Football Special Report: Previewing the Chelsea squad
‘Don’t fix it if it isn’t broken’ is an age old principle that fits perfectly with Chelsea’s example. The HR department at Fulham Broadway has seen a very quiet summer gone by; only a few changes were made to their staff rosters. The two new arrivals at Chelsea are not expected to be first team players and Ancelotti finds himself in the luxurious position of having no selection headaches, worth mentioning at least, as the 2010-11 season kicked off.
This year’s Chelsea is the same as last years; at least the first choice 11 are the same (injury permitting). The arrivals of Yossi Benayoun and Ramires mean that the club has now bought only 11 players, since the especial one left the Bridge. There may be too many players in the Chelsea squad around the age of 30, too few home grown players to fill the new required quota, but Ancelotti is highly pragmatic and appreciates the consistency and experience of his trusted players rather than fearing stagnation. It is no doubt a commonplace opinion that the Chelsea squad is nearing the end of its shelf life but Ancelotti believes in not breaking a winning formula and that’s what he has done.
It may be very true that Nikolas Anleka is not the kind of player who can be deployed out wide in an attacking front three but Chelsea have too many central midfielders and too few wide players to regularly play the stale 4-4-2 formation. Yossi Benayoun is of course an option to employ on the wings but the point again is not breaking the winning formula.
In addition to this, Michael Essien is also back from injury and gives Chelsea the formidability that was missing last season in his absence. The midfield is also blessed to have added Ramires from Benfica, a box to box player who will run his heart out on the pitch. Ramieres’ threat to Jon Obi Mikel may not be very obvious from the start but experts see the future Chelsea midfield as Malouda-Lampard-Essien and Ramieres with Drogba and Anelka leading the blues attack.
Adding Mesut Ozil to an already embarrassingly rich midfield will be nothing but greedy and a waste of money, as Ozil despite being a fantastic player won’t fit in the current Chelsea squad, or more appropriately in the system that Chelsea play. But his arrival at the same time will provide creativity to Ancelotti’s side, so the pros and cons of Ozil are there and it only remains the manager’s decision whether to splash the big bucks or not.
One area where Chelsea are short of cover is the replacement for Drogba and Anelka – Kalou can only be classified as good but not a striker that can be banked upon to win the Premier League, while Daniel Sturridge is not half as good as the hype was about him.
There is also suspicion about the player becoming injury prone. Jose Bosingwa, Drogba, Alex and Petr Cech are injury doubts going into the new season and even the energizer bunny Lampard can’t go on forever.
Alex is due to return to training in 2 weeks, while Bosingwa’s return date is still not confirmed. While Ricardo Carvallho has left for Real Madrid, it will be interesting to see if Carlo persists with the chase of Ozil or will indulge himself in buying a cover for Carvallgo.
If Carvallho is not replaced then, Jeffery Bruma, the young academy product will have to be promoted to the first squad. Paulo Ferreira will be the first choice right back with Ivanovic and Terry in the central defender’s role.
The Chelsea squad despite being hampered by injuries is very impressive and it will take some strong performances by Manchester United and the rest of the clubs, if they are to dethrone Chelsea.
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