The international break is upon us and a great deal of Chelsea's first team squad have made the trip to join up with their national sides for friendlies and World Cup qualifiers. The likes of N'Golo Kante, Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and Antonio Rudiger have already met their compatriots and started training with other coaches.
However, there are still plenty of bodies left available to the Blues, though Thomas Tuchel has made it clear that the break in the Premier League season provides a much-need opportunity to recharge after an intense few weeks.
He said: "I want for the players who have the chance, that they recharge and disconnect from football because they deserve this. It is very important that they take this possibility to come in with a fresh mindset for the last eight weeks of the season."
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The Blues head into the break in good form having won 12 of their last 13 matches, their defeat to Liverpool on penalties in the Carabao Cup final being the only blemish on their record in that time. However, the Blues have had to continue working amidst the club operating under a special licence following Roman Abramovich being placed on the UK's sanction list. At this time more than most, the German coach will be appreciative of a break.
Tuchel said: "Everybody needs to disconnect, breathe and see clearer. I had to learn it for myself and I am still training myself. I need to be disciplined in it and like I said my dogs and kids help as a natural source of inspiration and enjoyment to calm down. You have to take care of yourself to not get totally lost in it."
The first week of the Premier League's pause will be used to rest and rehabilitate, particularly for those players recovering from injury. The second week will likely see a number of players return early to work with Tuchel and begin preparing for the clash against Brentford.
The international break will first offer an opportunity for some of Chelsea's injured stars to return from injury. Kepa Arrizabalaga missed the FA Cup match against Middlesbrough through illness and now has an opportunity to overcome his symptoms to be reintegrated in the squad. Likewise, Saul Niguez revealed his Covid-19 diagnosis ahead of the weekend, and hopefully he could be involved once players begin heading back to Cobham.
Reece James pulled out of the England squad, with Tuchel suggesting the wing-back needs a further week of rehabilitation. That timeline would see him ready to return to first team training along with the rest of his teammates.
Callum Hudson-Odoi appears to have been in a similar situation in which he has seemed close to a return for Chelsea's previous game, so Tuchel will be hopeful he can be part of the training set-up too. Andreas Christensen however, was named in the Denmark squad and despite being ruled out of the match against Netherland and admitting the prospect of facing Serbia is not good per Sport Witness, Kasper Hjulmand is yet to send the player home. Ben Chilwell's recovery continues, and while he will not be involved in first team training, Tuchel will have more time to spend with his charge without the rigours of fixtures in three competitions.
The period gives Marcus Bettinelli, Ross Barkley and Kenedy further opportunity to impress, with all finding limited chances in 2022 thus far. The latter has featured for just 71 minutes across to FA Cup outings since being recalled from his loan.
That leaves Trevoh Chalobah, Malang Sarr, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Romelu Lukaku and Hakim Ziyech who will all be trying to put in a good impression to earn a start against Brentford. Much of their competition will not arrive back at Cobham until the back end of the week, meaning they are less recovered and have received less coaching fo the challenges the Bees will bring. It would not be surprising to see a number of this group involved, as some of the international cohort are fine-tuned ready for Real Madrid.
The international breaks often allow an opportunity for the development squad to send players to help fill out the first team training numbers. Harvey Vale, Lewis Hall and a number of others are involved with their national sides across various age groups. However, the likes of Jayden Wareham, Xavier Mbuyamba, Xavier Simons and Jude Soonsup-Bell have all trained with the first team in the past and could be ideal candidates to do so again.
