SOCCER:Chelsea's players may be dropping like flies, but the team's resilience remains. Jose Mourinho refused blankly to talk about specific injuries in the wake of his side's 3-0 defeat on penalties to Manchester United in yesterday's FA Community Shield, though, according to the Portuguese, "more than 50 per cent of my team was missing". Plans for a more expansive approach may have to be shelved for now; already the priority appears to be survival once again.
John Terry has joined the ranks of walking wounded, the medial ligament damage he sustained in training on Saturday rendering him unavailable for a month. Mourinho would hope that, in Tal Ben Haim and the in-coming Brazilian Alex, Chelsea boast more cover at centre back this time around, having seen nine points slip away during his captain's eight-game Premiership absence last term. Yet the current injury list has not only dented his back-line, but is threatening to wreck his entire side.
Didier Drogba has sustained cartilage damage to his knee and, while the club awaits the results of yet more scans, is unlikely to feature for another 10 days, effectively ruling him out of Chelsea's first two games of the new season, against Birmingham and Reading. Arjen Robben, Paulo Ferreira, Claude Makelele are all nursing knee injuries, while Andriy Shevchenko (back) and Salomon Kalou (shoulder) are doubtful for the start of the league season.
Wayne Bridge (hip) and Michael Ballack (ankle) are definitely out, Frank Lampard is playing with a broken toe and Michael Essien struggled with knee problems all last week. Given his limited outfield options, Mourinho was forced to field two goalkeepers on the bench yesterday, and still had a quartet of players nursing knocks when they retired to the dressingrooms at half-time.
"I always expect players to return and, when we've so many out, I'll expect one or two back next week," said Mourinho. "Didier is not here, but I'd be happy to have had Kalou back. What makes me really happy and confident today is that, on one side out there, was a team almost at the maximum of their power, certainly if you look at the Manchester United team from last season. And, if you look at the Chelsea team, more than 50 per cent of the team was missing, but United were not better than us. We competed. That will give us confidence for the start of the season."
Certainly, the club's hierarchy was encouraged by what they had seen at Wembley, and Roman Abramovich visited the dressingrooms post-match to congratulate his players despite the loss in a game where Ryan Giggs opened the scoring for United on 35 minutes before debutant Florent Malouda equalised for Chelsea just ahead of the half-time break.
Regardless, there will be concern that injuries are eating into their prospects. "But I am not worried," insisted Mourinho. "When the players are back, they are back."
The draw gave United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar the opportunity to be the match winner, which he duly took, saving spot-kicks from Claudio Pizarro, Frank Lampard and Shaun Wright-Phillips as Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney methodically converted theirs past Petr Cech.
Guardian Service
