When Chelsea take the field against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley this Sunday, they could have one of the strangest benches we have seen at Chelsea.
With Cesc Fabregas and Gary Cahill sent off in the season opener against Burnley, they will miss the trip to Wembley. While the return of Victor Moses will offer some respite, the game is still too soon for the injured duo of Eden Hazard and Tiemoue Bakayoko to make their returns. Pedro as well is unsure of being fit and the situation seems like on to worry about.
The talk about low squad depth was ongoing since quite some time but the Burnley game just brought these fears to the fore. There is an urgent need for Roman Abramovich and the board to go out and sign quality players before the season turns into a complete disaster and a repeat of 2015/2016 season.
A defeat next week can cause mayhem at Stamford Bridge sending the fans into pandemonium and the club into turmoil. It may be very early in the season to say this but there seems to be an air of negativity around The Blues which could be detrimental to performances.
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Read: Spurs players’ ratings against Newcastle.
The game against Burnley strengthened Conte’s qualms about lack of squad depth with an extremely inexperienced bench. The bench even featured the Brazilian Kennedy who is most certain to leave on loan this summer.
This brings up the problem with the loan system. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kasey Palmer, Izzy Brown, Tammy Abraham and Kurt Zouma all started for their respective Premier League clubs. Even Nathaniel Chalobah and Nathan Ake started for their new clubs. This when the numbers are dwindling at Chelsea and they are much needed to add bench strength to the club.
With Chelsea suffering from an unprecedented midfield crisis surely the highly rated Loftus-Cheek could be of good use here at Stamford Bridge.
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With a difficult month of August and September where Chelsea visit Tottenham and Leicester and are to be paid visits by Arsenal, Everton and Manchester City coming up, the board needs to desperately go in the market and add quality to their side. Recalling a couple of players from their loans might just be too early at this stage, so Chelsea have no option but to go and break the bank.
Antonio Conte delivered success in his first season as Chelsea manager and he must have the entire backing of The Blues management in order to recreate the success he achieved. Chelsea are back in the Champions League as well, a competition which Roman Abramovich adores. If they are to compete there too then adding players is a must for Chelsea.
