Assessing the Squad

With the transfer window now closed, this would seem a good time to assess the squad Chelsea will have available for the 2013/14 season.

There were several big name signings brought in during a window that saw Chelsea spend approximately £57.5m but there were also several players who made their exits, some on loan but others on more permanent basis.

To best assess the squad, its perhaps to look at each individual position so to begin:

Goalkeepers

There is only one place to start with Chelsea goalkeepers and that is with the man who has been Chelsea's number one for the last nine years, Petr Cech. When Jose Mourinho first arrived at Chelsea in 2004 he made the bold move of making Cech his first choice keeper ahead of fan favourite Carlo Cudicini and there is nothing to suggest anything to suggest things will be different in his second stint in charge. However, the situation Mourinho had with Iker Casillas whilst manager of Real Madrid shows he is not a man afraid to make brave and/or unpopular decisions.

With the highly rated Thibaut Courtois loaned to Atletico Madrid for a third successive season and Ross Turnbull allowed to leave the club after four years, the main competition for Cech will come from the experienced Mark Schwarzer. The former Fulham and Middlesbrough shot stopper will provide enough competition to keep Cech on his toes, something some supporters have felt he has lacked in recent years.
Portuguese keeper Hilario (who was initially released but then resigned in August) will provide further cover in the goalkeeping area.

Defence

Of all areas on the pitch, Chelsea's defence is the most neglected. Most unusual for a supposedly defensively minded manager like Mourinho you would think.

The names are the same as last year: Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Terry, Luiz, Cahill, Cole and Bertrand. The only notable difference being the absence of long time servant Paulo Ferreira who has now retired.
However, 20 year old prospect Tomas Kalas has been promoted to the first team squad for this season, having spent the last two seasons doing the seemingly mandatory loan at Vitesse Arnhem.

It does remain a cause for concern however as with only seven experienced defenders, a few badly timed injuries could leave Chelsea looking light at the back. However the returning Michael Essien has showed in the past he is more than capable of filling in when necessary.

This situation is further compounded by Chelsea sending right back Wallace on loan to Internazionale, having its rumoured, been unable to secure a work permit for him.

Centre Midfield

The conundrum of the double pivot, which two to play there.
Fan favourite Frank Lampard has been an ever present so far this season but at some point even he will have to concede he can't go on forever.
Michael Essien has returned from a year at Real Madrid but its as yet unknown how Mourinho intends to use him.
Brazilian Ramires can be effective but really needs to play with a more defensively minded partner, freeing him up to make the bursting runs into the box that he has made his trademark. If nothing else, Jon Obi Mikel is a good option Mourinho has available for this system.

These aren't the only options Mourinho has available to him. There is new boy Marco Van Ginkel signed from Vitesse in the summer and greatly impressed in pre-season.
As well as this, he still has the option to push David Luiz into midfield, a tactic that brought some success last season for previous manager Rafa Benitez.

Attacking Midfield

If there is a position Chelsea can be truly said to be overloaded, its the attacking midfielders.

Despite many rumours of rifts with the manager, Chelsea have kept hold of Juan Mata. This keeps together the trinity of Mata, Hazard and Oscar that was so successful for Chelsea last season. Add to this the signings of Willian and Andre Schurrle with Kevin De Bruyne returning from his loan spell in Germany and Chelsea's midfield is a truly frightening prospect.

So much so, that the loans of talented players such as Lucas Piazon, Marko Marin and Victor Moses have gone relatively unnoticed.

Attack

Fernando Torres: its now or never. After 2 and a half underwhelming seasons this is surely the last chance the Spaniard will have to get it right at Chelsea.
To be fair to Torres, his record in cup competitions for Chelsea last season was quite decent but only eight goals in the Premier League leaves a lot to be desired.

His main competition will likely be from veteran striker Samuel Eto'o, signed on a one year contract. Eto'o will no doubt be keen to show even at 32, he still has what it takes to cut it at the top level.

Third striker will be Demba Ba, who despite some great goals against Manchester United and Manchester City last season has struggled to find his feet at Chelsea. If Ba is capable of rediscovering his scoring touch, there is still every chance he could yet be Chelsea's first choice striker.

Perhaps most baffling to fans however will be the decision to loan Romelu Lukaku to Everton for the season. Despite 17 goals for West Bromwich Albion last season perhaps it was his penalty miss against Bayern Munich that persuaded Mourinho he is not ready to lead the Chelsea line just yet.


Conclusion
The Chelsea squad is brimming with quality, that is undeniable. This is a squad that is certainly capable of challenging for top honours.
However, there is one position that perhaps means Chelsea are just one step away from being genuine championship contenders and that is up front. However much the fans want it to be so, it seems increasingly unlikely Fernando Torres will ever regain the form he had at Liverpool that made him one of the worlds top strikers.
Eto'o is an unknown quantity, it remains to be seen whether he is still the rampaging forward we all remember for Barcelona and Inter Milan.
This situation becomes more gutting when you watch Daniel Sturridge knocking them in for fun for Liverpool.