Two days from Chelsea's draw with Manchester United, preparations are well underway for another fixture. The Blues take on Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday evening, looking to secure their progress to the last 16 of the Champions League.
Graham Potter led a training session at Cobham ahead of his squad flying out to Salzburg on Monday afternoon, with a press conference set to take place later in the day. Chelsea have still not lost since the head coach arrived and started his tenure with a draw against the Austrian opponents at Stamford Bridge.
Things have not been easy for the former Brighton boss, with the Blues starting slowly in their last three matches and had to settle for a draw against Brentford and Manchester United without being able to call upon N'Golo Kante, Kalidou Koulibaly or Reece James.
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Nevertheless, the preparations for Salzburg got underway in earnest on Monday morning and football.london was there for the first 15 minutes of Chelsea training, and this is what we spotted:
Who trained?
As always, the goalkeepers were the first out the blocks to the training session underway, with Kepa Arrizabalaga, Edouard Mendy and Marcus Bettinelli all emerging from the dressing room at the same time and moving to a separate pitch to the rest of the first team.
They were soon followed by Mateo Kovacic and Christian Pulisic, who headed out along with Conor Gallagher and Carney Chukwuemeka. It would be a relief of sorts for Chelsea followers to see the former among the first bodies to come out as he continues to nurse a knee issue, as highlighted by Potter on Saturday. Whether he is forced into the match early once again as he was in Chelsea's last remains to be seen, with a rest surely needed, but it seems, for now, the Croatian's enthusiasm remains.
Cesar Azpilicueta was next out, ahead of Ben Chilwell and Kai Havertz, before the trio of Trevoh Chalobah, Raheem Sterling, and Hakim Ziyech emerged. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mason Mount, Thiago Silva, Jorginho, Marc Cucurella, Armando Broja, Denis Zakaria and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made up the rest of the numbers as crucially Kalidou Koulibaly was absent.
The Senegal international was not in Chelsea's squad to face Manchester United, but Potter did not believe the injury to be serious at that time. He said ahead of that game: "He just felt his knee at the back end of the game against Brentford. It's not too bad, but it's too soon for him to play in this game."
Goalkeeper training quirk
Much has been made of new goalkeeping coach Ben Roberts since his arrival with Potter from Brighton, though there still remain familiar faces in the likes of former academy player James Russell, also involved in the set-up. Curiously, on Monday, there were as many goalkeeping coaches as players involved in the session.
Regardless, the drills were engaging and intense and looked to prevent any of Chelsea's trio from being still for too long when another was in action. They were not short of complexity either, as in one drill, each keeper would take centre stage for their own turn facing a difficult task.
Each goalkeeper would first have to make a save before rolling the ball back out, before then making another from another coach and catching the ball. They would then have to claim a second ball while throwing the first in the air. They would then throw two in the air while receiving a third ball and sending it straight back, and claiming the initial two balls before distributing each in turn. No pressure.
Mason Mount and Thiago Silva bond
It's not always clear how much of footballers' relationships are professional rather than genuinely friendly. Different cultures, personalities and languages don't make it a guarantee that even in the most successful teams, everyone gets on.
Thiago Silva, for example, did not even undertake his last Blues press conference in English. However. Even at the age of 38, he appears to have connected with his teammates as much as his supporters. Heading out from the changing rooms on Monday morning, the Brazilian international was joined by Mason Mount, a midfield 15 years his junior.
The pair appeared in hysterics, however, and could not take the smiles off of their faces as they jogged over to the training pitches for the session. It's reassuring to see two contenders for Chelsea's most important players at the moment in such good spirits.
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