The transfer window has come and gone. Rather than waste time crying over spilt milk we need to move forward now. Some persons feel this was our “best window ever” others feel it was ‘our worst ever’. I feel the truth is somewhere in between but rather than quibble about opinions let us stick to the facts.
Here they are; After all said and done we have a total first team squad of 22 (No Diego Costa though listed on the official web page does not count let us not fool ourselves). That includes 3 goalkeepers and so we really have just 19 outfield players. The experts who set the rules for the BPL and the Champions league all decided that teams are allowed a squad of 25 senior players with caveats around home grown and Association trained players. They are then allowed an essentially unlimited number of “youth” players that the club care to add to that. There is a reason for those numbers. For those who have the time they can go look at the squads of our top 6 rivals in the BPL and the big boys in Europe who are always among the final 16 in the champions league and compare the numbers and quality of our squad to our fellow competitors.
One thing to add to this is that our 19 outfield players listed above do include two “youth players”; Musonda jr and Kenedy who essentially were retained simply by default because we just did not have the numbers to make a half decent squad. We know Kenedy was easily one of the bottom dwellers as far as performance in the little preseason action he had. He was all set to be sent on loan to NewCastle and Conte himself had said weeks ago he needed to go on loan. Conte however had to repent from that and demand he be retained much to Rafa Benitez`s chagrin not based on merit but simply because of necessity.
We all know Conte is a tactical genius. We have seen him make wine from water before at Juve, and with the Azurri so I have no doubt he will find a way to over achieve again despite being handicapped based on the squad size and quality he has to work with.
The whole point of this article however is to highlight the 3 big variables that a thin squad must deal with and which even genius and hard work can sometimes not overcome; Suspensions, Injuries and fatigue.
1. Suspensions; These are generally unpredictable and they tend to occur when least expected and often when most devastating. Chelsea has never been accused of being the darlings of match officials be it in Europe or England so we can pretty much assume if there is a benefit of the doubt to be given we wont get it. It is juts what it is and there is no point crying about it..we just have to deal with it. We lost the FA cup and Community Shield because of these and when a squad is thin to begin with, one suspension can have huge implications. For quick example if we face a Morata suspension we essentially have just Bats left as a striker. If we have Alonso suspended for example we essentially have to either play Kenedy there or move Moses there and put Zappa Costa into Moses`s position. No one prays for this scenarios but i do hope Conte and his team begin to trouble shoot for these sort of scenarios because you know how Murphy’s law goes.
2. Injuries; As troublesome as suspensions can be however the disaster that injuries can wreck on a thin squad are even more devastating. We all know how Hazard’s injury came out of seemingly nothing while training with the Belgian national team. There is no rhyme or reason to this. We were very lucky last season but with way more games to play this season the sheer law of averages would suggest we are bound to get bit by the injury bug this season and we now have a smaller squad than last year with more tournaments and games. All we can do is hope and pray.
3. Fatigue; This is as a certain as the Sun rising from the east and setting in the west. We only need to cast our minds back to how the quality of play from some of our players like Moses and David Luis dipped towards season’s end last season. This is reality and with more games this season and a smaller squad rest assured the dip in form that fatigue brings will likely appear sooner in the season and may well affect more players than last season. The big problem is that fatigue tends to rear its ugly head during thee business end of the season and tournaments. We had better get a decent start in the BPL because this sqaud as is will have problems playing catch up later in the season if we fall of the pace by much.
This then are the realities and challenges we will have to face in the season ahead. Conte and our players will do their best; of that i have no doubt. All we as fans can do is hope and pray that suspensions and injuries are at the bare minimum. Come January though I hope that the decision makers of the club can do the team a favor and recall some of the over 30 + players we have sent out all over Europe on loan ( For me prime candidates would be Tammy Abraham, RLC and possibly Tomori to provide us with more depth) that can help our first team. After the showing in this transfer window I wont waste my time expecting them to sign anyone new that will help the team; that would be too much to expect.
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