Jody Morris has backed his class of 2017 to reach the top after an impressive campaign in The FA Youth Cup.
The Blues picked up a fourth successive Youth Cup title at Stamford Bridge after a 5-1 victory over Manchester City on the night secured a convincing 6-2 aggregate scoreline.
And whilst Morris admits his side were fortunate to find their shooting boots for the second leg, he believes he’s seen enough from his charges over the course of the season to suggest that any number of them could rise to the top.
“I’m very, very lucky and privileged to be able to coach this group of boys - and that’s not just the boys that are on the pitch tonight, there’s plenty more of them sitting behind the dugout,” said Morris, who emerged through the west London club’s academy himself back in the mid-90s.
“It’s a group squad effort, and those that aren’t playing would probably be involved if they were at any other youth team in the country.
“They’re not only really good footballers that want to take the ball in tight areas, difficult places to play, but we are breeding a winning mentality here and they want to emulate the Chelsea sides that have won this competition before.
“I would back them at the highest level; I’m lucky enough to see them every day, but we’ve definitely got players here that can go to the top.”
The aggregate scoreline did flatter Chelsea, something which Morris was only too happy to admit, after seeing his side stretched when Lukas Nmecha’s goal tested their nerve by making it 2-1 on the night.
But after seeing his team respond with three more goals, he was relieved to see his youngsters run out as victors.
“We finally took our chances. Most games this year, and not just in The FA Youth Cup, we’ve created a lot of chances and not converted,” he admitted.
“In the first half, it felt like we had two chances and scored them, so it was nice for us to do that and it felt like they would have to come at us in the second half and leave gaps.
“Luckily enough for us we managed to capitalise on that. But I have to say I thought City reacted really well to going two goals down.
“They started passing it better than we did and got a foothold in the game for the second half of the first period. They showed great character.”
