Maurizio Sarri did not hide his worry about the excessive injuries that have been happening inside Chelsea. On Sunday (30th), in a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace, Olivier Giroud was the next one to leave the pitch because of physical problems.
After the final whistle, the Italian coach confirmed that the French striker felt an ankle problem, but still does not know the severity of the injury: “The problem is in his ankle. I do not know the gravity. We need to wait until tomorrow. I think earlier this evening I’ll see the doctor to know the first results, but the final result will only come out tomorrow.”
Before facing Crystal Palace, Sarri saw a considerable number of players injure themselves: Fabregas, Danny Drinkwater, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi felt injuries. Pedro, the striker of the team, also recovers from a thigh muscle injury suffered in the Boxing Day round against Watford.
“In the last few days, we were not lucky. Yesterday, in ten minutes, we had three injuries (Fabregas, Loftus-Cheek, and Drinkwater) and now it’s Giroud, and we’re already without Pedro and Odoi”, he said. “We are in trouble because in January we will need to play every three days.”
In December 2018, Chelsea have played seven games and next month they already have a considerable list of commitments including two games against Tottenham for the English League Cup semi-final, a match for the FA Cup against the Nottingham Forest and some matches for the Premier League, being one of them an important match against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
The Blue, who won the match against Crystal Palace on Sunday, thanks to the only goal made by N’Golo Kante, occupy the fourth position of the Premier League and are fighting for guaranteeing a place on next season’s Champions League. The problem is: how is the team dealing with so many injuries?