Didier Drogba, Andriy Shevchenko, Salomon Kalou, Arjen Robben, Claude Makelele, Michael Ballack, John Terry, Wayne Bridge – No, I’m not reading out the line-up for a champions league match. These are players that are unavailable due to injuries of various degrees. We thought last season was ‘an incredible’ season (in Jose’s words) and it can only get better this season. Well, here we are, playing Man Utd with no strikers!

The list of patients is really long but the relieving facts are (i) we are rather well covered in all areas (right back!?) with decent back-ups and (ii) the transfer window is still open. Some injuries hit you from day one and some injuries will be regretted as days go by. But let’s see how much these injuries would really impact us heavily as of now.

Injuries that surely matter

Some of these injuries could hurt our premier league campaign and if they prolong they can be very decisive for us this season. We all know how important is it to start the premier league well. I’m not saying we need to win 11 out of 11, like we did in 05-06. We should be topping the table or at least within 1 or 2 points gap from the leader.

Didier Drogba has become such a crucial player since his exploits last season that a game without him is causing us concerns. Sure there is Pizarro but what Drogba brings to the pitch is something unrivaled. He is a very unique player with respect to his contribution to the team’s cause with his multi-talented game. None of our strikers can effectively replace Drogba and we can’t afford to miss him for even one match.

John Terry should be back as soon as possible. We have a good back four even in his absence but we need his leadership and no-nonsense defending against good oppositions. We missed him in community shield and I’m afraid we’ll miss him against Liverpool this month.

Wayne Bridge’s injury could hurt us very badly because, after Ashley and Wayne, there are no established or proven left backs in the squad. Wayne being out due to injury is one thing and the length of outage being 3 months is another.

Michael Ballack has got injured at the most inopportune period. Towards the end of last season he started to pick up his form and was contributing more and more. Just when the Lampard we know seems to be terribly out of form, we’re missing Ballack too. At this juncture if Ballack is available, it can give us so much strength and confidence.

Before we get to the list of injuries that dont quite matter at this moment, let’s see some of Man Utd’s attempt to increase our medical bill while they can fill their trophy cabinet.

Edwin van der sar had his home wok done. He knows how to stop SWP. What I liked about this was SWP holding van der sar’s foot tighly for a few seconds to let the whole world know what this guy was trying to do.swp_vandersar1.JPG

See where Rooney’s boot is and where it is heading to!

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If Rooney was successful in this assault, he would have been Man Utd’s player of the season for sure!

Injuries that don’t kill us

No disrespect to these players but I feel that injuries to some players do not impact us so badly. I mean if we have the above players available for selection, the below players’ absence would not be felt too much.

Andriy Shevchenko: If you don’t know already, he is my favourite striker. It’s so sad to see him out and also that he has to play second fiddle to Drogba. Didier is a great striker but Sheva is a class apart. Unfortunately, the way things are at the moment, as long as we have Drogba and Pizarro, I don’t think we would be longing for Sheva to return.

Salomon Kalou had a great opportunity last season to make a mark. He had no Robben, no Joe Cole, no Malouda then and had only an average SWP to compete with. Still he could not really make the cut. I still have hopes on him. He is a very talented player, no doubt. With Joe Cole and Malouda available, Scott Sinclair impressing every time he plays, Jose opting a flat 4-4-2 too often, Kalou’s absence could even go unnoticed.

As long as Arjen Robben has not signed a new Chelsea contract, his injury will not matter much to me. After all these promises by Older Robben, if he still goes to Madrid, I don’t even care even if he goes with just one foot. There goes another of my favourites in the wrong part of this post.

Everyone thought Claude Makelele is sure to leave after last season. He is past his prime (which he spent in Chelsea, thanks for that) and he has too many young guns with fire in their bellies, to compete with. He knows this could be a losing battle for him. I had predicted that Maka would hardly start and would leave in Jan or something. There are rumours that he has signed a new contract with Chelsea, but I doubt if he would. So, we have enough and more holding midfielders that would make us not think about Maka recovering soon.

Whatever the impact, I wish them all a quick and safe recovery, at second thought, Robben included, irrespective of what he decides.

Well, in a quick roundup of news – Ballack pledges his future to Chelsea. At 140,000 pounds a week, anyone would do that. Jokes apart I’m very happy to hear this from Ballack. Lampard says we can cope with this series of injuries. Somehow we should cope with Lampard’s form now. And some interesting post-match reactions after the community shield shootout loss. See this ESPN’s version of Chelsea’s injury situation which ‘could kill off Chelsea even before the campaign begins’ and how Guardian sees the same topic.

If you haven’t yet read this post, please read it now. See you later!

[tags]Didier Drogba, Andriy Shevchenko, Salomon Kalou, Arjen Robben, Claude Makelele, Michael Ballack, John Terry, Wayne Bridge, Injuries, Injury, Jose Mourinho, Chelsea[/tags]