In a normal year with a normal manager, Chelsea’s injury crisis would be a legitimate worry. But with the academy ready to step in, everything is fine.
It has been a very long time since Chelsea seemed to be this laid up. This international break especially wreaked havoc as small injuries piled up.
According to the ever excellent Physio Room, Chelsea currently has eight players listed as injured. There are the long standing ones like Ruben Loftus-Cheek (due back in November) and Marco van Ginkel. The longer niggling ones with Andreas Christensen, N’Golo Kante, and Antonio Rudiger. And the remaining minor ones that have afflicted Reece James, Mateo Kovacic, and Emerson.
In a normal year, that would be crippling. But this is clearly not a normal year. Thanks to Frank Lampard’s trust in the youth and the youth being as good as advertised, these injuries are more of an inconvenience than a hindrance. Because no matter who is out injured, there always seems to be a young academy star ready to fill the gap.
Currently, Chelsea is hurting the most in midfield and in defense. The latter is less of an issue because most of the injuries appear to be minor and defenses do not need to rotate in and out as often as other positions. Currently, a back four of Cesar Azpilicueta, Kurt Zouma, Fikayo Tomori, and Marcos Alonso is available. After that the depth is all injured, but if need be the likes of Marc Guehi and Ian Maatsen can step in after featuring in the League Cup. Digging deeper, Tariq Lamptey is extremely highly rated and could fill in yet another role.
Midfield is trickier primarily due to the lack of balance with the fit players. Jorginho, Mason Mount, and Ross Barkley are all good players but playing the three together is more than a little ambitious. Unfortunately, the options to fill in only offer slightly more balance.
Billy Gilmour is the clear standout and similar to Cesc Fabregas, albeit with more aggression in him. He could pair with Jorginho in a pinch and it would not be at all unexpected to see him feature soon with all the injuries. Tino Anjorin and George McEachran could also step in, but they are also cut from a more attacking cloth like Mount and Barkley.
And even though the keeper position and forward positions are relativity healthy now, Lampard has shown that his players are more interchangeable than not. Mount has already featured on the wing plenty this season and that could open up a spot for some of those younger attacking mids to step in too.
But regardless, every youth player that has stepped up thus far has shown their quality. Part of that is the simple fact that they are actually that good. The rest is the trust Lampard has put in them and the resulting confidence that comes along with it. Under normal circumstances, these injuries would cripple any momentum Chelsea had as the same veterans would be run into the ground. But these are not normal circumstances; this is Frank Lampard’s brand new Chelsea side that trusts players regardless of age or resume.