Chelsea squad 2011-2012

[Epic]

Here is a brief reminder of the rules:

Premier League squad rules explained

Clubs register a squad of up to 25 players, which must include at least eight 'home-grown' players, at the end of each transfer window.

Clubs can supplement squad with unlimited number of players under the age of 21.

Home-grown players do not have to be English; home-grown players are defined as those who "irrespective of nationality or age, have been affiliated to the FA or Welsh FA for a period of three seasons or 36 months prior to 21st birthday".

Changes can be made only during transfer windows, although in exceptional circumstances (eg goalkeeping injury crisis) moves could be allowed.

So essentially we are allowed to have 17 foreign players and 8 home-grown players.

Our foreign contingent is as follows:

Petr Cech

Hilario

Ferriera

Bosingwa

Ivanovic

Alex

Luiz

Zhirkov

Ramires

Mikel

Essien*

Benayoun

Malouda

Drogba

Torres

Kalou

Anelka

17/17

*As Essien is out injured for six months he will not have to be registered for the first half of the season.

Home-grown players:

Turnbull

Terry

Ashley Cole

Lampard

4/8

*This year Sturridge and Bertrand will have to be registered as part of this group.

Under 21s* who don't have to be registered:

*In keeping with UEFA guidelines, an Under 21 player is defined as one who is under the age of 21.

Van Aanholt

Kakuta

McEachran

Lucas Piazon*

*Piazon arrives in January 2012. Whether he is part of this group who might get some game time remains to be seen although it's likely he won't be part of the squad until the 2012-2013 season.

So, my question is what needs to be done now you the confines in which we are working in? Our foreign quota is full and unless we sell/release some players we can't sign any new foreign players. We essentially only have 2 places available, both of which have to be English.

Edited July 20, 2011 by Epic

[Uno]

Sell Anelka and Malouda to free up some space, dont register Essien, bring in parker. There are some solutions for a start.

[Epic]

Sell Anelka and Malouda to free up some space, dont register Essien, bring in parker. There are some solutions for a start.

How about letting go of guys like Zhirkov and Ferreira who contribute very little yet are taking up a space?

[Epic]

Bit I forgot to add:

*In keeping with UEFA guidelines, an Under 21 player is defined as one who is under the age of 21 in the January of the year the compeition begins.

Edited July 20, 2011 by Epic

[Uno]

Yes you could do, i would keep them both tho, Paulo covers both the RB and LB position and i sense from the pre season games already played the Yuri is going to be given a proper chance this season. I would rather see Anelka and Malouda shown the door and Sturridge and Kalou given more game time. I know Kalou is unbelievable frustrating but imo he linked up well with Torres last season, better than any other of our forwards.

[Epic]

Yes you could do, i would keep them both tho, Paulo covers both the RB and LB position and i sense from the pre season games already played the Yuri is going to be given a proper chance this season. I would rather see Anelka and Malouda shown the door and Sturridge and Kalou given more game time. I know Kalou is unbelievable frustrating but imo he linked up well with Torres last season, better than any other of our forwards.

We have Ashley Cole and two young specialist left-backs in the squad who need playing time.

Ivanovic is the best right-back at the club and Bosingwa is in my opinion a better back-up option despite what many think about him.

I don't see why we should keep Ferreira at the club.

Zhirkov has done very little in his time at Chelsea. I would rather see him leave than somebody like Malouda who has contributed far more than Zhirkov.

Please don't get me started on Kalou, the less said about him the better. He would be the first player I would let go without question.

[TrojanMan]

Please don't get me started on Kalou, the less said about him the better. He would be the first player I would let go without question.

No way. Yes, Kalou blows far too many sitters. Somehow, some way, he needs to fix that.

But, he was also among the top goal scorers on the team, depsite being a sub with diminished playing time, as opposed to a usual starter like Drogs, Malouda, Lamps, Anelka, etc. And, he was seemingly the only guy willing to dribble at defenders and create a little chaos in the penalty area.

In my option, Kalou takes way too much criticism from fans.

[Uno]

I complain about Kalou alot but i would keep him over Anelka. As i have said before i think Kalou linked up better with Torres better than any other forward at our club. Also last season for a while he had one of the best goal to game time records in the prem. I totally agree he wastes more than he scores but i dont think i would let him go just yet.

[EdinburghBlue]

We have Ashley Cole and two young specialist left-backs in the squad who need playing time.

Ivanovic is the best right-back at the club and Bosingwa is in my opinion a better back-up option despite what many think about him.

I don't see why we should keep Ferreira at the club.

Zhirkov has done very little in his time at Chelsea. I would rather see him leave than somebody like Malouda who has contributed far more than Zhirkov.

Please don't get me started on Kalou, the less said about him the better. He would be the first player I would let go without question.

In large part due to the huge gulf in game time? You cannot possibly compare their contributions IMO when one starts every week and the other very rarely even came off the bench!