Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Chelsea became the first team in Champions League history to have three teenagers on the scoresheet when they put Ajax to the sword at Stamford Bridge. Enzo Mariska is doing a great job.
19-year-old Mark Guo briefly became the Blues’ youngest ever Champions League goalscorer, breaking the deadlock just a minute after Ajax captain Kenneth Taylor was sent off for a tackle on Fisendo Bonanotti.
The record was broken by Esteveo at the stoppage time of the first half when the Brazilian sensation was fouled from the penalty spot after Enzo Fernandez and Woute Vigorst had already scored from the spot and Moses Caicedo saw his deflected shot pass Remko Passover flat-footed in goal.
Read more: Mikel Arteta just third in Premier League manager rankings for 25/26
Terek George came on at the break and became the third teenager to score just three minutes after coming on. The academy graduate had a poetic assessment after the game.
Mariska made ten changes from Saturday’s victory over Nottingham Forest, flexing the muscles of his talented young squad, including “uncle” Tosun Adarabio, who said before the game that it was an “honour” to be among the senior players.
Incredibly, at 28, he is the oldest player ever to feature under Mariska, and asked about his unlikely status, Towson told TNT Sports: “It’s an honor to be one of the senior players in the squad – 28 isn’t old at all.”
He also opened up on his nickname at Chelsea, adding: “I think it was Noni (Medwick) last season, he commented on my Instagram post saying ‘Uncle Toss’ and from there the fans got on him and it’s stuck from there.
“Every day (people call me nicknames), even some of the staff call me that. Marcos (fitness coach Alvarez) calls me that every day.”
Reggie Walsh became the youngest player to appear for Chelsea in the Champions League and the second-youngest Englishman for Arsenal after Jack Wilshere when he came off the bench for the last half-hour, as Mariska instilled her confidence in youth.
And the Italian has been doing a fine job of guiding the young players through a difficult period without Cole Palmer, Levi Colwell, Liam Delap and other key players who have been in and out of the squad through injuries, and suspensions which have served as a clear indicator of the squad’s inexperience.
Read more
It’s hard to imagine Chelsea winning one of the two major trophies this season, but the way Mariska is using the depth of his squad now, giving all these young stars plenty of high-level football in two competitions, offers a huge boost to his “dominance” predictions. And it looks like it will come under his management.
Mariska said in December 2024: “For the first time because of age, and because of what I said to the directors of the game, and because of how good the squad is, for me in the next five to 10 years Chelsea will be a team, or a team, that is going to dominate English football.
“That’s what I said to the club when I first met him. It doesn’t matter who the manager is in the next five or 10 years, because of this age, the squad, you can dominate English football, and I still think exactly the same.”
