Chelsea youngster Carney Chukwuemeka has been desperately unlucky this season.
In fact, we certainly wouldn’t blame Carney Chukwuemeka if he felt seriously angry towards Frank Lampard right now.
The 19-year-old talent hasn’t played the minutes during his debut Chelsea season he may have hoped for. It’s just 12 first-team appearances for him across all competitions so far this campaign.
However, the recent concern is that the English teenager hasn’t kicked a ball since Frank Lampard stepped in as caretaker manager earlier this month.
Chukwuemeka will have known prior to completing a £20million (BBC) move from Aston Villa to Chelsea that the competition for places was always going to be tough at Stamford Bridge.
We can’t believe the all-action midfielder hasn’t played more when the team is so blatantly struggling, though.
Any buildup of anger throughout this season may currently be aimed at Lampard, who’s made the team selections for the last five games.
Remarkably, Chukwuemeka hasn’t been involved in the matchday squad in four of the five previous matches. He was an unused substitute in the Champions League against Real Madrid, too.
The team is on a five-game losing streak and playing as poor as we can remember, so Chukwuemeka should be seething he can’t get on the pitch to showcase his talent.
In our view, Chukwuemeka could make a world of difference with his skill, physique and intent as an attacking midfielder. We’ve certainly loved the glimpses that we’ve seen from him during his first year at Stamford Bridge.
Of course, Lampard is entitled to pick the squad he wants each game. It was ridiculous to see how unbalanced the substitute bench looked in last night’s 2-0 Premier League defeat at home to Brentford, though.
Chelsea could call upon as many as six attackers/forwards from their bench on Wednesday night. In fact, Ruben Loftus-Cheek was the only midfielder on the bench alongside centre-back Benoit Badiashile and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. But there wasn’t a spot for a midfield gem like Chukwuemeka.
Graham Potter described Chukwuemeka as an individual with “huge potential” earlier in the season.
Our message to Frank is to give the teenager some minutes in the final six games of the campaign because everyone is intrigued to see if he’s good enough to play an important role next season.