Certain Chelsea players have been making headlines over the international break, but unfortunately it has not been for the reasons that they would have hoped.
It has been reported (via The Daily Mail) that both Oscar and Eden Hazard have picked up injuries while on international duty for Brazil and Belgium respectively, and there is a further question mark (via Fox News) over Samuel Eto'o after he was substituted for Cameroon against Libya—although it has since been announced that the player has retired from international football, his fitness remains unclear.
In seasons past, such news would be enough to devastate any Chelsea fan, and indeed, any club would be anxious about the prospect of missing players of this caliber
. If these injuries do turn out to be serious, there is no doubt that missing the talents of Eto'o, Oscar, and Hazard in particular would be a blow.
However, Chelsea are in a special position this season. One that not only helps them out in this situation, but that will also come in handy throughout those difficult, fixture-packed winter months. It is the position of having a squad with incredible depth. And we are not just talking about some solid reserve players. We are talking about a squad that is so good, that it could be the one to lead Chelsea to their first Premier League title in four years.
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Hazard was forced to miss Belgium's qualifier with Scotland after sustaining an injury.
Oscar and Hazard have been an integral part of the first few games this season, and their absence is definitely significant. However, Jose Mourinho is in the unique position of being able to bring in players such as Juan Mata, Willian, and Andre Schurrle, to name just a few. These are players that would not only be regular starters in just about any team in the Premier League, but they are game changers; players like Mata, who was Chelsea's player of the season for the last two years, one of the players of the Premier League during that time, and is still arguably one of Chelsea's most important players.
For whatever reason, Mata has not featured strongly in Mourinho's plans thus far this season. However, this is bound to change soon, whether it is as a result of injuries or not.
The one area that is perhaps not as strong is up front, where Eto'o was brought in to add strength. However, with Fernando Torres, Demba Ba, Schurrle if necessary, and a killer midfield, Chelsea still has an incredibly lethal attack force, even if these strikers are unable to perform.
This sort of squad depth is the kind of thing that wins championships, and it is fair to say that if the other clubs want to challenge Chelsea and have a chance of winning the league this season, they will certainly have their work cut out for them.