The Chelsea Squad: Is it too small?

Rafa Benitez took to his press conference yesterday and complained that the players and squad he has is too small to work with and I am wondering if you people agree or disagree with him?

With Mikel and Moses away at the African Cup of Nations and Oriol Romeu and now David Luiz injured, Chelsea make the short trip to Brentford tomorrow, also without Eden Hazard who is suspended.

Preparing for the game, Rafa has revealed that he cannot afford to make many changes because of the lack of depth in certain positions.

He said:

We cannot rest too many players because our squad is not that big in certain positions.

I had a good conversation about this with the owner the other day. I gave my opinion, he listened to me. But I have to concentrate on the team.

I have to play Frank Lampard and Ramires all the time because we have problems with injuries and suspensions and we have two players at the African Nations Cup.

We have had nine games a month since I came here and the players are a little tired. You can really see the difference when players are allowed to have a rest. When they have three or four days to recover they are fine. When they only have two they are not so good.

The squad we have was successful in the past and as a result we have had more competitions this season. This season we have had to play extra games in Japan and Monaco.

We have players at the African Nations Cup and we’ve had to cope with injuries to Lampard, Terry and Romeu.

What do you think about what Rafa has said? Is he right? I do find it difficult to believe to be honest, and I personally struggle with the fact that players who are asked to play on a Saturday, then midweek and then the following weekend are tired when they only train for 2 hours a day! Don’t forget, we are talking about players who are physically fit and train hard in pre-season to be able to cope with the demands of a season at Chelsea.

In addition to that, let’s also not forget that Benitez has chosen to play certain players in most games and not use people like Marko Marin to give the likes of Oscar, Hazard and Mata a rest.

I do agree however with the “problems” we have in midfield. It’s obvious that Benitez likes Oriol Romeu and to be fair he never had much of a look in under RDM. It’s my view that Romeu would have featured more often than not under Benitez, so losing him was a blow.

In addition, we have Mikel unavailable and now David Luiz injured so you can understand that Ramires and Frank Lampard have to play each game for now. Someone posted a comment on here stating that Oscar could play in a deeper midfield position but for me he lacks defensively and you cannot afford to carry someone there.

All in all, you have to take into account the possibility of injuries and suspensions ahead of the upcoming season. Being honest, looking back to pre season there was an excitement about our squad especially with the additions made to it.

Maybe, one or two players who have been sent out on loan has been a mistake but what can you do? Players need experience and want to play. Romelu Lukaku forced the move for exactly that reason and has flourished at WBA. Would he have had the same game time here? I am not so sure.

One player who maybe shouldn’t have gone out on loan is Josh McEachran. I still believe that he is class on the ball and could have stepped into the breach this season when we have had people missing.

It all comes down to the personal preference of the manager. It’s all well and good having the players available but if he doesn’t fancy them, they are not going to get a look in.

Look at Danny Sturridge for example. During the course of the season (and I know he was injured at times), he never featured as our main striker when Torres needed a rest. That was the fault of both RDM and Benitez and it’s only been since we signed Demba Ba that a decision was taken to rest Torres.

You have to wonder if Sturridge was given a crack, if he would still be at the club?

I personally disagree with Benitez about the depth of our squad. I feel that we have players that are more than capable to step in a do a job but they have never really been given a run in the side. Yes we have been unlucky with JT and Romeu but we still have had the players to make it work.

If we are struggling and have struggled in the holding midfield positions, why hasn’t Rafa or the club identified a replacement to bring in as soon as the transfer window opened?

What do you people think. Is our squad too small?

Carefree & KTBFFH