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Some aspects of it do seem very weak.

Paulo as a 4th choice centre back (you could argue we have Bruma, but Carlo obviously doesn't trust him as much) is a big liability, especially considering that both Terry and Alex get injured quite a bit. Also, Zhirkov, while settling in well this season is not suited for a central midfield role where he's obliged to play due to our lack of numbers and really should play solely on the left. Any team would miss Essien and Lampard but surely we should have something more in reserve than

Mikel/Ramires/Zhirkov.

While the front line is great on paper, our only options off the bench are Kalou and Sturridge who aren't likely to be competing for first team places this season and can't be relied upon to come in and perform when Drogba, Malouda and Anelka go off the boil

Oh, and lets just hope Cech doesn't get injured.

We haven't spent much in recent transfer windows and although we have a great first team you can tell that we could do with 2-3 more squad players, namemly a centre back, goalkeeper and a striker. I understand that we are trying to blood youth this season, but when our top talents are only getting cameo appearances at the end of games anyway it seems rather pointless when we've got serious injury problems.

Oh, and this isn't a knee-jerk thread after being humiliated by Sunderland, I still think we'll win the league, but we could just make it a bit easier for ourselves.



Depends.

If we have injury build ups likethis for the rest of the season then no....but then again RealMadrid aside, what team doeshave the depth to miss so many key players at the same time for such duration?

If we have the typical injury or 2 here and there, then I certainly think we do.

No it`s not, and so much was clear even before we kicked off our first game this season. I wrote before the season that we lacked depth in central-defence and in midfield, and this is the result. The early good results never changed the fact that we always was going to struggle as the season progressed when injuries and suspensions hit you. When everyone is fit we have three quality midfielders covering three positions, and i wonder how it`s possible for Roman, Carletto, Arnesen to totally overlook our lack of depth. The same goes for central-defence really where we have two natural centrebacks, with one versitale player and one awful rightback as cover. Bruma is considered as not ready by Ancelotti ovbiously.

We only got five injuries at the moment which is not unusuall for any team, and we are in big big trouble already.

Edited by Sindre

Depends.

If we have injury build ups likethis for the rest of the season then no....but then again RealMadrid aside, what team doeshave the depth to miss so many key players at the same time for such duration?

If we have the typical injury or 2 here and there, then I certainly think we do.

Spot on.

We have loads of injuries and on important players as well, so of course our squad is thin at the moment. It would be the same for all teams (apart from City perhaps).



To be fair one of Carlo's Summer signings is injured and I'm pretty sure Yossi would have been playing in this team if he hadn't have gotten a bad injury. But you look at our squad from this season and compare it to last season and its alot weaker. We really should have nought two other players in the summer, we are weak in defence with depdth.

We only got five injuries at the moment which is not unusuall for any team, and we are in big big trouble already.

Define "big big trouble."

God I'd forgotten about Benayoun. In all seriousness, I think our midfield can cope with the loss of either Essien or Lampard, but with the current squad, losing both at the same time is hurting us badly. Also as has been pointed out elsewhere, John Terry's unexpected absence left us horribly short of leadership on the pitch and led to a last minute reshuffle which sadly didn't work.

We're allowed 25 players. This is essentially two players for each position, a spare keeper and a couple of kids thrown in. No team (bar Real Madrid and Man City) can afford to have £15 million players in every squad position. In an injury crisis such as this one, i.e. where we don't have enough players in a given position to field a full team of in-position players, then it would be lovely to have a Michael Ballack or a Ricardo Carvalho on the side to fill in.

However, on the flip side, what happens when we have a full strength team, and all these top players are left on the bench (just look at Yuri Zhirkov's Chelsea career...) ? It's hard to keep that many players happy, and there's a large amount of wasted talent going around.



Define "big big trouble."

Loosing two out of last three matches against very mediocre opposition, and going to Birmingham and Newcastle next with one good midfielder in our side.

Loosing two out of last three matches against very mediocre opposition, and going to Birmingham and Newcastle next with one good midfielder in our side.

If that's big big trouble, then I don't know how you'd cope with being in 2nd place, let alone out of the top four.

Loosing two out of last three matches against very mediocre opposition, and going to Birmingham and Newcastle next with one good midfielder in our side.

you're new to this Chelsea lark aren't you ?



In the end, changes need to be made to the side. If Carlo is going to stick with the 4-3-3 he has to use different people. Our midfield is weak right now and it makes our attack weak. Move Malouda back to the midfield and why not try Sturridge up front with Drogba and Anelka. Maybe even Kakuta. You need a wing player that can go by somebody. Sturridge and Kakuta bring that. Ferreria should never be picked again to play CB and only RB if we need to. Bruma should be playing before he is. Bruma can play both RB and CB.

you're new to this Chelsea lark aren't you ?

Nice contribution, always lovely to start a discussion in such manner.

Yeah next time I'll just call a loyal player a 'useless piece of garbage' or something

thanks for the heads up!

News on John Terry's injury:

Terry to miss France clash

Ancelotti rules out defender due to hamstring problem

Chelsea defender John Terry has been ruled out of England's friendly with France on Wednesday through injury.

Terry missed Sunday's shock home defeat to Sunderland after suffering a nerve problem in his hamstring in training on Saturday.

The former England skipper was sorely missed against Sunderland as Chelsea succumbed to their first defeat of the season at Stamford Bridge.

Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti has since confirmed Terry will not recover in time to face France at Wembley, but is hopeful he will be available for Chelsea's clash at Birmingham next weekend.

"Terry trained yesterday but, at the end of the training session, he had pain on his nerve in his hamstring and we had the test this morning," Ancelotti said.

"He was not able to play today. I don't think he will be able to play for the national team. He is out of the squad.

"I don't know if he has to report, we will wait to hear from them.

"He has had control of this problem. He never missed a training session but yesterday the pain was more, so he was not able to play.

"But I think he can play the next game. It is an injury, but he can control it. He has controlled it for 12 games.

"He's doing good prevention, good treatment. Everything will be okay for him."

England boss Fabio Capello is already sweating on the fitness of Newcastle striker Andy Carroll and Aston Villa forward Gabriel Agbonlahor, with the pair set to be assessed by the England medical staff after picking up knocks over the weekend.

LINK



God I'd forgotten about Benayoun. In all seriousness, I think our midfield can cope with the loss of either Essien or Lampard, but with the current squad, losing both at the same time is hurting us badly. Also as has been pointed out elsewhere, John Terry's unexpected absence left us horribly short of leadership on the pitch and led to a last minute reshuffle which sadly didn't work.

That's about the size of it.

Any side would miss players the calibre of Lamps, Essien & JT. It just underlines where the strength in our team lies. When they are missing, you really need players like Drogba and Anelka & Malouda to be at the very top of their game and unfortunatly they were nowhere near it today.

Yeah next time I'll just call a loyal player a 'useless piece of garbage' or something

thanks for the heads up!

Write something about the topic or f*ck off.

That's about the size of it.

Any side would miss players the calibre of Lamps, Essien & JT. It just underlines where the strength in our team lies. When they are missing, you really need players like Drogba and Anelka & Malouda to be at the very top of their game and unfortunatly they were nowhere near it today.

it wasn't just about them being on their game it was also about them stepping up and showing some leadership. Drogba and Anelka really disapointed me in that respect.

We can point the finger at Ramires playing his 8th or 9th game, Zhirkov having his first run in the team, Paulo out of position again but it was these guys in their normal roles and with all their experience I thought they let us down today



it wasn't just about them being on their game it was also about them stepping up and showing some leadership. Drogba and Anelka really disapointed me in that respect.

We can point the finger at Ramires playing his 8th or 9th game, Zhirkov having his first run in the team, Paulo out of position again but it was these guys in their normal roles and with all their experience I thought they let us down today

Yes. Bottom line, it was a sh*te day.

We can and will do better.

it wasn't just about them being on their game it was also about them stepping up and showing some leadership. Drogba and Anelka really disapointed me in that respect.

We can point the finger at Ramires playing his 8th or 9th game, Zhirkov having his first run in the team, Paulo out of position again but it was these guys in their normal roles and with all their experience I thought they let us down today

Drogba and Anelka cant solely keep sunderland out of our goal, create chances and score goals by themselves. It takes 11 players to win matches. We had too many weaknesses today and they were exploited. Lets not fool ourselves and make excuses for experienced players like Paulo, Yuri, Ramires. These are top players that cost big money for a reason, and whatever the circumstances they should be performing much better than they did against an average team like sunderland

They got no service, the last half an hour consisted of long balls lumped up towards drogba with defenders surrounded him in every direction.

My view on todays game was an unorganised defense (for obvious reasons) and a midfield trio that just doesn't work together

Mikel/Ramires/Zhirkov will be found out again vs Newcastle and Birmingham. Infact Ramires/Zhirkov/Yossi played in the carling cup vs newcastle and were dominated by newcastles second choice midfield.

Ramires is still adapting and unfortunately we have had no choice but to throw him in the deep end as part of a make shift midfield. Having said that i still expect him to not lose the ball so much. How many games does he need before he realises he doesn't get that much time on the ball in the premier league? Opposition clearly mark him as a huge weakness and close him down extra fast. On a positive note he is is trying, its just not clicked for him, yet anyway

Yuri only has 1 good foot so his play in the central midfield area is limited and his passing movements are almost telepathic as he always turns back when on his right side to get it back on his left. And on top of that he naturally floats to the left wing where he is more comfortable instead of making late runs into the box to support/ feed off the crosses

I think you've misinterpreted my post - could be my fault. Maybe I wasn't clear enough.

Everything you've said is right. It's just the lack of leadership on the field that really annoyed me. I didn't see anyone try and step up and lead the team, those two players I highlighted are two I wouldve expected it from, regardless of where they were playing.

Anyone who claims we have depath in our squad and the youth can do the job need to have their head checked. After almost 3 full seasons and 3 managers, we are still relying on Drogba, Lampard, Terry, even if we had a full squad, our sub would be in the form of Yossi, Kalou etc, hardly world beaters. The likes of Sturridge, Kakuta have all played a few full games in the first team, and a lot more as reserve, what have they shown so far? Very little. Roman is desperately want win the CL, instead of pumping more cash in to boost the squad, we actually have a worse team than last year. I dobut we would have Ferriera at CD last year even if we lose 3 central defenders. We were awful last night, but we have been bad for more than a month now, and the current squad is not good enough if we dare to dream about CL or a double.



Perhaps, although i did notice Ivan verbally trying to steady the troops alot, and i think Mikel led by example in midfield. I just think it wasn't the leadership that let us down but the quality in midfield and back 4.

JT was playing vs Liverpool so we certainly didn't lack leadership and it was the same outcome

Its time to face the fact its not a once off problem, City, Villa, Liverpool, Blackburn, Sunderland. Good news is we can still sort it out before we drop behind united in the league. Somehow i see carlo continuing with the same midfield trio though

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