The squad rotation dilemma

By Trevor Haylett

It was said a week or so ago that Chelsea FC manager Claudio Ranieri was facing an injury crisis. The crisis was that there were no injuries to his squad. With so many options available to him since owner Roman Abrahamovich's massive investment in players in the summer, the Italian is spoiled for choice.

Selection headache
Most managers would envy Ranieri for his wealth of options in every position, but his team selections are no easy business. Players want to play and to be able to compete at the highest level, they have to believe they are better than the next man. To lose their place in the side is a blow to their pride.

Testing quandary
It is a quandary that tests the man-management skills of the most adept coach. If you rely mostly on what you consider to be the best XI from the players available, you risk alienating those left on the sidelines. If you chop and change, you risk disturbing the balance and cohesion of the team.

Rotation route
Ranieri's belief in squad rotation - the latter method - has seen him criticised by the English press, with his team referred to as 'the Tinkermen'. However, as Chelsea lost 2-0 at home to Besiktas JK in the UEFA Champions League last week, that joke hit home with a heavy thud.

Three-man central defence
Questioned for deploying a three-man central defensive unit for the first time this season, Ranieri insisted that he had tailored his side to counter a threat posed by Besiktas after watching them on video. Had his policy worked out, he may have been heralded as a genius. When it did not, he was fair game for the critics.

Understanding players
Ranieri has maintained that having so many options is not a problem, but that working a squad rotation system does demand good man-management. "It is very important that the players understand the manager," he said. "When a player is picked for the match, he thinks 'the manager believes in me'. When the manager says 'you don't play', he thinks 'the manager does not believe in me', but it's not true."

Tactical subtext
Under Ranieri's system, a large squad is a means of tailoring team tactics on a game-by-game basis and allowing good players to be rested as often as possible. "If I can switch Marcel Desailly for John Terry or William Gallas, what has changed?" he asked. "For one match it is not important."

Inherent problems
However, his opposite number at Besiktas, Mircea Lucescu, recognised the problems inherent in such a system, especially with a side only just beginning to knit together after being assembled over the summer. "It is not easy for Ranieri to find the right system because Chelsea have bought a lot of new players," he said. "He changes a lot because he has to give opportunities to the new players."

Vindication in Middlesbrough
For some, the result against Besiktas was proof that Ranieri simply had more good players than he could handle. However, his side's subsequent 2-1 Premiership win at Middlesbrough FC - for which Ranieri made no less than seven changes from the team that faced Besiktas - showed that his tactics can work.

Good condition
"In every country there are lots of games and you need a lot of players," said Ranieri. "It's important to arrive at the end of the season with all your players in good condition, and then you can be fighting for something important."