And so the first international break is here. A good time for Chelsea? Maybe.The transfer window threatened to become a farce towards the end,so having some rest might not be a bad thing for Enzo Maresca.
He did not want to deal with questions over his centre-back options any longer than he had to, let alone be the public-facing spokesperson on whatever happened withNicolas Jackson. Add in Liam Delap's injury and some valuable 'free' recovery and it isn't the worst pause.
Chelsea have seven points from nine. They have scored seven goals, conceding just one. They are second in the table with five different goal scorers and are utilising set-pieces (already four goals from corners and a penalty).
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But despite all of this, they haven't been at their best. That is probably to be expected after playing until mid-July whilst their rivals were on holiday and returning for pre-season.
Momentum carried over from the Club World Cuphelps, but Crystal Palace and Fulham are more organised sides than Milan or Bayer Leverkusen. Chelsea do have to find their mojo again even if they have three decent results to get things going.
In one sense, the break puts a halt on any progress being made. Coming back from a break and being so heavily filled by South Americans (four are away from the senior squad to the other side of the world) is never an easy fix, but Maresca has added depth to deal with these issues.
However, having lost Delap to a hamstring issue for what is, at least initially, set to be between six and eight weeks, a fortnight of that being in the international break is no bad thing. It is also additional time to reinforce Wesley Fofana after his return from almost five months out.
Then there are the newest of new signings. Neither Alejandro Garnacho or Facundo Buonanotte have been named in Lionel Scaloni's Argentina group so will be able to settle into their surroundings at Cobham.
In fact, there are 11 fully fit players staying behind at the Surrey-based training ground. Benoit Badiashile and Romeo Lavia could be back after the break and may well be able to use the break as a chance to build up their own fitness as well.
Enzo Fernandez has not been selected for Argentina whilst Cole Palmer is dealing with his own knock and is out of the England camp. Delap andLevi Colwill are the longer-term issues. In total, out of the main squad under Maresca, 15 have not been called up for various reasons.
Tyrique George was picked for England Under-21s but has since been replaced.He had a deadline day move to Fulham break down and will now stay around the senior squad until January.
The other players on hand for additional training are Robert Sanchez, Gabriel Slonina, Trevoh Chalobah, Tosin Adarabioyo, and Jorrel Hato. For Garnacho, Buonanotte, Palmer, Lavia, and Fofana, it is perhaps more useful than ever. Chelsea's next match is away to Brentford on September 13.
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