The World Cup arrived at an opportune moment for Chelsea and Graham Potter. It meant the 2022/23 club campaign was put on pause and the Blues would have five weeks to refresh and regroup after a concerning and disappointing run of results in the Premier League.
"We have to use it as a positive," said Potter of the break following Chelsea's 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United. "We'll get a couple of players back [from injury] and we can use the time to refocus, reflect and get ready for the second half of the season. There's a lot of football to play, and a lot of learning has happened over the last eight weeks. So we'll have to use the break as positively as we can."
Given the vast number of Chelsea players selected to represent their countries at the tournament in Qatar, there was little point in Potter spending hours and hours on the training pitches at Cobham. It's why those players who didn't receive international call-ups – and who weren't undertaking recovery work – were given a couple of weeks off to recharge.
