5 Players Who Are Being Wasted At Chelsea This Season

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is a stubborn man. Despite critics he has stuck to his guns, and his team selection, and they now sit third in the table - just two points behind leaders Arsenal. But here are five players that I feel are being wasted so far this season in the Premier League.

1) David Luiz

The fuzzy haired Belgian was an integral part to Rafa Benitez's Chelsea last season, and rightly so. He excelled as a defensive midfielder under the Spaniard, but with Mourinho's preference of Gary Cahill and John Terry at the back, as well as Ramires and Frank Lampard in the middle, the Brazilian has been frozen out. He has played just three games this season.

Perhaps he should've been more accepting to a move in the summer.

2) Michael Essien

Essien was Mourinho's staple last season in Madrid and many thought that he would be so again at Stamford Bridge. However, the Ghana international is yet to feature in the Premier League this season because of the fine form of aforementioned central pairing Ramires and Lampard.

He is also behind Jon Obi Mikel in the pecking order, it would seem.

3) Kevin de Bruyne

Much has been made about the Belgian's time at the Bridge this season. He started in the opener against Hull and claimed an assist, but he has since been left out of the Champions League squad and played another hour or so of football.

De Bruyne scored 10 and made 10 last season for Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga.

4) Cesar Azpilicueta

The Spaniard has so far played less than 10 minutes of Premier League football this season after showcasing his abilities last term under Benitez. He played 27 games last season, creating 24 opportunities and averaging five defensive actions per game.

He also won 57/69 of his tackles.

5) Demba Ba

Although few rate him as a top striker, Ba has looked lively when he has had the chance this season. He has played just over 150 minutes of football, however, compared to Torres' five appearances and Samuel Eto's three.

Ba has had more shots than both put together and hit the target 60% of the time.

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Comments

[Eidur]

1. You'd only have to watch Chelsea v Spurs at home last season to realise that David Luiz is no midfielder. It's defence or nothing for him and in all honesty, I'd prefer a new defender.

2. Essien is behind John Obi Mikel for good reason, Mikel is the best possession passer and holding player in the team. He's been injured for several years and was not good for Real Madrid last season. Voted in Marca's Worst XI of the year by La Liga fans. It's a myth that he did well there, a myth created by people that don't watch football outside the Premier League and just looked up appearances stats.

3. Spot on about De Bruyne. Think he was harshly treated after a poor performance against Swindon, yet he was our best player on the opening day. In comparison, Schurrle has played nine and was awful in eight of those games but gets preferential treatment.

4. Spot on again. I love Branislav Ivanovic but he's a poor player in so many ways compared to Azpilicueta.

5. Well, it's hard to judge Chelsea forwards seeing as the expectation has become so low. But they should all be measured against Drogba, so as it stands none of them are good enough.

[Brian Mndebele]

Chelsea have been looking for depth, now they have it. De Bruyn is my biggest concern. The boy is brilliant and his turn will come. Its often hard to deal with egos in a champ and Mourinho isn't the man he was i believe. He cannot keep on relying of Ivanovic for the fullback position with Azpillicueta offering so much more.