WHY CHELSEA NEED A STRIKER AND MIDFIELDER IN JANUARY

The Blues' misfiring frontline have notched just seven league goals
this season, underlining the need for more firepower, while Xabi
Alonso could be the perfect partner for Ramires
Jan 7, 2014 8:30:00 AMANALYSIS
By Ewan Roberts
This January, most of the sides fighting for the Premier Leaguetitle
will go into the winter transfer window looking to make only minor
tweaks to already cohesive teams - but not Chelsea.
While other clubs have minor deficiencies, the Blues need major
surgery on an imbalanced squad and no side possesses an Achilles heel
quite so great as the west Londoners' absentee strikeforce.
Samuel Eto'o, a last-minute panic buy in the summer, Fernando Torres,
a player doomed to remain plagued by a record transfer fee he has no
hope of ever repaying, and Demba Ba, a cut-price stop-gap. These
three, combined, have netted just seven league goals this season –
just over a third as many as Luis Suarez – and none have earned the
faith or support of increasingly beleaguered manager Jose Mourinho.
"The strikers try the best they can so I don't know what to do,"
bemoaned the downbeat Portuguese. "It is one thing to improve a player
who is 20-years-old, which you can. If you can tell me, can I improve
Eden Hazard? Yes, I can. Can I improve a player who is 30-years-old?
How?
"If we had eight, 10, 12 goals [from the strikers] we would be top of
the league. That's a reality, but my strikers give everything and the
team works hard. To criticise does not help me. What do I win by
criticising my players? I win nothing."