The Chelsea squad have now started a three-day break from training as Mauricio Pochettino looks to rest some of his players after a hectic period of fixtures. After beating Fulham on Saturday afternoon, the Blues players have 10 days before they are next in action against Middlesbrough.
The Christmas period and early January is notoriously a manic schedule of fixtures for all English teams. But the Blues, after playing this weekend against the Cottagers, will not be in action on Saturday or Sunday next week in what is a mini winter break for the Premier League sides.
Pochettino confirmed after the win against Fulham that his players will now be off for three days before returning to Cobham later in the week to prepare for the Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg versus Boro. “We need some rest for the players, and the staff, also,” Pochettino told reporters.
“It’s [been] a really busy period and they need to breathe a little bit. Yes, and then we are going to prepare. We will have seven days to prepare for Middlesbrough. We will then play on the Friday in the FA Cup against Aston Villa and then on Wednesday against Liverpool in the Premier League, so three different competitions. So we need three days off.
“Too many of our players are going to be involved in March in the international break. Too many competitions but they need now to to have some break.”
In a 41-day period, starting from Chelsea’s first game in December – the 3-2 win over Brighton in the Premier League – Pochettino has seen his side play 11 times in all competitions. That averages out at almost a game every four days. So no wonder Pochettino and his players need a bit of time off, albeit a very short period.
