Chelsea’s preseason results so far have been poor. A 2-2 draw with Wrexham got us going, before a 4-1 defeat to Celtic on Saturday night which stung even more.
There are plenty of excuses of course – we’re only just getting to the start of our preseason while these teams are a few weeks in. We’ve got a new coach and new players, all trying to get to grips with a new system.
But the best excuse of all is simply that we don’t have our whole squad there – between injuries and players coming back from post-international holidays, we’ve only had about half our first XI available.
That should change for the two further friendly games this week. We face Mexican side Club American on Wednesday night, then Man City on Saturday evening, and according to Simon Johnson of the Athletic (who is embedded with the club on the tour), two of Enzo Maresca’s likely starters could get their first preseason minutes this week.
Nicolas Jackson apparently is hoping to play against Real Madrid in the final game of the tour, with minutes against Man City on the cards. Dewbury-Hall is even further ahead – he will be ready for City, and could yet get his first minutes in a Chelsea shirt against Club America.
A trickle of returning stars
Let’s hope their return lifts the mood and improves results. There are other reinforcements on the way. New goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen has had his medical today and it’s possible to imagine him featuring against City. Then there’s Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo who should both be training this week, plus Conor Gallagher and Marc Cucurella still to return.
Game by game, the full group is coming together – but that also raises expectations about getting good results.
