Andy Townsend believes Chelsea must support their young stars in the same way Wayne Rooney was during his emerging years.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side have had a disjointed season overall, but have enjoyed a resurgence in form recently after going seven matches unbeaten in the Premier League.
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As a result, the Blues now find themselves resolutely in the race for European football.
Chelsea have spent more than £1 billion since Todd Boehly’s takeover of the club in May 2022, with the focus on talented young players who have the potential to reach the top of the game.
While stars such as Cole Palmer have found their feet, others including Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia and Mykhailo Mudryk have failed to reach the heights following their big-money moves to Stamford Bridge.
According to Townsend, part of this failure to get going is down to the lack of trust Pochettino shows them every week.
Speaking on The Sports Breakfast, Townsend said: “I think you have to understand that they’re going to need a bit of time and they’re going to have a period where they seem to get lost and it’s about take them out of the team, reintegrate them and then manage that experience for them.
“I also believe that we don’t feed people in high-level football. You can not.
“When Wayne Rooney burst onto the scene at 16, it was inevitable that this guy would be playing at the top of his game every week.
“It’s the same for the other players – Giggsy (Ryan Giggs) and others like that. They are so good they have to come in and play.
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“Chelsea have a lot of players and if you keep trying to ‘manage’ them – by that I mean leave them in one minute then take them out the next minute – you never really know what they’re going to give you or how they develop.
“I think you take the best out of these young players, stay with them, trust them and put absolute trust in them – mistakes and all.
“You stay with them and play them knowing that to be a top player you have to play them every week.
“You have to play every week. Too many people today think I’ll probably play this week, maybe I’ll play next week and after that I probably won’t. No, you have to play every week if you want to be considered a top player.
“I don’t think Chelsea have enough of these ‘every week’ players yet to move up that ranking and for those players to classify them as real Premier League players.
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