Four tasks for Chelsea’s first midseason winter break: Reset and refresh
By Travis Tyler
Chelsea is heading into their first winter break after a roller coaster two months. The Blues must take advantage of their time off to reset and refresh.
The Premier League fought against a winter break for decades but it is finally in place, at least technically. Chelsea has two weeks off while other Premier League teams will see their time off come later. The Blues desperately needed it at this moment.
Basically since coming back from the November international break, Chelsea’s great form has turned into a stop start roller coaster. The last two months have placed a great deal of physical and mental fatigue upon the squad. But that is not all that has to be dealt with. Chelsea needs this time to reset and refresh for the back end of the season in four ways.
1. The squad’s physical and mental break from one another
Frank Lampard explained that the winter break would be in two parts. Part one would be a week off and part two would be on the training ground. But the way he explained the first part stood out somewhat.
His exact words were “We will all go away for a week away from each other, it’s probably what’s needed for everyone” which is a somewhat odd way to frame a week off. It is not wrong though. The squad has spent a lot of time together over the last two months and at some point that mental break, both from the game and one another, is simply needed.
That is not to mention the physical break. Lampard gave his full 25 man squad a chance from the start of the season, but those numbers have dropped down to 14-16 at most. Some players have a lot of mileage on their bodies at the moment and they need to step back and rest.
A full week off may not be the method every Premier League club takes in the winter break, but it is needed for Chelsea. Most of, if not all of, the squad needs the time to contemplate the season thus far and heal up for the season to come.