A little worse for wear, perhaps, but Chelsea kept Manchester United within reach Wednesday night after beating Blackburn, 3-0, at home. The victory, however, was marred by yet another long-term injury to a first-team defender. Seemingly in acres of space down the left side, Ashley Cole caught his foot clumsily on the turf, forcing his knee to convulse unnaturally. The player fell to the ground immediately and had to be stretchered off; his prognosis is forthcoming.
Manager Jose Mourinho didn’t sound optimistic: “It could be the cross ligament, the internal ligament, the patella, I don’t know. He can’t walk. It is serious.” After suffering yet another loss to an already makeshift defense, Mourinho likened his defensive predicament to that of a blanket that doesn’t thoroughly cover the body. “Pull it up and your feet get cold, pull it down and your body is cold,” he said-although he wryly added that his blanket, at least, is made of cashmere.
As Mourinho has repeatedly pointed out, Chelsea lacks depth in defense, yet the club made no acquisitions during the transfer window, which closed at midnight on Thursday. The Sky Blues have six natural defenders; three of them are now injured and at least one is out of favor with Mourinho. This is why you see Michael Essien at stopper and Geremi at right-back. However, the good news for Chelsea is that captain John Terry has recovered from back surgery and may return to the starting lineup at Charlton on Saturday.