Chelsea’s strength in depth has been a subject discussed as far back as Scolari’s arrival, with the Brazilian making it clear he felt there was an excess of personnel. However, in light of our much talked about squad depletion through injuries, the question of squad size appears more topical than ever.

Scolari insisted from the start that a squad of 24 players would be more than enough to get him through the season without too many problems, saying  “To have 23 or 24 players is very good for one squad. How can a coach work with 34 players? It is incredible. When I arrived here there were 34 players and I have never wanted to work with that many - 23, 24 or 25 maximum.”

Of the situation now that he has injuries to contend with, Scolari says “I don’t know what will happen in January. Maybe I will have two or three more injuries. Maybe some teams want my players, but I don’t think about January. I am satisfied with my players. Anelka has made 10 goals this season, Joe Cole four, Salomon Kalou four, Florent Malouda two, (Franco) Di Santo two. I am not afraid because of Didier’s injury because I believe in these players.”

 I think it was Frank Lampard who recently described our squad availability as “thin on the ground” right now, and he certainly wasn’t wrong there.  Even our apparent excess of midfielders at the start of the season has seen injuries to Deco, Joe Cole and Michael Essien hit it hard, with the likes of Ballack and Mikel also having spent some time on the sidelines so far this season.  Couple that with us letting Shaun Wright-Phillips return to City and losing Robinho to them as well, and our midfield choice doesn’t look nearly as excessive as it might have done at the start of the campaign.

Although not ideal, I guess our defensive pairing of Terry and Alex can cope with Carvalho being out, however, with both of them reported to have picked up strains mid-week, the prospect of either or both of them ending up injured doesn’t bear thinking about right now.

Our biggest problem though, has to be our shortage of fire-power up front. Scolari let Shevchenko, Pizarro and Sahar go elsewhere and apparently didn’t factor cover into the equation. Yet we’ve already spent part of the season having to rely on Nicolas Anelka with Drogba starting the season injured and with the Ivorian now expected to be missing for another month, it doesn’t bode well for our goal tally. Anelka hasn’t exactly had the killer touch when it comes to finishing, and even if Scolari opts to push Salomon Kalou up front, he’s hardly the most potent striker either.

So, that leaves us with a couple of untried and as yet untested players. Franco Di Santo impressed so much pre-season he was rewarded with the number 9 shirt, although up to now has only been utilised for a few minutes from the bench against Pompey. Then there’s always 17 year old Fabio Borini who’s been impressive for the reserves, although transferring that form to the demands of the Premier League would probably be too big an ask for the young Italian.

One suggestion in the press has been that Scolari plans to bring in a striker in January, possibly in the form of Brazilian, Luis Fabiano. But what if something was to happen to Nicolas Anelka in the next week or two? What would Scolari do then? Well, again according to the press, just as they did in the case of Essien’s injury which saw them bring in Mineiro, Chelsea could again look for a free agent to cover their current striker crisis.

But who exactly do they think might be hanging around waiting for employment this time of year? Ronaldo of course! No, not the prolific Manchester United goal-getter, but the over-weight and under-fit 32 year old Brazilian Ronaldo. After all, a club-less player past his sell-by-date is bound to be the answer to all our prayers eh? Still, according to the boys in the press – who have to be having a laugh, a pay-as-you-play deal could very well be the solution to Chelsea’s problem.

Your thoughts?

Filed under: Rants