Date: 29th August 2014 at 4:32pm
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This summer I have had a break from football – well Chelsea to be more precise. With more free time than usual, I actually managed to watch, and enjoy most of the World Cup in Brazil. More enjoyable, funnily enough, once England had left the party.

It was actually quite refreshing to watch football for enjoyments sake, with nothing at stake. This rarely happens when I watch Chelsea as I am so consumed with the tension, enormity of it all and the desire to win. Furthermore, producing the Chelsea FanCast and a lot of the other Chelsea related activity that takes up my time; you get the feeling that it is becoming more of a job than a passion. It is therefore quite natural that you get a bit worn down by it all, and that my friends, is why you need to have a break.

This is the first season in many a year when I have not watched one pre-season fixture, or obsessively followed each transfer manoeuvre. Maybe I’m getting old and cynical, but more likely it is the break from it that I needed! The result of course is that I am now champing at the bit for the return of real football – watching Chelsea week in, week out for the usual rollercoaster ride of the football season. In my case absence most definitely makes the heart grow fonder.

But what of the players? Many of us grew concerned that our young star Oscar was looking particularly jaded towards the end of the season having pretty much played non-stop for 3 years. Playing in the World Cup meant that many Chelsea players will not have had a decent break to re-charge the batteries, and many will miss most of the pre-season training where Jose will lay down his tactical master plan for world domination this season. More worrying is the psychological effects of an emotional, traumatic or downright miserable World Cup for many where expectations and hopes were dashed.

Chelsea had a record number of 17 players at the World Cup, and the most representatives from the Premier League. Four of that number have moved on: David Luiz; Samuel Eto’o; Frank Lampard and now Romelu Lukaku. That leaves Oscar; Ramires; Willian; Courtois; Hazard; Cahill; Mikel; Moses; Schurrle; Azpilicueta; Torres with Atsu and Omeruo already off on loan. Of course we need to add new signings Diego Costa and Cesc Fábregas to that list.

So what will the impact of the World Cup be on the Chelsea players, and the forthcoming season? Chelsea players featured for more time and covered more ground than any other club’s squad. But perhaps luckily, other than Oscar, no outfield players played more than 270 minutes of football.

Cahill, Mikel and the Spanish quartet of Cesc Fábregas, Fernando Torres, Diego Costa and César Azpilicueta barely kicked a ball before they were packing Spain v Chile - FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 - Group B
their bags for a holiday in the sun. It could be argued that after a disappointing tournament and a bigger break than expected they will be keen to get back to Chelsea to forget about their international disappointment. They could also be incentivised with a point to prove that they are in fact quality players with the ability to express their talent and win trophies. This is particularly pertinent for Diego Costa, who hampered by the hamstring injury he suffered at the end of last season was clearly well below his best.

Hazard of whom much was expected on the world stage had a very disappointing tournament, often shackled by 2 or 3 players shadowing him and denying him the space he needs to create, the mantle of being Belgium’s playmaker and one of the supposed stars of the tournament seemed to weigh heavily. Hopefully the longer break and Jose’s consummate man management skills will restore confidence to the man who is our most important creative player.

No such need or concerns for Andre Schurrle who returns as a World Cup winner and who had a very impressive tournament with 3 goals in 244 minutes on the pitch. Often used as an impact sub, Schurrle scored one absolutely superb goal in the annihilation of Brazil and came up with the World Cup winning assist for the goal that won Germany the World Cup. If he doesn’t return to Chelsea’s ranks with supreme confidence and hopefully an important role to play this season then I will eat this fanzine!

But it is our Brazilian trio for whom I fear the most. The narrative of Brazil’s tournament was one of the most compelling in the World Cup. It was the drama within the drama, and the psychological pressure the players must have felt with the historical and very real expectations heaped upon them by a desperate nation was there for all to see. Oscar seemed to bear the brunt of this, not least in his playing and running time added to an already overburdened body. Scolari’s perplexing management seemed to spare Ramires and Willian most of the horror that unfolded for Brazil, but one wonders what the psychological impact will be on Oscar in particular of not only failing in his own aspirations and those of the Brazilian people, but the spectacular and traumatic 7-1 defeat in the semi-final to Germany.

I still firmly believe that Oscar is potentially one of Chelsea’s most important players going forward, and could become a Chelsea legend. But now he needs very careful management both physically and psychologically.

Thankfully, we seem to have a greater depth to the midfield than we had last season so it is hoped that his game time can be well managed so he doesn’t burn out.  In addition, in Jose Mourinho, we have the finest man manager in the game, and a man who will hopefully get in to the head of Oscar, restore his confidence and get him in the right headspace to not only perform at a consistently high level for Chelsea but become one of our most influential players.

Who better than Jose Mourinho and Chelsea FC to exorcise any demons that some Chelsea players may be harbouring from the World Cup?

I am looking forward to this season with the renewed vigour that a decent break brings, if Chelsea’s World Cup players can get rid of their blues, I think that we and they will have the perfect antidote with a very successful season and a trophy or three!

Up the Chels!

First Published in cfcuk Fanzine August 2014

 

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