Chelsea may be without 11 players for Everton clash

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has claimed that he could be without 11 total players against Everton due to injuries. The London club has been struck by the injury bug several times throughout the current campaign. Some of the club’s biggest stars have yet to reach 20 total appearances this season. This list includes Reece James, Christopher Nkunku, Ben Chilwell, Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana. The latter defender has yet to feature at all in the current campaign.

Along with these five players, six more are likely to miss action on Monday. Levi Colwill and Lesley Ugochukwu remain out with toe and hamstring issues respectively. However, Pochettino has now claimed that Enzo Fernandez, Raheem Sterling, Axel Disasi, and Robert Sanchez may also not feature against the Toffees.

According to the Chelsea boss, Fernandez and Disasi are “undergoing a medical assessment” ahead of Monday’s match. Sterling and Sanchez, on the other hand, are dealing with separate illnesses.

Chelsea manager says injuries make it unfair against Everton, rest of EPL

Pochettino spoke on the series of setbacks during his regularly scheduled press conference on Friday. The Argentine coach began the conversation by admitting that it is “not fair” to determine a real opinion on his squad under the unfortunate circumstances. Chelsea has struggled once again this season, despite spending big in the transfer market.

However, the manager also added that he did not want to make any excuses for his team’s poor performances throughout the campaign. “I don’t want to talk about excuses,” stated Pochettino. “Now I want to be positive, it’s a good opportunity for the young guys.”

“It should be fair for us to have a fit squad. We can’t prove that we are a good squad and that we can compete for big things. It’s very tough when you don’t have the squad fit. We want to increase the competition between them, but that’s not an excuse.”

Chelsea continues to stall despite splashing cash on players

Many fans and pundits assumed that Chelsea would bounce back this season after an awful 2022/23 campaign. This was partially due to Pochettino’s arrival, but also to the young squad’s development as well. Blues ownership has shelled out over $1 billion on new players since the summer of 2022. Despite this, the club has not been able to put together a solid string of performances.

Pochettino admitted that the youthful squad has lacked the maturity to be more consistent. Chelsea currently has the youngest team in all of the Premier League. “When we face teams like [Manchester] City, [Manchester] United, Tottenham or Liverpool, the team shows good quality,” continued the coach. “The problem is that we aren’t consistent.”

“When we are analyzing, the lack of maturity really shows, but only with time can we get the right balance.”

It remains to be seen if Chelsea’s officials are willing to be patient with their young squad under Pochettino. The manager is rumored to be under fire at the moment and results during the remainder of the campaign, including an FA Cup semifinal, may very well determine his place in the team come next season.

PHOTOS: IMAGO.