Injuries Plaguing Chelsea - Football (Soccer) News And Picks

Injuries Plaguing Chelsea
By Tim Robertsoni
Posted: 5:00 am PDT 2007-01-02

There won't be too many outsiders lining up to offer sympathy, but Chelsea has an injury crisis.

That's right, Chelsea - it of the multi-million pound substitutes' bench stocked with international-calibre players.

The injury list is not long, but the absence of those key players on it is causing Jose Mourinho major headaches and could play a major role in handing Manchester United the Premiership this season.

Chelsea's back-to-back titles were built on solid defence. It conceded just 15 goals in the league in 2004/05, 22 last season.

But with both goalkeeper Petr Cech and captain John Terry missing, Chelsea has let in nine in its last five games. Cech's capable understudy, Carlo Cudicini, is also out, leaving Chelsea with third-choice Hilario in goal.

The uncertainty at the back was illustrated by the farcical own goal - scored when Ashley Cole's scuffed clearance struck Michael Essien and went in - that handed Reading a share of the points last weekend.

That and Chelsea's draw Saturday vs. Fulham have allowed United to pull seven points clear, and Mourinho is still searching for solutions after Terry this week underwent a back operation that will keep him out for a further 4-6 weeks. Cech, who suffered a fractured skull in a nasty incident at Reading earlier this season, is also about a month away from returning.

Having sold both William Gallas and Robert Huth in the summer, Mourinho is short at the back, and he was forced to deploy full-back Paulo Ferreira in a central role against the Royals.

"To lose Petr and John at the same time is a very difficult problem to solve, especially in a squad without more central defenders," Mourinho said.

To cope, he has been considering some radical alternatives, even admitting he contemplated using red-hot striker Didier Drogba as a makeshift centre-half - something he has not taken further because of Andrei Shevchenko's struggles.

"It's a pity I also have problems in attack because if in this moment I have other strikers playing at a great level, I would play Didier as a central defender," he said.

"I have no Joe Cole, I have no (Arjen) Robben ... and I have Andrei Shevchenko playing very, very far from his level."

Indeed, with Drogba the only man consistently hitting the net, his work at the other end of the pitch has never been more important as Chelsea needs to ensure it scores more than it lets in.

Given Chelsea's spending power, it has of course been linked with several central defenders with the January transfer window about to open.

But Manchester City has already said it will not sell 18-year-old England international Micah Richards, while a rumoured move for Matthew Upson - now playing in the Championship with Birmingham - seems highly unlikely.

Chelsea's problems have done little to affect the odds for Tuesday's meeting with Aston Villa, with the defending champion favoured on WagerWeb.com at -200.

Mourinho is adamant this is not a crisis.

"Right now, we are surviving because the distance to Manchester United," he said. "Manchester United must come to Stamford Bridge. I think the situation is okay. We'll just have to use this group of players."

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