This is a contribution article by community member Billy Young.
I think I speak for most of the Chelsea fanbase when I say that the injuries over the last few seasons at Chelsea have been out of control. As a fanbase we have given up the hope of ever having a fully fit squad and we’re almost numb to the injuries now. It just seems like one after another, players getting injured constantly, and for a third season in a row it has almost ruined the season.
I think the fanbase deserve answers or at least some clarity as to what is going on. All we get is the same injury report each week, there are no details on what the injuries are or any kind of timeline for a return. Mauricio Pochettino also never seems to be asked about specific players in press conferences or what’s causing the overall injury crisis at the club.
For example, what has actually happened to Wesley Fofana? We never see any pictures of him training or doing any kind of rehabilitation. He supposedly done his ACL in pre-season yet he’s not expected to play for the entirety of the season? Look at Jurrien Timber at Arsenal, he done his ACL in the Community Shield and he’s already back. Same with Ben Chilwell, he done his ACL in a Champions League game against Juventus in the November of that season, he returned on the last game of that season in May. So why does it look like Fofana might miss a whole season and why are there no updates and details about it? I just find it so bizarre how we never hear any specifics on what is going on, this is a £70 million defender who was signed to be at the heart of our defence for years. Something doesn’t feel right on this one.
Romeo Lavia and Christopher Nkunku, two of our major signings have hardly featured all season. Lavia cost £60 million and has played 30 mins – he got injured in training when he joined was out for 4/5 months, came back and has since been out for another 2/3 months and we’re still yet to hear when he will be back (I realise Simon has done an update today) or if he is training etc. I remember reports saying after the Crystal Palace game it would be weeks and not months.
Nkunku got injured in pre-season and missed 3/4 months, came back and has continuously picked up injuries and is out again. How long will he be out for this time? He was signed to be our most effective attacker and he has featured just 10 times all season! I honestly thought that Lavia and Nkunku would be two of our most important players as neither of them had the pressure Moises Caicedo or Enzo Fernandez have had due to the price tags and the fact Nkunku was pre-agreed. These players would’ve massively taken the pressure off Enzo, Caicedo and Nicolas Jackson allowing them to perform and settle better but neither have been fit. It’s incredibly frustrating as all of the hype for these new signings has now gone, the fanbase have no confidence that they (and the majority of our players) can keep fit.
Lesley Ugochukwu and Carney Chukwuemeka too, our entire midfield depth have hardly featured all season. Ugo has played 13 times, he (like Lavia) got injured on his return from a previous injury and we haven’t seen him since Christmas Eve. Carney has made 7 appearances all season, never fully recovered from the injury at West Ham - we was told that initial injury would only be 6 weeks… Chelsea have played 37 matches this season, Ugo has made 13 appearances, Lavia 1 and Carney 7. No wonder Enzo, Caicedo and Conor Gallagher are struggling, they have to play every game in every competition. Also it’s no surprise how bad we have been in second halves of games, we can never refresh that midfield.
Our captain and best player Reece James has featured nine times for Chelsea all season, he like the majority of others who have picked up injuries has never fully recovered from his initial injury two seasons ago.
We were the best team on the planet with Reece James and Ben Chilwell before their injuries, that game against Juventus proved that, we were also top of the league at that point. Chilwell is another, he has never been the same since his initial injury and also got injured again last week. Chilwell and James have played together 11 times since we won the Champions League…
Benoit Badiashile is another who hasn’t been able to keep himself fit for a sustainable period of games all season.
My point is that this cannot be bad luck, look at Ruben Loftus-Cheek as an example, a player who could never keep fit at Chelsea, he has now played 32 games for AC Milan this season, scoring 8 goals and providing 2 assists. He has only missed 5 games through injury all season. Christian Pulisic is the same, I felt like he could never keep fit after he injured himself in the FA Cup Final with us, yet he has made 37 apps for Milan this season missing only two games through injury. He has provided 10 goals and 7 assists this season.
N’Golo Kante is another example, he has played 31 times in Saudi this season (I believe without injury), he played 9 times for Chelsea the whole of last season. He was also our best player. How can Milan and a brand new team in Saudi keep these players fit but Chelsea can’t?
Look at teams like Arsenal, they can play almost the same team every single game, how is that possible for them but not for Chelsea? It’s so true when you hear “availability is the best ability”, look at Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Gabriel, William Saliba, Ben White at Arsenal – they’re available every single game and you can see from this they are in a rhythm, they’re match fit and they look like a team.
Where would Chelsea be if Reece James, Romeo Lavia, Wesley Fofana and Nkunku had played every game for Chelsea this season? Where would Chelsea be if we could field our best team for a run of games and get some rhythm and momentum? We would be in a much better position, that I’m certain of. Chelsea have a much better squad than the table suggests but we are completely failing on the injury front and the fans deserve some answers as to what’s going on. Chelsea should invest heavily on improving this situation as it will massively effect the fortunes for next season if we can sort this out.
Sometimes I feel like we’re too careful with injuries, give players huge lay offs and then they can never fully recover fitness wise. You hear the stories of our golden generation, the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba etc playing through pain and injuries as they were so desperate to help the team. I may be wrong but I don’t recall any of those ever having 4/5 month injuries and not featuring?
Injuries are obviously part of football but what’s been going on at Chelsea for such a long period isn’t normal, something needs to change and it needs to change ASAP.
Billy Young
Very good read! Even though we still miss our prolific striker to be brought in and integrated, we've been a very poor team which suffers from those injuries and from not managing our players health. I personally have doubts about some of those players to ever play any significant role moving forward - like Wesley Fofana. Others look too prone to injuries now and their time will pass sooner or later with them having played another 10, 20 or 30 matches. So, that to me is part of the bigger problem we have - badly managed team from the very top. Starting from there my opinion is that we probably don't manage the medical and other departments too well hence the injury issues. Last but not least, coaches/managers nowadays tend to play players in matches that don't matter that much or at all and the players get overtired and injured. This labyrinth of issues and finding the root case is just dreadful.
"You hear the stories of our golden generation, the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba etc playing through pain and injuries........." Very true and I think this is something which goes under the radar; so easy to blame the medical team (although I am not exonerating them either).
I am afraid I am getting suspicious and wondering if we have simply bought a bunch of malingerers - the slightest twinge and they are back in "rehabilitation". I could be eased away from these dark thoughts if we were indeed given more details of what the injuries are, what setbacks they have endured, and firmer dates for recovery.
A little more care from the recruitment team in assessing injury records would not go amiss either. Fofana, Badashiele, Lavia and Nkunku, for example, were all well known to be very injury prone before we bought them. The best ability is availability....... as they say.