Henry Winter: Manchester City star Rico Lewis shows Chelsea why they should develop academy stars rather than sell them

“No nineteen forever,” was the chant from the Courteeners after the final whistle at Stamford Bridge. How true!

The best player on the field, Rico LewisYou will be 20 years old in November.

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Manchester City's versatile right-back is already good and growing in stature with each passing month, with each training session under Pep Guardiolaand takes advantage of every initial opportunity with such alacrity.

Lewis, who has been in City Since he was eight, he is a timely reminder of the importance of developing your own team, a lesson for Chelsea, who seem to be selling off their academy stars, and the importance of developing a team.

It takes time Chelsea They have ambitious American owners who believe that a team can be bought rather than built.

Chelsea are a team with big ideas and little pragmatism. They all thought optimistically and failed against a team that was wearing a sky blue suit and was doing things right.

It takes time to mould a team, to forge an identity, as City have done. It takes time to build understanding.

City have instilled a knowledge of Guardiola's tactical demands into those coming through the academy.

Lewis knew exactly what was expected of him at right-back. He knew when to mark and when to play.

I knew that City had a back four when they didn't have possession and a back three when they did have possession.

He knew he had to follow Christopher Nkunku and then Pedro Neto, and keep them at bay, which he did with a mixture of anticipation and acceleration.

Lewis knew he had to invest in midfield when he had possession.

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He was also given licence to make inroads into the final third, doing so with such determination at one point in the second half that he almost ended up in the shed.

“Rico, Rico,” chanted the admiring City fans from a few metres away. Guardiola has faith in Lewis.

He started him, giving Kyle Walker extra time to recover from his summer exertions with England.

Guardiola had three academy players on his bench: Phil Foden, Nico O'Reilly and James McAtee. City have a long-term plan.

Chelsea had a roster full of City academy graduates (Cole Palmer) and Cobham alumni (Levi Colwill) alike.

The decision to ease Conor Gallagher This remains puzzling and seriously calls into question Boehly's thinking.

Gallagher was captain towards the end of last season and cares deeply about the club.

His name and number were even. edited from the list of those invited on the back cover of the program.

What message does this send to the academy members, to the coaches who expect their work to be recognised by the first team? Probably not now.

Parents thinking of bringing their promising youngster to Cobham should think twice, especially when they also consider the treatment Trevoh Chalobah will receive. Out in the open.

And what do Chelsea players think of the treatment of popular Raheem Sterling, another of those who seems to be in the spotlight? Towards the exit door For the powerful of Chelsea?

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There is an argument for moving Pound sterling In any case, he was very good last year, but with a minimum of class. Who advises Boehly and company?

Who in the recruitment department has allowed them to have a defence without a true leader and organiser, especially now that Thiago Silva has left?

That question was painfully emphasized when Erling Haaland scored City's first goal after 18 minutes. The defence needs strengthening at Cobham.

There was no communication when Jeremy Doku burst in from the left and Bernardo Silva skilfully played the ball past Haaland. Colwill should have been closer.

Marc Cucurella should have been stronger. Robert Sanchez should have stood up to Haaland instead of throwing himself to the ground and taking a blow without effort. No one took responsibility.

For City's second goal six minutes from time, Mateo Kovacic controlled a poor clearance from Wesley Fofana with his chest, quickly beat Moisés Caicedo and Enzo Fernández and scored.

Out of respect for his former club, Kovacic did not celebrate.

It was worth noting, however, that a midfielder Chelsea sold to City for £25m had eluded his replacements, who cost a total of £220m. Kovacic was outstanding throughout the game.

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Yes, City have the money, but so do Chelsea. Everything seems to be in transition at the Bridge at the moment, players come and go, uncertainty is the only permanence.

They should allow the head coach adequate opportunity to coach people and build a team without having to immediately resort to “repeat” mode.

Enzo Maresca gave Pedro Neto, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Marc Guiu and Renato Veiga four debuts here, all from the bench, but without any results.

At least two of them, Neto and Guiu, look good enough for the elite level but, again, they will require patience as they adapt. Chelsea have some good players.

Palmer surely deserves a bigger role as number 10 rather than staying on the right.

He played well there last season, but Chelsea have other options on the wing, such as Noni Madueke. Palmer is Chelsea's best No. 10.

What should also worry Chelsea is that they still lack an elite centre-forward and City have not been anywhere near their best. They didn't need one.

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