Chelsea fan will be counting down the days until their team is back in action and with less than seven days to go until the Blues face Club America in Las Vegas, the squad are putting in their work. Thomas Tuchel and co flew out to Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon and have started getting up to speed in the USA.
They were without Ruben Loftus-Cheek and N'Golo Kante who were unable to make the trip due to their vaccination status, while the club announced that Armando Broja would join up with the group later in the week. The journey to the United States saw the members of Chelsea's squad who had been on international duty, return to the fold.
A contingent including the likes of Ben Chilwell, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Levi Colwill and Harvey Vale already spent time training at Cobham, including a in-house friendly of two 20-minute halves on Friday that saw Hakim Ziyech net a brace. A long flight on Saturday followed, with a light session upon arrival before the pace stepped up a notch on Sunday.
READ MORE: Ben Chilwell reveals the area where Chelsea can't improve in bid to catch Liverpool and Man City
Here's what we've spotted so far:
Two new arrivals
Conor Gallagher and Jorginho joined up with the group in Los Angeles for the club's first day proper in the city. The duo were of course, named in the squad Chelsea were taking but made their own route to the training complex. Chelsea had allowed players to make their own way to their base so as to avoid excessive travelling and ill-preparation, to simply travel with the team. Gallagher had already undergone some private training in the city, completing a number of agility stills with a personal trainer. The former Crystal Palace loanee was already un the United States having spent some time in New York during his time off.
The pair arrived in time for a step up in intensity of Chelsea training plenty of ballwork and fitness drills on Sunday. Even Thomas Tuchel coul be seen joining in the shuttles with his team.
Thiago Silva, Emerson Palmieri and Christian Pulisic had also made their own way rather than travel via Cobham but joined the group on Saturday.
Feat of strength
There was plenty of work inside too. The squad's recently returned internationals underwent a number of bodyweight exercises and kettle bell drills, while the remainder returned outside for a second session of the day.
It doesn't seem like it was long before a sense of competition emerged. Timo Werner confidently declared: "You can't lift this with one hand" before being unable to in his attempt. Ethan Ampadu gave it a go too and saw the dumbbell edge up one side before allowing it to drop back down. The experience of Marcus Bettinelli saw more success as he covered his hands in chalk before lifting the weight as high as his shin, in the group's must successful attempt. Jorginho made sure the camera was off before an attempt of his as his teammates encourage him to try it.
Working with youngsters
The trip to California also provided Chelsea with the opportunity to engage with fans they rarely get chance to. Gallagher, Chilwell, Mason Mount, Pulisic, Harvey Vale, Reece James, Kai Havertz and Marcos Alonso joined Chelsea Foundation staff for a meet and greet at UCLA's university campus, where those from the local community programmes and highschools were able to undergo a training session before posing for pictures and gathering autographs.
Elsewhere former Blue Joe Cole threw the first pitch at the LA Dodgers stadium. The Premier League title winner was the team's special guest and was granted an exclusive tour before greeting fans. Cole could see a number of similarities between Todd Boehly's teams.
He said: "It’s a very impressive set up here and I think it’s going to be the start of a fantastic relationship between Chelsea and the Dodgers. You can get crossovers between sports, but I see a lot of similarities here. Listen, Chelsea want to win championships and so do the Dodgers. Both clubs have a winning mentality and with the new ownership coming in, that won’t change.
"It’s been a great experience and I’d just like to thank everyone at the Dodgers for making me – and Chelsea – feel so welcome."
Mason Mount left confused by Ben Chilwell
There have been few opportunities for Chelsea's squad to spend significant amounts of time with each other in the way a pre-season tour allows in the last couple of years. While the Blues have had a number of European trips, the speed of Chelsea's schedule unlikely left much time to bond in comparison to a true tour.
The revelations are already emerging as Mount recorded Chilwell preparing a slice of bread to eat that appeared to be first smothered in butter with a firm accompaniment of tomato sauce. It was a move the England midfielder didn't sound convinced by as he asked his following: "Is this acceptable people?". The wing-back was firm in his belief however, "don't knock it until you've tried it" was his retort.
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