Don’t educate Chelsea fans about injuries – the number has been high for 29+ weeks

On August 3rd, 2023, just two weeks before the Premier League season’s opening game, Christopher Nkunku, a new signing for Chelsea, got injured while playing in Chicago. This injury kept him out of action until December. At that time, we didn’t realize how big of a problem injuries would become for Chelsea throughout the season.

Before Chelsea played against Liverpool on the opening day, they were missing three key signings: Lavia, Caicedo, and Cole Palmer. While Caicedo and Palmer eventually became regular starters, Lavia struggled with frequent injuries. Additionally, several other players, including Badiashile, Broja, Chalobah, Fofana, and Nkunku, were also unavailable for the game.

After the opening day draw, Chelsea still hadn’t signed Cole Palmer, and then Reece James got injured after just one Premier League game. The same players who missed the opening match also couldn’t play in the second game. Chelsea’s bad luck continued when Carney Chukwuemeka got injured shortly after scoring in a match against West Ham. He hasn’t started a game since then, and it’s now February.

By the third game of the season, Chelsea had nine players injured, and Mudryk was the latest addition to the list after getting hurt in training. This meant he couldn’t fully recover until the international break.

The number of injured players remained at nine until October when it increased to ten after Ben Chilwell got injured in a Carabao Cup match against Brighton. Chelsea’s draw against Arsenal saw Reece James return from injury, while Badiashile had to wait for his chance due to not having a pre-season.

In November, the injury count dropped to eight, and by the end of the month, it was down to six. However, in December, it rose to seven. The absence of Malo Gusto and Reece James’s suspension left Chelsea without a recognized right-back for a game against Brighton. After the victory over Brighton, Lesley Ugochukwu and Noni Madueke joined the growing list of injured players.

Chelsea’s season took a turn for the worse after a 2-0 defeat to Everton, during which Cucurella and Sanchez also got injured, along with Reece James. The festive period saw the injury count rise to twelve.

In mid-December, twelve players, including Sanchez, James, Cucurella, Chalobah, Chilwell, Chukwuemeka, Fofana, Ugochukwu, Madueke, Lavia, Gusto, and Nkunku, were on the injury list, amounting to around £400m worth of signings. Enzo Fernandez was later added to the list before the Christmas Eve match.

Entering 2024, the number of unavailable players remained in double digits. Levi Colwill’s injury in the warm-up against Aston Villa added to fears that the injury count wasn’t decreasing. While Pochettino faced challenges throughout the season, dealing with an unprecedented number of injuries, the situation remained difficult.

As February comes to a close, eight players are still not fully fit. For Nkunku, injuries have prevented him from making a significant impact on matches, even when coming off the bench.

Chelsea’s injury struggles have been well-documented this season, with Pochettino often having to manage with a depleted squad. Despite this, the club has faced criticism regarding the significance of the missing players, especially ahead of important matches like the Carabao Cup final.

The criticism stems from the inability of certain players to prove themselves due to their unavailability. Had Cole Palmer or Malo Gusto suffered injuries early in the season like others, their importance might have been questioned as well. Despite this, many players in the current squad have been making a name for themselves, with only a few managing to stay injury-free throughout the season.

As someone who tends to view football negatively, it’s easy to speculate that Chelsea might have been higher in the league standings if luck had been on their side with injuries.

This is the updated list, as of Chelsea's last game vs. City on February 17th, 2024

– Our captain and best player has missed 29 games, 85% of the season
– Our star summer signing and source of goals has missed 25 games, or 73% of the season
– Somehow, it's February and we're… https://t.co/HNOixU5DmQ pic.twitter.com/bEjPRRH6PC

— Sumeet (@flameosumeet) February 21, 2024