Talking about injuries affecting results and performances can be easily dismissed as a lazy excuse. It can be seen as an easy get out to mask wider issues and avoid addressing the real problems.
In football and in life we want definitive answers. We like things simple and clean cut. When things are unclear or mysteries left unresolved we feel a sense of emptiness, like we haven't eaten enough food or not seen the last 20 minutes of a film. If we cannot boil our club's problems down to a manager, one player or one formation then something must be wrong.
That feels the case with Chelsea's season, injuries hampering rhythm at key points of this season have left a lingering sense of 'what if?' Even though larger problems currently surround the club.
READ MORE: Damning Mason Mount stat debunks bizarre social media myth to fulfil Thomas Tuchel's NBA promise
READ MORE: Chelsea gifted with their dream takeover manifesto that sees 'God-tier' stadium renovation
Most notably is the season-ending ACL injury to Ben Chilwell in late November against Juventus. On that evening, Chelsea swatted aside the Italian giants with a dominant 4-0 win, scoring some brilliant goals, teammates connecting superbly and flashes of skill sprinkled on top.
On that night, it felt like Thomas Tuchel was forging a special team that could seriously compete with Manchester City in the Premier League title race.
Chilwell's injury that night altered the mood radically in the coming weeks. It changed the quality and tempo in Tuchel's system and forced players to fit into unfavoured roles to cover for his absence. Chilwell's flying wingback partner Reece James also suffered an injury in late December, keeping him out until early March, where after only a week back picked up another knock to increase his growing time on the treatment table.
But that pair only scratch the surface of Chelsea's injury issues this campaign. As The Mirror dissected last week, the cost of those injuries places the Blues top of at least one Premier League table. In a study by Howden Sports, Chelsea has had 55 separate injuries, the absences costing the club an estimated £14.02million with the average cost of each injury totalling £250,000.
You look down on the list and the closest on injuring cost is Manchester United with 34 injuries, totalling £11.6million. Whilst the two teams above Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City have had 43 and 35 injuries respectively.
Given the context of how important Chilwell and James had become to Tuchel's system in the early months of the season, their loss for large periods cannot be understated. Their output offensively, their speed and quality defending as well.
Like Liverpool struggled without the talismanic Virgil van Dijk last season, Chelsea's drop in form over winter that cost them dearly in the title race might have been very different had Tuchel's first-choice wing-backs remained fit and firing. Imagine taking Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold out for large periods too; a very different Liverpool team.
The number of injuries has also consistently disrupted Tuchel's plans to field a similar lineup, helping to form those key connections that needed to be built. Tuchel will be hoping next season will have Chelsea closer to the top of the actual Premier League table rather than rueing a number of costly injuries.
