Internationals will damper a Thomas Tuchel Chelsea preseason

Thomas Tuchel has worked wonders with Chelsea despite coming in midseason and having an average of maybe two or three days of training in a row. The current break between MD38 and the Champions League final will be one the longest, if not the longest gaps between games Tuchel has had with the Blues.

There is, of course, the international break in March that split Tuchel’s first and second halves but the Blues had so many players called up that training did not resume in earnest until later in the second week. That’s something to keep an eye on.

Tuchel has impressed and a preseason will only send Chelsea higher. While generally true, the multitude of tournaments this summer will hinder that. Tuchel will largely have a patchwork of players to work with throughout preseason, only having the full (and by then, exhausted) compliment on the eve of the season.

The main drainer is going to be Euro “2020” because apparently it was too hard to just rename it after delaying it a year. Most of the squads are already announced and it looks like nearly every European player from Chelsea is going. The main issue with the tournament from Tuchel’s point of view is going to be fatigue.

Chelsea has the Champions League final this weekend. The players will get just under two weeks “off” (at least in the match playing sense) before the Euros begin. The teams that advance furthest will likely include some key Chelsea players, tying them up until potentially 11 July. In years past, Chelsea has usually given players two weeks off from the end of their tournament to recover. That means anyone missing the final could potentially be gone until 25 July.

Shifting focus over to the Americas, both Copa America and the Gold Cup are occurring this summer as well. That’ll hit Thiago Silva and Christian Pulisic, two players the club has tried to take good care of physically all season due to age and a propensity for injuries. Copa America roughly overlaps the Euros, running from 13 June to 10 July. The Gold Cup doesn’t even start until 10 July and runs to 1 August.

But wait, don’t get too excited about Pulisic being able to rest while he waits on Gold Cup. Because there is a June international break and for Pulisic, that means the glorified super friendlies that are the Nations League (Concacaf edition). Luckily that is only two matches in four days, but there will also be the training that goes into it and the quick turnaround to the Gold Cup.

In case a June international wasn’t enough, there is still the early August international break to tickle your fancy. Yes, in a year with the Euros, Copa America, and the Gold Cup, FIFA in their glorious wisdom again schedule an international break just before the start of a new season. Any final preparations Tuchel might want to do will be curtailed as the winner of those trophies go on a victory tour and the rest go on a “next time will be different!” tour.

And while it surely won’t bother Chelsea this time around, there is the final add on of the Olympics. In theory, any player of a qualified team could end up going but unlike regular internationals, Chelsea would be under no obligation to release the player. This shouldn’t be an issue (especially with the United States failing to even qualify) but maybe one worth keeping in the back of mind.

Frankly, none of this should surprise anybody. FIFA hasn’t viewed players (or workers for that matter) as human for some time now. There is no consideration for physical, mental, or emotional tiredness. The only consideration is how to get more games, make more money, and how to leave it to the clubs to pick up the wrecked bodies of the players so they can be ready to go again for the October window.

For Tuchel, this means his squad is going to be mostly players that have no part with their national team. He’ll have a patchwork of players most of preseason and when he does have a full complement, he’ll have a drained squad to rally. The small upside is everyone else on Chelsea’s level is going to be in a similar situation and, like last preseason, the difference will come down to the planning of the clubs around that. Chelsea didn’t do the best with it last year (few friendlies, shorter preseason compared to rivals up and down the table) but hopefully the lessons are learned.

Of course the lesson shouldn’t have to be learned. It is understandable that FIFA, UEFA, or whoever don’t want to cancel these tournaments. It’s not understandable that they are being completely unreasonable by packing in largely pointless matches all around. That comes after the most taxing year many players have ever faced ahead of what is sure to be another taxing year as things start to get crammed in to make way for the Qatar “we’ll make air condition technology that doesn’t exist by 2022 oh wait we can’t can we move it to December? Also ignore the graves” World Cup.

It’ll be a job Tuchel, and no other club manager, should have to face this summer but it is what it is at the moment. Preseason probably won’t be the big boost some are thinking given the outside factors. The best Tuchel can do this summer is manage things closely and just try to get a fit Chelsea side ready to go for the first match.