The Chelsea first team players returned to Cobham this morning (Tuesday) to get ready for their trip to bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur after their scheduled—and somewhat contentious—two days off following the loss to bottom-of-the-league Southampton.
On Sunday, Graham Potter leads his team across London in search of a victory. The Blues are presently 10th in the Premier League and are closer to the relegation zone (11) in terms of points than they are to the Champions League spots. Because of this, Potter is still put under a lot of stress.
He continues to have the ownership’s backing. But the game against Tottenham must be won. Todd Boehly is expected to attend, and supporters will not accept anything less. These are some things we noticed from Chelsea’s morning practice. Chelsea has a free week to spend on the training fields.
A pleasing sight
Sekou Mara of Southampton attempted an overhead kick in the Chelsea penalty area during the 74th minute of Saturday’s loss. However Cesar Azpilicueta, who had cleared the ball, was struck in the head with his right foot’s full force instead of the ball.
As soon as Azpilicueta collapsed on the ground unconscious, his teammates were extremely worried. The Chelsea captain was transferred to a waiting ambulance on a stretcher following a 10-minute treatment halt. It was encouraging that he could join cheers from the Matthew Harding Stand.
At his post-game press conference, Potter acknowledged that Azpilicueta had spoken to his wife while hospitalized. To the relief of his fans, the 33-year-old shared an update on social media on Sunday. Hello to everyone! I appreciate all of your kindness and encouraging remarks. I want to thank everyone who has taken care of me since yesterday’s incident on behalf of my family and myself.
“A huge thank you from the bottom of my heart to the Chelsea medical staff, my teammates and rivals, St Mary’s and Cleveland Hospital, and all staff members and physicians. Time to rest up, and I’ll see you on the field soon!”
Upon his discharge from the hospital, Azpilicueta will continue his healing at Chelsea’s training facility in the coming days. He didn’t participate in this morning’s practice, but he did observe it from the sidelines with a coffee in hand and was seen chatting with Potter.
Returning absentees
Prior to the trip to Southampton, Potter made the decision to rest a number of important individuals. Due to the amount of time Reece James had played after returning from injury, he was not included in the lineup. In contrast, Thiago Silva was also left out in an effort to avoid taxing his 38-year-old physique.
Hakim Ziyech and Marc Cucurella were not present. Furthermore absent was Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who had started the previous two games. Ultimately, Potter’s choices backfired as Chelsea suffered a humiliating loss, which increased the pressure on the 47-year-old.
It makes the trip to Tottenham on Sunday crucial. James, Silva, Loftus-Cheek, and Ziyech all participated in training this morning at a cloudy Cobham as Chelsea has five days to prepare for the match. They were not the only ones, either.
Kante took part
This season, N’Golo Kante has logged 175 total football minutes. The Frenchman’s absence has been extremely detrimental to Chelsea’s season given his caliber and importance. Kante had a hamstring injury against Tottenham Hotspur in August, necessitating surgery in October.
Kante’s return was anticipated at either the end of February or the beginning of March. He is still on pace to play football and the latter. Two weeks ago, londonreported that the midfielder had been doing some very light training with his teammates at Cobham.
Kante has made further progress and this morning he warmed up before practice with his new colleagues. He didn’t participate in the entire session, but he is about to. Throughout his tenure as head coach, Potter has not been able to use the French international, who is still negotiating a new deal. Depending on the outcome, he hopes to get the chance the following month.
The new Enzo
After Argentina won the World Cup, Enzo Fernandez made the decision to have his hair dyed blonde. He wore it throughout January and on transfer deadline day when he finished his club and Premier League-record move from Benfica to Chelsea.
Fernandez, 22, has integrated himself into Potter’s team at Chelsea and has already clocked 90 minutes in each of the four games in which he has appeared.
It is unlikely that Fernandez will need to take a break anytime soon, but it will come. It was obvious his golden hair had changed when he took part in the first team’s start of the Spurs practices. Back to his original black, Fernandez had changed.