Chelsea FC: What Will Their Squad Look Like in 2011-12

The signing of Fernando Torres and David Luiz in January was a big statement of intent by Chelsea.By their very high standards they have had an extremely poor season, their worst since Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2004.

It has become pretty clear that the squad is in need of improvement. The current set of players have been together for a number of years, and there is a feeling that some of them should make way for new faces in the summer. Here are my thoughts on the sort of team that Chelsea could put out next season:

Goalkeeper and Defence

Petr Cech is a world-class goalkeeper and should be retained. His form has dipped slightly over the past couple of years, but he is still a formidable presence.

He remains a brilliant shot-stopper and has started to look more dominant in the air of late. He would be very hard to replace given the lack of available goalkeepers in world football, and I can see him staying at Chelsea for the rest of his career.

Ashley Cole is the best left back in the world and should be kept on. He offers plenty going forward and is as good as they come defensively.

John Terry is the talisman, the most important player at the club alongside Frank Lampard. Chelsea instantly looks more vulnerable at the back when he is out of action. He will be almost impossible to replace when he eventually retires or moves clubs.

Luiz will partner Terry in the centre. He has become a firm favourite with the Chelsea supporters following his arrival in January. They instantly warmed to his attacking instincts and ability to pick out a long pass.

Defensively, he has looked a bit shaky at times, especially against the bigger clubs (see his performance against Manchester United in the Champions League second leg), but he is still young and will improve with age.

It's then a tussle between Bosingwa and Ivanovic at right-back. I personally prefer the former because I feel he offers a lot more going forward and isn’t afraid to take players on, but the Russian is defensively superb and brilliant in the box, so it could be an interesting decision for the manager.

Whoever the new manager picks, I would argue that Chelsea have the strongest back five in the league. They conceded the fewest goals last season (just 33 in 38 games), and I can’t see this changing much next season.

Midfield

Midfield and up-front is where there could be some major changes. Assuming that they adopt a 4-4-2 formation (now that Torres has arrived), I would argue that the duo of Essien and Lampard are certain starters.

Lampard was missed a lot more than anyone imagined this season. The England international has always divided opinion, but nobody can deny that Chelsea looked disjointed and bereft of ideas when he was sidelined with injury.

It’s not just his goals (and which other midfielder can guarantee you 20 goals a season?) but his all-round box to box running and passing ability, which does so much to make Chelsea tick. Without him they came to rely too much on Ramires, who is a good player and a Brazilian international to boot, but hasn’t quite adapted to the physical demands of the Premier League.

There’s no denying that Essien also looks a lot more comfortable when Lampard is alongside him. Essien remains a superb player, brilliant defensively and also capable of getting forward and chipping in with his fair share of goals.

The rest of the midfield is an area the new manager will have to look at, though.

Mikel remains an enigma. On his day, he is as good as anyone, but he is still far too inconsistent, especially against the bigger teams.

Ramires will be given at least one more season to prove himself in the Premiership. He improved a lot as the season went on but still looked uncomfortable with the pace and physicality of the game. He will need to toughen up over the course of the next 12 months.

Malouda didn't have his best season at Chelsea either, which is surprising given how good he was in 09-10. He looked off the pace in a number of games and gave the impression of being unhappy with his lot at the Bridge. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he decided to move on in the summer.

What Chelsea need above all else, of course, is a play-maker: someone who can conjure up something out of nowhere. Speak to any Chelsea fan and they will tell you that this is what has been missing for the past few seasons.

Against Manchester United in the Champions League (and against Inter the previous year), they looked hopelessly lost when going a goal down. A Kaka or a Luka Modric would be a very welcome addition to the team, and I would hope that the club will be making every effort to sign such a player over the next few months. 

Attack

Didier Drogba has been a sensational asset for Chelsea. He will go down in history as one of the club's greatest strikers ever, having helped them to three Premier League titles, two FA Cups and a couple of League Cups in just seven seasons.

It was an excellent piece of business by Jose Mourinho to bring him to Stamford Bridge in July 2004. £24 million is a lot of money to pay for a player, but he has repaid them in full with the number of goals he has scored.

Despite this, though, Drogba should be sold in the summer. Him and Torres simply don't go well together. They don't look comfortable in each others' presence, and that is a bad state of affairs for a team hoping to pick up trophies. Torres will be the main attacking threat next season (despite a poor start in a Chelsea shirt), and as a result should be backed to perform.

Alongside Drogba, I wouldn't be surprised to see Kalou moved on this summer. He has had a good stint at Chelsea and has scored some important goals, but he is not the kind of striker who will score 20 goals a season. He is also far too wasteful, needing three or four opportunities before finding the back of the net.

I can see Chelsea making a move for at least one forward with proven international quality this summer. For that to happen, though, they obviously need to get round to appointing a new manager!