In classic Chelsea fashion, things snowballed this week with the injury to Alvaro Morata. Following Chelsea’s loss to Manchester City they learned they will lose their star striker for six weeks.
Last season Chelsea were lucky in their ability to avoid injuries in any serious manner to pretty much all of their players. This feat flew under the radar, but is in many ways responsible for how well the season went. Injuries are the often forgotten determinant in how matches, tournaments and full seasons end up going.
Chelsea were never really tested in this manner last year. They were able to rely essentially on the same group of players for the entire season.
Naturally, in the loss to Manchester City Chelsea also lost Alvaro Morata. What was originally expected to be a minor injury is turning out to be over a month on the treatment table. This is going to exhibit exactly what Antonio Conte worried about over the summer. Conte wanted other players during the summer simply to add squad numbers and depth.
To compete on all fronts, you need multiple players at every position.
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Players can not play the 60-65 total matches that would mean success in all competitions on their own. They simply break down. Morata’s hamstring pull is a good example of a fatigue injury. He played all of the Atletico Madrid match, one in which Chelsea were praised for their work-rate, only three days prior. It is no surprise that he would still be tired.
Chelsea need to plan better than this. One star player at every position is not good enough. The reason Real Madrid have been so successful in recent years is because of the incredible depth they have at the club. Manchester United and Manchester City are playing fantastically this season, and have spent two years essentially building up deep, thoroughly planned out squads.
Chelsea, on the other hand, have made a massive profit in player sales.
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Each of the youth players that Chelsea sold this summer would have been helpful in the City match. Alvaro Morata is hurt? Dominic Solanke is fantastic. So is Tammy Abraham, and actually so is Bertrand Traore as well.
The midfield is lost? Nathaniel Chalobah was phenomenal on the ball and has recently been called into the England squad.
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It was only a matter of time before the sheer ridiculousness of the squad-building strategy was exposed by simple human fatigue. Alvaro Morata’s injury and the struggles that will follow it should be a learning experience for the Blues. Let’s see if they retain anything.