By dixon9
October 14 2008

The painful wait for the domestic league programme to resume is now less than a week away. One England game over and another to come tomorrow evening alleviates the wait but with a tough game away to Middlesbrough to come at the weekend, taking stock of our own injury situation gives some reason for concern.

With such top quality cover we will get little sympathy of course but it is interesting to see how Scolari preserves his model of football whilst maintaining its potency against this weekends league opponents from the north-east and then Roma in the Champions League just a few days later.

Ballack aggravated this annoying, persistent calf injury of his in Germany's 2-1 win over Russia and has not been in training since.  It seems unlikely that the German captain will be able to participate in his country’s match against Wales and probably therefore doubtful that he will make the trip to Middlesbrough. 

Bierhoff, the German manager said:  "Ballack missed training yesterday with a calf problem and is undergoing treatment. He could a kick during the game against Russia and there is no way, at present, that he could sprint”.  

"We will be watching him carefully, but he knows better than anyone else how his body will react, and whether we can get him fit. Calf problems are delicate things and there is no way will take a gamble on him. He will only play if he is 100 per cent right."  

Drogba will more than likely be out at least until the end of the month or even until mid November once we take into account the training required to approach match fitness.  His knee injury is not however, the hangover from last season as it’s the other knee coupled with a swollen ankle – even so, I hope Scolari keeps him wrapped in cotton wool until he is fully healed. 

Carvalho has also been missing with similar problems to Drogba along with Deco who has had a thigh muscle strain.  Both have been absent since the first 10 mins and the warm-up for the Man Utd game at the Bridge respectively – just how close are they to returning we don’t know yet but I would take a guess that at least one will take to the field for the Roma match. 

Essien is the real blow as he will be out for months to follow and won’t be back until the last few months of the season.  His thrust and power will be a very welcome addition to our armoury during the most intense stage of the season although it remains to be seen if Scolari will allow him to maraud forward in the way he was permitted to whilst under Mourinho.  The Ghanaian is neither a right back nor a holding “Makelele” midfielder. 

Now we come on to the more recent additions in our treatment room – Terry and Ashley Cole; Terry again has this nagging back problem and Cole with a hamstring injury.  We don’t have enough information on Cole and I can’t see Terry being quite ready for the weekend.   Scolari needs to be firm with Terry and curb this Captain Marvel tendency of his to play on even when carrying 3-4 injuries at a time – all that achieves is ensuring that he will again finally buckle at a later stage of the season. 

So is that the end of the casualty list then?  Unfortunately not.  Anelka (leg), Alex (hip and thigh), and Joe Cole (ankle) are ALSO doubtful for Boro according to the media – my hope is that they are exaggerating as usual – if not Scolari does have his work cut-out. 

In summary then, for our next game at the weekend we have: 

Definitely out: 

Drogba

Essien 

Very doubtful: 

Ballack

Carvalho

Deco

Terry 

50/50: 

A Cole

Alex

J Cole

Anelka 

Doesn’t look good does it?  But we can take heart in those such as Ivanovic who have stepped up and covered almost impeccably.  Bridge would cover for Ashley Cole of course but IF Anelka is also injured then we are relying on Di Santo and/or Kalou.   

With Terry, Carvalho and Alex out we would still need a partner for Ivanovic at the centre of defence. 

One of the silver linings on the black cloud of injuries is that you can sometimes get lucky when giving youth a chance.  How about the very talented Mancienne who is still incredibly yet to play a Premier League match? 

The 20-year-old has been a regular for England U21s and has been hailed as “…Will be better than Terry and Captain of England one day”  by QPR fans where he served very successful loan periods. 

"I understand the problem at Chelsea because there are so many top-quality players. But it can get you down when you are a regular with England Under-21s but you go back to the reserve team. It's very frustrating.  

"I am at a stage now where I need to play first-team football and feel ready to test myself at the highest level." 

"My game has blossomed under Stuart Pearce and my education at Chelsea has been top class.  

"I will keep trying to catch the boss' eye but eventually you have to be honest and start thinking about what's best for your career."

Over to you Felipe…

Long Injury List - Mancienne to Step In?

Discussion started by 50 Years Over 100 Years , 14/10/2008 18:59

50 Years Over 100 Years
14/10/2008 18:59

Long Injury List - Mancienne to Step In?

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Since 66
14/10/2008 19:05

This might stop both Scottie and Mancienne spouting off their mouths about not getting opportunities in the first team.

Mancienne I don't have a problem, but Scottie last night against Villa reserves looked like his mind was elsewhere... like Crystal Palace... Warnock wants him

Mancienne can prove his worth tonight by helping to keep a clean sheet against the Welsh in the 2nd leg of the Euro U21 play offs.

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Since 66
14/10/2008 19:09

Cech too is struggling, thats why I think Hilario played last night in the reserves against Villa.

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dixon9
14/10/2008 19:26

Sinclair needs to buck his ideas up. I seems clear that he is a confidence player and that missing out on first team selection has affected him greatly.

Great shame as I was under the impression he is/was as good as Walcott.



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"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.

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Since 66
14/10/2008 19:31

Mr A wants the youth coming through... he appointed Big Phil who needs time to assess the situation so what happens.

Franco has been in the squad and has come on as a sub.

As I said I wont have a problem with Mancienne if he gets the opportunity, although I would prefer Carl Magnay.

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dixon9
14/10/2008 19:48

Magnay.....again, another one perhaps worthy of a chance to be thrown in the deep end slightly earlier than supposed.





.



"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.

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Since 66
14/10/2008 20:02

He is a quality left-back too!!

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dixon9
14/10/2008 23:34

Cech injured as well????



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"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.

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dixon9
15/10/2008 01:25

Yep!

We can also add Cech to the 50/50 list:

LINK



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"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.

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dixon9
15/10/2008 01:29

So that´s a WHOLE TEAM doubtful!




Cech

Carvalho Terry Alex A Cole

Ballack Deco Essien

Drogba Anelka J Cole




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"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008:10:15:01:29:57 by dixon9.

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Since 66
15/10/2008 06:34

Makes for depressing reading

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carefree
15/10/2008 07:38

Your right about Scott his body language when he missed a few shots just tells you that his mind may be else where because there wasn't any reaction from him.Also there are players in front of him now and its his own fault,he should know that you have to play at a consistently high standard to break in the first team and i think his confidence has been dented.When he was at Plymouth on loan their fullback Lee Hodges who i know said that he his unbelievable on the pitch and in training,he was scoring for fun.He maybe needs to go out on loan again,he is still young.As for Magnay,every time i see him play its like watching JT playing.Magnay is a gem and we should not let him go.but only on loan.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008:10:16:18:58:25 by carefree2008.

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dixon9
18/10/2008 03:18

Full update from Bryan English in official site:

CROCK SITUATION



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"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.

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