Positive development

I love working for Chelsea Football Club. 

I’ve been associated with the club since I was nine years of age. I’m 38 now, but started 29 years ago as a trialist at the old training ground at Heathrow. I signed officially when I was 10 and played through the age groups until I was 18. In that time I captained the youth team, played for the reserves and was honoured to get England recognition at Under-16 and Under-17.

When I was 18, though, a decision was made and I was deemed not good enough. Being released was a learning moment, but not straight away. At the time, I was too young and focused on what I was going to do next as a player. Once I got into coaching, however, those experiences have helped to shape how I go about the job.

That includes trying to be as candid as possible with players. Hopefully they respect that I have been as honest as I can be. I try to tell it how I see it, because that was how I always wanted to be treated when I was a young player.

Back when I was released, offers came in for me to do something different – to play in America and get an education. So I went to California for four years, on a full scholarship. At the end of it, there was interest in me signing a rookie deal in MLS, but the league wasn’t set up as well as it is now and it didn’t make much sense for me to stay out there. I’d also had a number of concussions. At the age of 22, the medical advice was that I stop playing.

That is when I received an email from Chelsea’s then academy director, Neil Bath, about the possibility of coaching with the youth teams. Neil’s reputation in youth development is unquestioned. He has a great track record of creating environments that develop players, but he also has an excellent record of developing people and young coaches. 

“He was the best I’ve worked with in terms of dealing with younger players”

He thought that I could transfer my qualities into coaching, and help players at the academy. I had played for Neil and captained his teams, and we’d stayed in contact while I was in America. I like to think that he reached out to me because he had seen leadership qualities in me as a player.

So I started as an assistant to Cyril Davies with the Under-12s. Cyril had worked at Chelsea for years and had also been my coach as a player. He was the best I’ve worked with in terms of dealing with younger players.

We had a strong core of coaches in the academy. That included Joe Edwards with the Under-14s, Andy Myers with the Under-11s and later the 15s, Adi Viveash with the Under-18s, and Dermot Drummy with the Under-21s. We were a tight group. You could go and watch each other’s sessions, which was brilliant for my development.

I did the Under-12s as an assistant for three years before becoming the head coach, as well as working with the Under-13s and 14s on day release. After a couple of years, I moved up to the Under-15 and 16s, working across both as an assistant to Frank O’Brien and Jon Harley, respectively. I was also doing opposition analysis for the reserve team, watching a lot of Under-21 games, putting dossiers together and presenting on those. That also transferred into the UEFA Youth League, where I travelled to watch teams like Juventus and Ajax. 

When Jody Morris returned to the club and was offered the Under-18s job, he rang me. “You've got a chance of being the Under-16s head coach,” he said. “But I want you to be my assistant.”

I had done two years of working with the 15s and 16s, preparing players to get into the youth team. So I was progressing with those players as they moved through the age groups, which I quite liked. I was fortunate to play a part in the development of some top players and people, including Marc Guéhi, Conor Gallagher, Trevoh Chalobah, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Billy Gilmour, Mason Mount and Reece James. Later on, I would work with Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento. I said yes to Jody.

“There was a strong winning mentality within that group”

The Youth Cup finals that we won when I was his assistant, in 2017 and 2018, were high-level games. The first was a two-legged final against a Manchester City team featuring Phil Foden, Brahim Díaz and Jadon Sancho. Watching Reece and Jadon compete against each other is something that will stay with me, because it was such a high level for youth football.

We drew the first leg in Manchester in a really tight game. Going back to Stamford Bridge, we focused a lot on the off-the-ball work: tracking recovery runs, pressing, getting up to the ball. We emphasised the need to make a top City side rush into making decisions.

We started well in the second leg, with Trevoh Chalobah scoring from a set-piece. Callum Hudson-Odoi also scored an unbelievable goal, beating three or four players and putting it in the top corner. The players were brilliant that night, in front of 10,000 fans. To win the game 5-1 against a team of City’s calibre was a fantastic performance.

The next year we played Arsenal across two legs, coming up against the likes of Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe. We went behind in the first leg, but the boys responded really well and won 3-1. Then we went to the Emirates and won 4-0. Winning 7-1 on aggregate to claim back-to-back Youth Cups was special. 

It came off the back of being national champions of the Under-18 Premier League in both seasons, too. There was a strong winning mentality within that group. I think that helped pave the way for the careers a lot of those players are having now.

After two years with Jody, I did a year with Joe Edwards in the Under-21s and we took the Under-19s in the UEFA Youth League, where we reached the final. It was another step up that I could learn from. Joe was someone I was close to, having grown up playing in the same teams as him at Chelsea. We had a really strong relationship. 

“It was a huge honour to take on the role”

Then the opportunity came for me to lead the Under-18s. When Neil asked whether I wanted to do it, I took about two seconds to say yes.

Being asked to be youth-team coach at Chelsea was a massively proud moment, with the history it brings. I’m from SW6, and my grandad – a big influence on me – was a massive Chelsea fan. It was a huge honour to take on the role.

And it proved to be a brilliant job that I truly loved across the three and a half years I had that privilege. In my first year we did brilliantly in the Youth Cup, qualifying for the semi finals. Then Covid hit and it was delayed for six months, pushed into the following season. That meant we had to play the semi against Manchester United at St George’s Park, with the final three days later. Families weren’t allowed to attend, and there was no crowd. That tradition you normally get with the Youth Cup final meant it felt different.

We also had to contend with the fact that, because the tournament bled into the next season, Armando Broja – such a big player for us in that team, our top goalscorer – was no longer available because he had gone on loan. Ian Maatsen had, too. Xav Simons was injured, while our captain, Tino Anjorin, was only allowed to play 45 minutes because he was returning from injury. All of that definitely had an impact on the quality of our performance.

The style of my team was high energy, high-intensity pressing, and we put a big shift in against Manchester United to win 1-0. Then we had to go against Manchester City three days later, which was physically difficult for us. 

Unfortunately, we lost 3-2 in the final. We had an opportunity to make it 3-3, but City were deserving winners. We had a good team with good players, without a doubt, but their front four was Liam Delap up top, Cole Palmer on the right, James McAtee in the 10 and Morgan Rogers off the left. Oscar Bob was an unused substitute. Not bad! It was a good, competitive game, but it would have been nice to have seen our strongest team against theirs.

“Having 90 per cent of the ball but going nowhere and not creating anything is not what I’m interested in”

In 2022, we won the Under-18 Premier League Cup final at Craven Cottage against a good Fulham team. That meant a lot, because it was a high-level tournament that year. The quarter final against Manchester United – who had Kobbie Mainoo in midfield – was a highlight. It was a high level, like a Youth Cup game, and we had to come from 2-0 down to win. The likes of Lewis Hall, Charlie Webster and Jude Soonsup-Bell played really well.

I had drawn on my experiences as a youth-team player under the likes of Steve Clarke and Brendan Rodgers. Steve was very honest and to the point, and I always respected that as a player. Brendan would always have lots of informal chats with you when you walked off the pitch. He made you feel 10 feet tall.

It was about taking all of those experiences and learning from the coaches I had been privileged to work alongside, then putting my own spin on things. You have to be yourself, and it is my nature to be organised and detail-oriented. I also want the lads to enjoy training and be competitive, especially at that level, because they’re still developing, still learning.

On a matchday and in games, I like to see high pressing with lots of intensity. Defending from the front is important to me, as well as having possession with a purpose. Having 90 per cent of the ball but going nowhere and not creating anything is not what I’m interested in. Having 90 per cent of the ball and getting crosses, shots, final-third entries, winning corner kicks and free-kicks – that is what I am interested in.

After four years as head coach of the youth team, and a total of seven in that phase, I was definitely looking for the next challenge. That turned out to be assisting Jody when he went in as head coach at Swindon Town. It came about where I could do that role at Swindon, but still be with Chelsea. The thinking from Chelsea was that we would get to build a relationship with Swindon, while Jody got the man he wanted as assistant. 

It also meant that I would continue my development. I could take the experiences I gained from working in senior football back with me and use them at Chelsea.

“I went to Swindon thinking I was a decent coach and left a much better coach for the experience”

We arrived at Swindon on January deadline day in 2023, and were promised certain players would come through the door. That didn’t materialise, and we lost quite a bit of experience at the same time, so we had one of the youngest squads in League Two. We also weren’t the biggest team. So we played well in a lot of games, but in the last 10 minutes – when teams put us in our box or had set-pieces – we showed our lack of experience at times. 

But the players did so many good things and I loved working there day to day, being out on the pitch with the group. The challenge for me was to step out of academy football into the real world, and I loved it. Jody was brilliant with giving me the responsibility of doing lots of the training and presentations to the players before games. There was also the refreshing new challenge of working with the players, like Charlie Austin (below) and Jonny Williams, who had experienced playing at the top level.

Three days before the last game of the season, Jody received a phone call from the owner saying that they were going to part company. That’s football. We felt that we weren’t given the opportunity to really put our stamp on it. We had wanted to be judged for what our team would look like with our players, and a pre-season to get them up to the fitness levels we wanted. But I went to Swindon thinking I was a decent coach and left a much better coach for the experience I took from it. 

After Swindon, I had the opportunity to go back and work within Chelsea’s Under-18 set-up again. But I felt that ship had sailed. So I started helping the loan programme under Carlo Cudicini – initially with just two or three players. That developed quickly, so that I had eight players by the end of last season. 

“I enjoy working one-on-one with these players, which challenges me to build a rapport and relationship with them”

This season, 2024/25, I have had five. It means I am getting out watching a lot of football: League One, Championship, Premier League. Then I’m watching all of my players’ footage and sending them clips. I’ll call, visit and go through things with the players, and speak with both our coaching staff and the loan club’s staff. You want a consistent message from the club they are at now, and the parent club.

I enjoy working one-on-one with these players, which challenges me to build a rapport and relationship with them. Last year the players I worked closely with included Bashir Humphreys, who was at Swansea, Harvey Vale at Bristol Rovers, Armando Broja at Fulham. Alex Matos at Huddersfield, Charlie Webster at Heerenveen, and Tino Anjorin at Portsmouth. This year I’ve got Alfie Gilchrist, who’s doing really well at Sheffield United. Leo Castledine is at Shrewsbury, Lesley Ugochukwu at Southampton, and Armando Broja at Everton. I also had Trevor Chalobah when he was at Crystal Palace.

My passion is for Chelsea, and I want to continue developing as a coach in my current role. It has enabled me to do a lot of things I wouldn’t be able to do if I was currently a head coach, so I am maximising that experience and exposure. I want to continue my development, to be able to help develop the players at our club.

My ultimate aim is to be a head coach/manager, but I also want to gain more experience as a first-team coach. I love being on the grass. It is all I have done for the last 15 years, developing players. And it is where I think I am at my best.

Watch Ed Brand’s exclusive CV Academy Coaching Clinic on pressing in a 3-2-4-1 formation here