Morata, Kante, Moses: How can Chelsea prevent more hamstring injuries?

Chelsea are in the throes of a hamstring injury epidemic, as are other several other Premier League clubs. What causes are beyond anyone’s control, and what can Chelsea do to fix this crisis?

On September 30th, Alvaro Morata pulled up early in the Manchester City match. He tried to walk it off but waved for a sub quickly. It was a hamstring injury and after several reports of its severity, Chelsea revealed he would be out for just over two weeks. And that was by rushing him back.

About a week later, N’Golo Kante pulled up just past the half hour mark while playing for France. Kante is so rarely injured that it was clear it was serious. This, too, was a hamstring injury, and he will likely be out until the next international break ends.

And not long after, on October 14th, Victor Moses pulled up against Crystal Palace. He has had injury issues in previous seasons, but this one was again a hamstring injury. He is expected out for the next four weeks.

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One hamstring injury is bad luck. Two is a coincidence. Three is a result of an issue on some level. Why is Chelsea suddenly facing so many hamstring injuries?

One reason is simply luck has caught up with the club. Chelsea has been very lucky with injuries for several seasons, but that run had to end eventually.

Another reason is the uptick in matches this season compared to last. Chelsea has far more midweek games this season. Couples that with the additional travel and minutes and injuries like this become more common.

Piling on even more are the international matches being vital at this part of the cycle. All three of these players had to travel to international duty, and all three played major parts in the matches. So these players are putting on a lot mileage and minutes with little recovery time in between. That inevitably leads to hamstring injuries.

Could the systems be at fault as well? Antonio Conte has his teams play a very physically demanding style. To do that in additional games puts a lot of strain on the body. Several players have claimed that Conte’s training is some of the hardest of their careers. Are the players simply being pushed to hard?

That is likely, but there is little other choice. Conte’s system works because it requires so much energy. Liverpool is in a similar position with Jurgen Klopp. Their style is extremely hard to play against, but the cost is the players have to be pushed hard.

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The only solution for this is to have strong depth to cope with the injuries. Chelsea has depth, yes, but it is not ideal and it gets stretched with so many injuries. Liverpool fans know that well from the last few seasons.

The other option is rotation. Conte wants to (and should want to) win every single match. But sometimes he plays a much stronger lineup than required. When the Christmas pile-up arrives, he will have to be very careful with over-playing his team.

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These injuries are unfortunate and hard to avoid. But they do have common causes that should Chelsea should address going forward. If the Blues are to compete for silverware, they need to keep their players healthy and avoid running them into the ground at vital points of the season.