The Pride of London
Fansided

Where did everyone go?: Chelsea’s Euro heavy international break

By Travis Tyler

WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 14: Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori of Chelsea celebrate following their sides victory in the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea FC at Molineux on September 14, 2019 in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 14: Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori of Chelsea celebrate following their sides victory in the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea FC at Molineux on September 14, 2019 in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 3
Next
chelsea
LILLE, FRANCE – OCTOBER 02: Jonathan Bamba of Lille is tackled by Cesar Azpilicueta and Reece James of Chelsea during the UEFA Champions League group H match between Lille OSC and Chelsea FC at Stade Pierre Mauroy on October 02, 2019 in Lille, France. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images) /

United States: Christian Pulisic, Cuba (October 11, CONCACAF Nations League) and Canada (October 15, CONCACAF Nations League)

Being a US fan is tiring. Being a US and Chelsea fan is exhausting. It is a constant battle over Pulisic. “No, Mount is not the player blocking him from the first team. No, Lampard is not biased towards England. No, Pulisic has not played well enough when given the chance. Yes, he was given chances”. Meanwhile, the US is trying to play the Pep Guardiola “RIGHT WAY TO PLAY” without the players to do it or the understanding behind why Guardiola does what he does. These matches are competitive but will ultimately be meaningless for all involved and it would be better for Pulisic to stay back and train under Lampard. Instead, Pulisic will have to listen to Gregg Berhalter read quotes from some book about Guardiola as if he was at a sermon.

England U-21: Callum Hudson-Odoi and Reece James, Slovenia (11 October, Friendly) and Austria (15 October, European U-21 Championship Qualifier)

Perhaps more than any international coach, Gareth Southgate and Lampard will have an understanding with one another and will use it in a mutually beneficial way. In this case, it was allowing Hudson-Odoi and James to be called up (because clubs can deny youth national teams) so that both can get more match fit. Realistically, it will be little different than their recent appearances for the youth team. They will return from break more match fit than had they stayed at Chelsea which means Lampard (and Southgate in November) can use them sooner and more frequently.

Home: Marcos Alonso, Cesar Azpilicueta, Willy Caballero, Jamie Cumming, Emerson, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Pedro, Antonio Rudiger, Willian

This is one of the smallest contingents not to be called up in a long time. Adding on that three are injured or coming off injury and it feels even smaller. This will give several of these players time to rest up and will allow Lampard to bring up a ton of academy players for a practice or two before anyone returns from national team duty.

Next. Chelsea: Three lessons learned from three Blue managers in two games. dark

What international match are you most excited to watch? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!

Home/Chelsea FC News