By and large, Chelsea have had things pretty good this season when it comes to injury problems.
In the 2023/24 season, however, the Blues suffered an astonishing 43 separate injury problems. That was a number only topped by Manchester United's 45. Chelsea had a total of 20 players injured throughout the season - losing a total of 1745 days because of the problems.
A large chunk of the 1745 days were made up by Reece James, Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia. James, the club captain, had two separate injuries and lost a total of 206 days, while Fofana missed the entirety of the campaign after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament the summer before.
Fofana missed 349 days through his serious injury. Lavia, meanwhile, arrived at Chelsea from Southampton carrying a problem and ended up being absent for 282 days throughout the 2023/24 season because of numerous injuries.
That was all under former head coach Mauricio Pochettino, who was let go by Chelsea in the summer. Many had questioned the Argentine's training methods but his successor Enzo Maresca admitted in August that he did not know the solution to the club's consistent injury problems from last term.
Maresca said: "It depends on the injury. If it is a kick, it is not because of the training, it is because you are unlucky. I was not here last year, so I do not know what it was like.
"We had a meeting with the medical staff and I explained to them the way I like to work. I do not know the complete picture from last year in terms of injuries. I was not here."
Fast-forward to present time and Chelsea are now missing all three aforementioned players once again - but this time under Maresca. Lavia was taken off at half-time of Chelsea's dramatic 4-3 victory over Tottenham at the weekend with Maresca confirming after the match that it was another hamstring problem for the Belgium international.
This comes a couple of weeks after Fofana limped off in Chelsea's win against Aston Villa after feeling some pain in his hamstring after battling with Ollie Watkins. James, also, is currently sidelined with a hamstring problem.
Albeit, Chelsea do not know the full extent of Lavia's latest problem yet but the three players Maresca was taking a bit more care of, in terms of minutes on the pitch, are now injured. Speaking in October about James' fitness, the head coach said: "It is complicated when you get injury, injury, injury again. It is not easy so you are always looking for a solution.
"Probably the solution with Reece is the same solution we are using with Romeo and Wes in terms of using them just once a week, in one game, because probably in this moment, for different reasons, Reece's body cannot play twice a week. One of the solutions is probably to try and manage him in the same way we are doing with Wes and Romeo."
Despite being cautious with the trio, Maresca has unfortunately been unable to avoid injury problems. While everyone was mocking how large Chelsea's squad is earlier in the season, this is the time where the owners' and sporting directors' transfer plans will hopefully pay dividends.
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Chelsea flag prior the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Leg One match between Chelsea FC and Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge. (Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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