For both Chelsea and Graham Potter, the World Cup break has come at a good moment. The Blues' Premier League performance has weakened recently due to an increase of injuries.
The Blues have lost five straight games and are currently ranked eighth in the rankings, 16 points behind league-leading Arsenal and eight points behind fourth-place Tottenham Hotspur.
Potter acknowledged that Chelsea will need to pick itself up and recuperate over the break before the weekend loss to Newcastle. "In terms of the games and the turnaround, I was thrown into the washing machine rather rapidly and ended up here. You must manage everything that is happening as well as the quantity of matches you play.
"You do need time to reflect – and there is that time because of the World cup break. It would be stupid of me not to do that; to rejuvenate, to recover, to reflect, to improve."
The 13 senior players not going to Qatar are now enjoying a couple of weeks off before returning to training, starting with a warm-weather training camp in Abu Dhabi next month.
Several of Chelsea's injured stars will be fit again before the Premier League returns. The likes of Kepa Arrizabalaga (foot), Reece James (knee) and Wesley Fofana (knee), and Carney Chukwuemeka (hamstring) are expected to have returned from injury before the Premier League restarts. Ben Chilwell should have also progressed in his recovery from a hamstring injury, but no comeback date has yet to be set. N'Golo Kante (hamstring) isn't expected back until February.
Meanwhile, two youngsters in particular will have the chance to impress Potter. Lewis Hall - who starred in the Blues' 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup last week before starting against Newcastle on Saturday - and Omari Hutchinson have been part of the Englishman's thinking.
0 Comments