Chelsea were beaten by Manchester United in the Carabao Cup last night, despite putting out a strong lineup.
The Blues picked some raw youngsters in Billy Gilmour and Marc Guehi, but otherwise had an almost full strength XI.
Speaking after the game, manager Frank Lampard revealed that he would have preferred to rest two of those senior pros that he selected, but was unable to due to the ongoing injury issues we’ve got.
“I would have liked to have given Jorginho particularly and Kovacic a rest as well because of the work they’re putting in and because of the endurance of the season and the physical output of the players has been a lot,” Lampard said in quotes picked up by West London Sport.
“But I couldn’t because of N’Golo and because of Ross and because Ruben’s long-term – hopefully on the road, but a fair way away.
“So I couldn’t make those changes that I kind of wanted to. That’s just what it is.”
One would have thought we’d perform better with a strong team out there, but both Kovacic and Jorginho looked as leggy as Lampard had feared, and it wasn’t until the second half that we really got going.
By that point we’d gifted our opposition two goals, and it was tricky to come back from that point. Every week these injured players are out is costing us, and we need them back as soon as possible.
