Date: 17th September 2014 at 8:00am
Written by:

By @CFCScience 

Clichés abound: It’s a marathon not a sprint, a game of two halves, a long and winding road, and there’s many a slip twixt cup and lip. Despite our 100% record in the first four league games, despite the fact that we finally have a striker who scores goals for fun, and despite the fact that the whiff of Gooner that accompanied Cesc Fàbregas to Cobham is rapidly dissipating, we’re still in the very early part of the season and there’s an awful long way to go.
So, as good as we look at the moment, this is the Premier League, the toughest league in the world, and injuries and suspensions will surely come as the season progresses. (Frankly, if you’re Arsenal, they have already arrived!). So as the midweek fixtures are already starting to come frequently, taking a look at our second string players seems like a good idea.

Obviously, any team suffers if you take out the two or three top players. City without Touré or Agüero lack a certain je ne sais quoi; Liverpool struggled comically at the weekend without Sturridge and Sterling; Arsenal lose whatever coherence they occasionally muster without Wilshere in the middle and Giroud up top. Last season we had a dip when Eden was a bit off colour and as Oscar went through a lean spell. This is normal. Nobody can expect the second string to be as good as the first choice, almost by definition.

Photo by @cfcunofficial

But this season, I think we’ve got quite decent cover in almost all departments. In goal, of course, we have one of the very best keepers in the world sat on the bench (at least until January). Our midfield currently has strong competition for places, so if Hazard, Fàbregas, or Matić need some time out we have perfectly adequate replacements in Ramires and Willian. Likewise, up top, Loïc Rémy’s brief cameo on Saturday (where he quite brilliantly found space on the edge of the box before finishing crisply) showed plenty of promise, and that’s before you consider European Cup winner and club legend Didier Drogba.

However, there is something missing from the previous paragraph: the defence. Felipe Luis is, of course, more than adequate cover at full back. (Actually, I have a suspicion he’ll be first choice by the end of the season, but that’s a different story.) But at centre half, I think we might really struggle if JT or Gary Cahill get injured. Of course, Ivanovic can move across from right back. But I’m not sure that’s ideal. Kurt Zouma has impressed but he is probably one for the future rather than a solid and dependable option right now. Likewise, Nathan Aké and Andreas Christensen can’t really be counted as Premier League level defenders, even though they look very promising. But that’s it. That is our full list of options at centre half. Given that JT is getting on a bit and little muscle tweaks seem to come his way more often than they used to, I think this could be something of a problem. I understand that Thomáš Kalas is at a stage in his career when he needs to play regularly at a good standard, but I’m sure the choice of whether to keep him or send him out on loan was one that José must have agonised over.

Last year we lost the league because we couldn’t score enough goals against weaker opposition who parked the bus. It would be rather ironic if we were to struggle this year because we were short of one good defender. I reckon we might be going shopping in the January sales.

Follow him @CFCScience on twitter

 

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