Chelsea are wasting their free shot to prepare for the future

Even before Wednesday's 2-0 defeat to Brentford, Chelsea fans knew their season was over.

European football and any hopes of silverware had evaporated, leaving the mood so low that even victory over the Bees at Stamford Bridge would likely have been met with a round of tepid applause at best.

To say fans did not care about the result would be going too far, but the performance was the key thing. Supporters wanted a sign that there is actually something worth getting excited about next season.

And yet, Frank Lampard opted to give fans the same group of underperforming players, seemingly suggesting that the 32nd time would be the charm.

Fans wanted Lampard to use his brief spell in charge to blood some of the club's younger players, just as he did first time around. There did not need to be a new influx of academy talents, but rather an awareness that some of his older charges - many of whom will not even be at the club next season - no longer need minutes.

As an example, Noni Madueke saw just 11 minutes off the bench, after being left out of the squad for two games running. He came on to chase a game that was not even worth chasing and should have instead been used as an opportunity for these young, hungry players to prove themselves and earn more minutes.

Could Madueke have been used in attack instead of the struggling Raheem Sterling or the non-attackers that are Conor Gallagher and N'Golo Kante? How about as a makeshift wing-back in place of veteran Cesar Azpilicueta? The outcomes could not have been worse, but there was plenty of room for success.

The same goes for Mykhailo Mudryk who, despite failing to grasp plenty of opportunities already this season, clearly needs to be starting and learning English football. The £88m signing is here to stay at Stamford Bridge and needs all the experience he can get if he is to ever justify that price tag.

At striker, there was no sign of David Datro Fofana, who was left out of the squad in favour of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Gabon international has been managed horribly in west London and will not be at the club next season, and yet he was given 45 minutes of action. Why?

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Perhaps most baffling is the continued absence of Carney Chukwuemeka. At 19 years old, the midfielder is wasting away in purgatory as Chelsea continue to play Mateo Kovacic, who is underperforming and a likely departure from the club, alongside Enzo Fernandez.

Even taking things a step further, Chelsea's Under-21 side have just fallen short to a freakish Manchester City outfit in the Premier League 2 and their are plenty of youngsters there who merit senior opportunities. Gabriel Slonina, Mason Burstow, Omari Hutchinson, Charlie Webster, Dion Rankine, Lewis Hall... the list of omitted talents goes on.

Chelsea are playing for pride in a season which has none left to give, and doing so with the same group of players who have left fans so disillusioned thus far. The hope appears to be that Chelsea will wrestle their way into the top half of the Premier League table and, all of a sudden, fans will forget just how awful the past eight months have been.

The definition of success has changed for Chelsea for the next few weeks. It's not about winning, but rather preparing next season's response.

If Chelsea lost 2-0 to Brentford but Chukwuemeka, Mudryk, Madueke, Fofana or any other young player had enjoyed a breakout performance, that would have been a victory in the eyes of the fans at this point.

Chelsea have a free pass to lose games. Everybody expects them to anyway. The failure to take advantage of that by getting a head start on next season has been a massive disappointment, and it has left the Blues tripping over all the broken pieces of the 2022/23 campaign.

See you soon, Mauricio.

On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey & Toby Cudworth discuss Chelsea's likely appointment of Mauricio Pochettino, the carnage at Tottenham and Harry Kane's next steps, David de Gea and Harry Maguire's Man Utd futures, Lionel Messi's impending Barcelona return & more!

If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!