Chelsea pre-season tour to conclude at Werder Bremen
By George Perry
Chelsea FC have added a final stop to their pre-season tour, with an away fixture against Bundesliga side Werder Bremen on May 7. Sandwiched between International Champions Cup and the Premier League, is this friendly really what the club needs?
Chelsea will visit Germany a mere four days after wrapping up the International Champions Cup against AC Milan in Minneapolis, MN. The Blues will conclude their pre-season schedule against Werder Bremen, who escaped relegation from the Bundesliga on a goal by Chelsea loanee Papy Djilobodji.
Despite being a friendly against a bottom-of-the-table Bundesliga side, the fixture will carry extra weight as players will make their final case for inclusion in the starting XI for the season-opener. Chelsea begins the 2016/17 Premier League campaign eight days later against West Ham United.
The fixture with Werner Bremen will provide Conte a transition point in preparing the club for the Premier League season, either by advancing the tactics he employs or giving him another chance to shake-up his roster. Players who underperform in the International Champions Cup may get a glimpse of their future on the bench at Werner Bremen.
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Chelsea has only met Werner Bremen twice in competitive matches. In the group stage of the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League, both clubs notched a home win, with Chelsea advancing 2-1 on aggregate. Werner Bremen was the only team to defeat Chelsea in the group stages, as the Blues finished top of the group. Chelsea ultimately lost to Liverpool on penalty kicks in the semi-finals of the Champions League campaign.
The break between the end of one Premier League and the beginning of the next is barely enough time for players to recover fully before starting pre-season training. Add in international duties for players and coaches and globe-trotting pre-season tours, and players can barely be expected to start a new season fresh. The longer the pre-season stretches out in terms of time and distance, the more adverse impacts it has on the actual season.
Chelsea will arrive back in London one week before the Premier League season opener, having been away from home for three weeks.
Pre-season tours – including the quasi-competitive International Champions Cup – are commercial junkets more than they are competitive matches. The multi-billion pound Premier League is obviously highly commercial, but the Premier League (or First Division) planted non-commercial roots long before the ICC sprouted from nothing.
The Premier League counts for something among the fans. The ICC only counts among the bean-counters.
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Chelsea’s players have a steep learning curve to understand and adapt to Antonio Conte’s tactics. Chelsea’s players and Conte need all the time they can get to practice, particularly in a game situation, but also need time to rest and recover. Hopefully the club consulted Antonio Conte before adding this fixture to the schedule, so that it will be as good for the on-field product as it will be for the club’s brand and bottom line.