Chelsea’s injury woes have left Graham Potter dealing with the most challenging period of his managerial career — but he is refusing to make excuses.
Chelsea suffered the latest in a long line of setbacks this week against Bournemouth when Reece James aggravated the knee problem that had already wrecked his World Cup hopes and kept him out of competitive action for 11 weeks.
Potter said: ‘It’s been a real tough period, as challenging as there has been in my time as a coach. But we’re Chelsea and people don’t want to hear those reasons or excuses. We have got to get on with it and try our best to find the answers.’
Reece James limped off with injury during his side’s 2-0 win against Bournemouth on Tuesday
James is now set for up to another month on the sidelines and that blow came after Wesley Fofana also suffered a setback in his bid to return from an October knee injury when he limped out of Chelsea’s behind closed doors friendly against Brentford.
He too saw another three to four weeks added to his recovery period.
Chelsea have also lost striker Armando Broja for the rest of the season after he ruptured his ACL during their winter friendly with Aston Villa.
Additionally, Ben Chilwell tore his hamstring on the eve of the World Cup, ruling him out of the England squad for Qatar, while N’Golo Kante has been out since August.
Graham Potter refused to make excuses as he said he and the club will have to persist with the cards they have been dealt
In Chelsea’s final game before the World Cup, against, Ruben Loftus-Cheek picked up a calf problem from which he has not yet recovered. That match against Newcastle summed up Chelsea and Potter’s misfortune.
Along with the long-term absentees, Kepa missed that match with a foot problem, Marc Cucurella was struggling with illness — as was Raheem Sterling — and then, to add injury to injury, Cesar Azpilicueta picked up a knock which forced him off at half-time.
While Chelsea’s issues appear to be no more than a run of rotten luck, Potter said: ‘There is a little bit of bad luck but I don’t think you should throw it to something you can’t do anything about.
Armando Broja will be out for the rest of the season after he ruptured his ACL in a friendly
‘There is an element of luck, of course, but then there are other things that happen. But that is for us to try to learn from and get better with.’
Potter’s comments came after James’ personal trainer James Ralph appeared to vent his frustration, seemingly at the circumstances surrounding the England defender’s re-injury, in a swiftly deleted social media post.
Potter had previously insisted that Chelsea had done nothing to make matters worse in the initial handling of James’ injury that he suffered against AC Milan — despite unhappiness from the FA that James was ruled out of the World Cup in Qatar.
Wesley Fofana – like Reece James – had returned from a spell out but was set back
Ben Chilwell’s World Cup hopes were dashed on the eve of the tournament after he tore his hamstring
Ralph’s insinuation is unlikely to have gone down well at Chelsea.
Chelsea have been overhauling their medical department this season since the change of ownership, as part of a review into every department of the club that Todd Boehly’s consortium inherited.
The decision to send Wesley Fofana to America for his medical ahead of his £70m move from Leicester hinted at the desire for change. That revamp of the medical set-up was confirmed later by the departures of the two most senior figures in the department, long-serving medical director Dr Paco Biosca and head physio Thierry Laurent, both of which were calls that raised eyebrows.
Physio Jon Fearn has also left the club recently, with London-based Remedy clinic stepping in and working with Chelsea on a consultancy basis while permanent replacements are being sought.
Source: dailymail
