same encouragement at Chelsea. Perhaps the stakes are higher there.

One suspects that Loftus-Cheek will need more than one eye-catching performance playing for England to push his way through the door at Chelsea. He needs to prove that it was not a one off and there is no better way to do this than putting in another man of the match performance against Brazil this week.

David Chidgey @StamfordChidge

David Chidgey presents the award winning Chelsea FanCast podcast which can be heard live every Monday at 19.00 at mixlr.com/chelsea-fancast/ or downloaded from Acast, ITunes, Soundcloud or chelseafancast.com @ChelseaFanCast