The BIGGEST issue Chelsea must fix ahead of next season

Cameron Smith

29 Mar 2024 07:50 GMT
4 min read

Mauricio Pochettino, Chelsea, 2023/24 — © IMAGO

Chelsea have not amassed over 75 points in a single Premier League season since they won the title under Antonio Conte in 2016-17.

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They have, of course, enjoyed Champions League, Europa League, Super Cup and FA Cup glory in recent years, but the Blues have been unable to keep up with the very best in the English top flight.

Things looked like they would change in 2021-22 under Thomas Tuchel, with the Blues topping the table until Ben Chilwell suffered a major injury in November. And that is the crux of Chelsea’s problem. They simply have too many injuries and it dates back years.

Mauricio Pochettino has been dealt a tough hand this campaign, with the Blues’ injury crisis unlike anything seen since, well, Chelsea’s injury crisis last season.

Tuchel, Graham Potter, Bruno Saltor and Frank Lampard were all hamstrung by Chelsea’s injury problems during the 2022-23 campaign and that issue has continued this year.

Chelsea have consistently had seven or eight first-team throughout the current season, with Wesley Fofana not featuring at all, Romeo Lavia making just one appearance and Christopher Nkunku amassing only two league starts.

Every club in the Premier League has suffered with injuries this season, but none to the extent of the Blues.

47 different injuries have occurred to Pochettino’s players in 2023-24, with Axel Disasi, Conor Gallagher, Cole Palmer, Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson the only senior outfield stars to be fully fit for every Chelsea match so far this campaign.

Multiple Chelsea fans have called for the entire medical department to be sacked, while the club are reportedly launching an investigation into why so many players have been injured this year.

© IMAGO - Romeo Lavia has only made one Chelsea appearance

What is just as concerning as the injury list itself is that many of those players have suffered setbacks on their return to fitness and now face an even longer spell on the sidelines.

For example, Carney Chukwuemeka scored the winner against Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-final before the international break, but he has now been added to Chelsea’s injury report despite not playing for England’s youth teams.

Chelsea must fix their injury woes

Lavia played the most minutes of any U21 player in the Premier League last season and while he arrived with an injury, he made a 32 minute cameo in December, suggesting he was back to full fitness, before suffering a new blow. He has now been ruled out of the entire season.

Pochettino’s intense training methods have been questioned as a potential reason, something that Chelsea boss has played down, but the issue dates back several years and isn’t solely limited to the Argentine’s time at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea have spent over €1 billion on new signings since 2022, but their bench has frequently featured several unproven academy players this season due to the fact Pochettino has very few first-team stars to pick from each match.

Their first-choice matchday squad would be very impressive with no injuries, but that simply doesn’t seem like a realistic situation right now, and that's the issue.

The Blues have been linked with a host of top names yet again this summer and while adding a player like Victor Osimhen would help a push for the Premier League title, the most important area for the Blues to fix is to reduce their number of injuries.