Having had a day to recover and recuperate after the frustrating – and also disappointing – Champions League draw against Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday evening, Chelsea's players returned to grass at Cobham this morning as they continued their adaptation to the demands of new head coach Graham Potter.
That will not be a swift process; learning the intricacies of a tactical structure never is. Yet there were positive signs against Salzburg, indications that players enjoyed the greater attacking freedom handed to them by the English coach. The only frustration was Chelsea failed to claim an important victory – the game ended 1-1 after Noah Okafor cancelled out Raheem Sterling's opener.
"I've been very positive with the players' response, attitude, and intelligence," Potter explained on Wednesday evening. "They are top players and are working hard for each other. There is a nice spirit in the group but they are disappointed because results haven't gone as well as they'd like [this season].
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"That is normal and you can feel that disappointment and frustration. It's my job to help them get the results they want, that we all want. It is not the best start in terms of points for us [in the Champion League] but in terms of how we acted on the pitch as a group, there were lots of positives."
Ordinarily, Potter would have undertaken pre-match press conferences duties at Cobham this afternoon and started to work with his players on the framework of his plan to overcome Liverpool on Sunday. However, with the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II taking place on Monday in London, the Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge was postponed due to a lack of available police.
And with the international break that follows this weekend's fixtures across Europe, Potter won't take charge of his first top-flight game as Chelsea head coach until October 1. But that doesn't mean the Blues players weren't pushed hard in training today and here's what we spotted from the images released by Chelsea of the session.
High spirits remain
A lethargy had set in during the final weeks of the Thomas Tuchel era at Chelsea. Players had become increasingly detached from the German coach and performances had become turgid. But as has often been the case over the past two decades, a change of head coach has improved the mood at Cobham. It's the classic new manager bounce.
Potter and his staff have been well received by the Blues players. There was a good response to their early sessions and efforts were made to speak with every first-team player on a one-to-one basis. "We are the start of a process with a group of staff and a group of players," Potter explained earlier this week.
"I can only comment on the response we had, which has been really good, and I am looking forward to working, making this team competitive, and one the supporters are proud of."
During today's session, games of head tennis were played between the likes of Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Reece James, Jorginho, Mason Mount and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. And all appeared in good spirits ahead of the international break, which will see the majority of Potter's squad depart.
Academy Involvement
Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly caused quite the stir this week with several ideas suggested during a business leadership conference in New York. From a Premier League all-star game to a new format for relegation, nothing appeared off the table for the American billionaire.
What wasn't truly focused upon – at least by people outside of Chelsea – was Boehly's intent to make more of the club's academy and develop new pathways for the next generation of Blues talent.
"The challenge Chelsea has right now – or one of them – is that when you have 18, 19 and 20-year-old superstars you can loan them out to other clubs but you put their development in someone else’s hands," he explained.
“So I think that our goal is to make sure that we can show pathways for our young superstars to get onto the Chelsea pitch while getting them real game time." And to me, the way to do that is through another club, somewhere in a really competitive league in Europe."
Multi-club ownership is not a new concept; there are more than ten clubs overseen by City Football Group, for example. Yet by highlighting that as a possibility for Chelsea down the line, it highlights the ambition Boehly has to make the most of the club's homegrown stars.
And four of those were involved in training today: left-back Dylan Williams, centre-back Bashir Humphreys, wing-back Dion Rankine, and central midfielder Ben Elliott.
Zakaria continues to push
As the summer transfer window neared its conclusion, Chelsea suddenly decided to push hard for a central midfield. Edson Alvarez of Ajax was top of the club's wishlist but the Dutch champions made it clear that the Mexican would not be sold despite an offer of around £43million being made.
So Chelsea pivoted and brought in Denis Zakaria on loan from Juventus for the remainder of the campaign. The 25-year-old wasn't eligible to feature against West Ham United in the Premier League but has been included in the previous two matchday squads. He did not come off the bench, however.
Seemingly ahead of him in the midfield pecking order are Mateo Kovacic, Jorginho, Mason Mount, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Conor Gallagher. N'Golo Kante will jump to the top of that list too when he returns to full fitness, although no hard date has been set on that front.
Zakaria will not find it easy to break into the Chelsea starting XI but he was involved in the session today at Cobham and will continue to push after the international break to earn his first minutes for the club.
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