After a week-long break for those members of the Chelsea squad not selected for international duty, it was back to work at Cobham today as the preparations for Saturday's Premier League clash against Stamford Bridge against Brentford began.
The visit of the Bees will be the first of six games in April for Thomas Tuchel's side. And it is certainly not an easy fixture list as Chelsea attempt to reach the FA Cup final, the Champions League semi-finals, and cement third place in the Premier League amid a late challenge from Arsenal.
Yet Tuchel, his staff, and Chelsea's players have proved they are up for the fight. The Blues have won 12 of their last 13 matches across all competitions and the last six of those wins have been secured amid owner Roman Abramovich putting the club up for sale and being sanctioned by the UK government as part of its response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
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"We had to find a certain level of accepting the situation and refocusing on what we can influence: our performance," Tuchel said prior to the international break.
"The good thing is from day one I found a very ambitious club and a huge staff that is determined to push the players to the maximum level of performance.
"This includes focus, respectful behaviour. It includes an attitude of a team spirit that is needed. These are the things that we rely on now and trust. It's impressive because they do exactly this and we try to support them to keep on going."
Tuchel will need to lean on the majority of his first-team squad in the weeks ahead. And fortunately, Chelsea's injury concerns have eased during the international break. And it is there that we begin the things spotted from today's training session at an overcast Cobham.
James returns...
Since the start of 2022, Reece James has featured just three times for Chelsea. A torn hamstring kept him out for much of January and February before he returned off the bench in the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool. On his first start, against Burnley, the academy graduate scored and assisted. It was a reminder of just how much he brings to the Blues side.
Sadly at Turf Moor, James suffered a muscular injury and missed the following four matches. Yet that didn't stop him being called up to the England squad for the friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast, much to the bemusement of Tuchel, it should be noted.
"He is still in individual training, otherwise, we would have brought him to Lille and we would have brought him here for sure," Tuchel said after the FA Cup win at Middlesbrough.
"There is no doubt about it. He is still in individual training, he needs one more week of rehabilitation and I think we can provide this much better than – it is not the job of the national team to do this."
Tuchel got his wish and James was withdrawn from the England squad. As a result, he was able to continue his recovery work at Cobham last week and was able to rejoin the first-team squad today.
Chelsea supporters will be hoping he comes through the coming days unscathed and can be called upon against Brentford and, more importantly, Real Madrid.
Hudson-Odoi and Christensen are also back
February was not an easy month for Callum Hudson-Odoi. The 21-year-old managed just one appearance – in the FA Cup against Luton – as he managed a troublesome Achilles issue. No risks have been taken with the academy graduate; hardly a surprise as it was a ruptured Achilles tendon that derailed his rapid development in 2019.
This term has been a curious one for Hudson-Odoi. There was a spell between October and November in which he appeared to have finally secured a place in the Chelsea attack. But regular starts have become sporadic since and the likes of Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic have come back into form during his absence.
Also back in training was Andreas Christensen. The Dane – who has reportedly agreed a pre-contract with Barcelona – suffered a knock in the Champions League Round of 16, second leg against Lille and didn't feature for his country before returning to Chelsea for training this week.
Jorginho's swift return
It was last Thursday that Jorginho and Italy suffered the bitter disappointment of missing out on the 2022 World Cup after a shock defeat at home to North Macedonia. “It is difficult to explain what happened,” the midfielder told broadcaster RAI Sport. “It hurts so much. I’ll be honest, I am still incredulous."
Italy's work isn't done despite their heartbreak, however. The Azzurri are set to face Turkey this evening, but Jorginho will not be involved having been released early by Italy. "If I can do something for them and for the clubs, we do it," head coach Roberto Mancini explained yesterday.
"They would not have played. Some were not physically at their best. Some of them, I forced them to go. Chelsea sent us Jorginho three days earlier and did not let him play in the FA Cup. I sent him back home because he would not have played."
Somewhat surprisingly, there was no mini-break for Jorginho as he was part of the group that trained at Cobham. Also involved were Hakim Ziyech, Trevoh Chalobah, Malang Sarr, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Chelsea's club-record signing, Romelu Lukaku, also undertook the session having not been selected by Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez.
