By MATT BARLOW
Rafa Benitez has told Roman Abramovich his Chelsea squad is not fit enough, fresh enough or big enough.
Benitez made his point at a board meeting on Thursday when he was asked to offer feedback on his first week in the job.
Chelsea’s interim manager refused to elaborate on details yesterday but he is thought to believe the European champions should prioritise a left-back, a defensive midfielder and a striker.
Leighton Baines has been extensively scouted by Chelsea as a long-term successor to Ashley Cole, who will leave on a free at the end of the season, probably to join Paris Saint-Germain.
Baines has been in brilliant form for Everton and would suit the attacking style Abramovich longs to see but a more immediate need is to bolster the squad in January.
John Mikel Obi and Victor Moses are bound for the Africa Cup of Nations in the New Year and fringe players lack the quality to rotate to the extent Benitez would like.
That has still not stopped him dropping Brazilian midfielder Oscar for today’s trip to West Ham as he goes searching for his first goal and first win.
The future as well as the present is very much on the agenda though even if Benitez is in a job until the end of the season.
With Frank Lampard expected to follow Cole through the exit at the end of his contract in June, the Blues are planning the next phase of team building.
Benitez told the board he would like more time to assess the players he had inherited but was able to explain it was a tired squad and not physically equipped to compete on all fronts.
‘We had too many players playing almost every game,’ said the former Liverpool manager. ‘Eleven or 12 were playing in every game and others hadn’t had too many minutes.
‘You cannot play two or three games in eight days and be fully fit. You lose some pace and energy. We will manage the squad, particularly with Japan and the games over Christmas. We will be stronger as a team if we juggle them.’
When Marko Marin came off the bench against Fulham on Wednesday he became Chelsea’s 20th player of the Barclays Premier League campaign.
No club has used fewer and some, like Fernando Torres, the one established centre-forward, have been run into the ground.
The new manager feels unable to work on fitness with a congested schedule ahead, which includes flying to Japan for the FIFA Club World Cup after next weekend’s game at Sunderland.
‘There aren’t many players here,’ said Benitez. ‘There were 19, now 20 with Marin. They’d been playing fewer players. I’m not here to criticise, but that’s the reality.
‘You can see the team needs to improve a bit physically and you cannot do that if they play two games in a week. It’s very demanding.
‘They have played so many games, massive games in the Champions League. The players were getting tired. You can’t give them a rest either because there’s no time.
‘We will analyse carefully, talking with the fitness coaches, and may adjust a bit. We’ll start specific programmes with every player.’
Torres clearly needs to rest both mind and body, yet Daniel Sturridge, the only real alternative, is injured.
Benitez also dismissed the idea of returning to the last-gasp gamble by Di Matteo, playing Eden Hazard up front.
Ahead of today’s trip across the capital to West Ham, the Spaniard also told how he came close to signing Andy Carroll for Liverpool for only £5million. The move is understood to have been blocked by the Anfield club’s co-owner Tom Hicks.
‘He played in the Youth Cup at Anfield,’ said Benitez. ‘We were watching him, a young player with power. It was an option and he was quite a lot cheaper than £35m. Take off the three. Quite cheap but sometimes you cannot.’
