Real Madrid youngster Jese Rodriguez has sent out a warning to Chelsea’s younger players, suggesting Jose Mourinho never gave him a chance.
Jese is an extremely talented striker who can also play down the left wing but he’s criticised Mourinho for never giving him a chance to impress while he was the manager of the side.
It’s a significant criticism because Chelsea are a side packed with younger players and stars on the fringes of the team all looking to break in.
If they listen to Jese’s comments then their fears over getting a chance at Stamford Bridge next season could quickly pile up in emphatic fashion.
“Maybe last year club thought that they don’t need to have more youth players and Mourinho thought he needed to sign players from outside the club,” he told AS.
Mourinho did use Raphael Varane at the heart of his Real Madrid defence last season, which shows he’s not completely afraid of throwing a younger player in at the deep end, in a very high pressure situation.
In effect he was forced to do so when he was challenged by Pepe, a very popular figure at Real Madrid, which questions whether Varane would have got that chance had Pepe been a quieter individual.
Mourinho’s first spell in charge at Chelsea can’t be used as an example of whether younger players will get a chance this time round because the circumstances back then were different.
Mourinho came in at the start of the Roman Abramovich era, was given a huge pot of money to spend and that’s exactly what he did, bringing players in from the outside which helped them club secure back-to-back Premier League titles.
“I think maybe I deserved more opportunities. Anyway, this was what Mourinho thought and he isn’t here now, so let’s what will happen in the future and what the new coach thinks,” added Jese.
Chelsea currently have a core group of highly skilled and very talented younger players who are all looking for a chance next season.
Romelu Lukaku in particular will be hoping that he doesn’t experience what has happened with Marko Marin and doesn’t end up like Thibaut Courtois and Kevin De Bruyne, who have both questioned whether they will ever go back to Chelsea.
Mourinho is under pressure in a way because there are several areas of the current Chelsea side where the team is short on numbers and the players aren’t getting any younger.
Here’s to hoping that he’s going to make good on his promises when he was unveiled as Chelsea’s new boss and actually give younger players more of a chance.
It’s not something he’s always done throughout his career but it’s definitely something he needs to do, to create strong Chelsea teams if he’s at Stamford Bridge to stay this time round.
Do you think Mourinho will give younger players a chance next season?
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