‘I had to fight to keep Chelsea’s academy – now it is paying off ’
Ex-technical director Michael Emenalo says youth revolution will be delighting club’s owner
Michael Emenalo never tired of defending Chelsea’s academy. Not that owner Roman Abramovich needed much convincing, but the doubts and pressure did not always come from the outside.
Abramovich, Emenalo is sure, will be delighting in Frank Lampard’s youth revolution, with Chelsea fifth in the Premier League and the team full of academy graduates playing the domineering style of football the Russian billionaire favours.
Three of those graduates, Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori, are in Gareth Southgate’s latest England squad. And that could rise to at least five before next summer’s European Championship, as Callum Hudsonodoi and Ruben Loftus-cheek return to fitness.
But, in his first extended interview since leaving Chelsea in November 2017, Emenalo, the former technical director, has revealed how Abramovich refused to abandon the academy while some were questioning whether it would ever pay off.
During his 10 years at the club, which took in the 2012 Champions League success and three Premier League titles, Emenalo’s most important work may have been to argue why one former manager was wrong to suggest Abramovich should scale back his investment in the academy.
“I defended the academy when there was pressure and doubt and pessimism,” Emenalo said. “A manager came in to make a presentation to say the academy was not necessary. The argument was it takes too long, and that the owner should stop pumping money into it because it seemed like a waste.
“I had to fight against it. This is where I am very, very proud of the owner, because of the trust he had in me and the willingness to listen to me and give the academy time. He would not abandon it. He believed in it and in me.”
Emenalo is taking a break from football before considering his next project after leaving Monaco. He insists there is no sense of regret over missing Chelsea’s mass graduation party and is proud that the hard work of his former colleagues is coming to fruition.
“What’s happened with these boys, you can only feel pride. Not just for the boys, but thankful for the effort of a lot of people who have had a lot of input into all of these boys succeeding.
“Of course, you always need some luck and that luck has come with the transfer ban and with the appointment of Frank and his assistants, Jody Morris and Joe Edwards. It doesn’t mean it will be smooth sailing from here, it just shows that it is possible.”
Emenalo was given a mandate to overhaul the academy after being promoted to technical director in 2010 and attempted to convince Abramovich it was possible to put together a first-team squad in which at least 60 per cent of the players were home-grown.
“The policy was always to have the players grow together and to grow the culture,” Emenalo said. “You saw it at Barcelona with Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets. You build a really, really wonderful football culture – a Chelsea culture – and this is where identities come from and these guys will play and care for this club for years to come. It’s amazing what is unfolding.
“One key area we changed during my time was the training methods. You would see these young lads join the first team and they were knackered after 40 minutes. You are asking young lads to play with Frank Lampard and Michael Essien, who played 65 games a season and had the endurance capacity of lions, and they were not ready for it.
“So we implemented the fact that every player in the academy played 45 games, whatever games they were. I thought that would equate to 25 games in the Championship or League One. They learnt how to deal with fatigue and they could look the part when they trained with the first team.
“Then there was the loan programme. We realised one reason coaches were taking players from another team was they could see them in a different context, so why not put our best academy players in this context?
“You see Andreas Christensen playing for Borussia Monchengladbach, playing in the Champions League against Manchester City, and when the coach comes he says, ‘OK if this guy can play at that level then he can play for me’. That immediately breeds confidence.
“Look at Mount, he played a season at Vitesse and a season at Derby, so he’s ready. Tammy, the same at Bristol City, Swansea and Aston Villa. Tomori at Brighton, Hull City and Derby. Hudson-odoi is different, but you always get one exceptional talent and the games and training helped him.
“The idea is at some point you only have to top up 30 or 40 per cent with those big signings. The other 60 or 70 per cent are players from the academy. That leaves you to buy exceptional talents from the transfer market. I think Chelsea are close to that now. You want a scenario where you have £600 million of talent from the academy and you only need to spend another £200 million to get it over the top.”
Emenalo watched the 2015 FA Youth Cup final with Abramovich at Stamford Bridge, when Abraham and Tomori played in the side who beat Manchester City. A year later, Mount joined Abraham and Tomori as Chelsea retained their title.
“The owner watched the young players on television, made notes and sent me questions. He’s an unbelievable owner because he struck a good balance with being able to support the first team and support the academy. He’s won a lot of trophies and his patience with the academy is paying off.”
A big question surrounding this young Chelsea generation is how long Abramovich will give them to learn before demanding more silverware.
“Ultimately, he loves to see the club lift trophies but, for this season I like to think as long as the team are above 10th, he will enjoy that all the boys are coming through and playing great football,” he said.
Emenalo can certainly feel vindicated for helping to keep alive the dreams of Chelsea’s youngsters.