- Join Mail+ to get more exclusive scoops and analysis from inside the Chelsea camp
Chelsea’s director of performance Bryce Cavanagh is no stranger to short training camps. Before being poached by the west London club in July 2023, he spent seven years at the FA, working with the England team.
But even for the Australian, a 13-day pre-season with 28 players returning after a three-week break following the Club World Cup was a challenge like no other.
The consensus? Bin the bleep test. Scrap the shuttle sprints. Forgo the fitness work that was not necessary. There was no time for Reece James et al being made to feel like Forrest Gump in mindlessly going from one end of the pitch to the other and back.
Save that for a 40-day pre-season. Instead, the squad were told by Maresca on Monday August 4 that they would be treating this ‘like a normal week in a normal season’. First, prepare for their friendlies. Then, their first opponents in the Premier League, Crystal Palace.
The players were pleasantly surprised. Reduced running? Yes please, gaffer. Chelsea’s performance department believed three weeks was hardly long enough for the physical levels of Cole Palmer and Co to have dropped so drastically that catching up to Palace should be seen as futile.
After the customary weigh-ins, Chelsea’s squad got to work indoors, in their gym where you will find white silhouettes of trophies smothering a blue surround and a neon sign reminding them they are ‘The Pride of London’.
Chelsea have had a pre-season like no other, crammed into 13 days before the Premier League
The players were pleasantly surprised at the lack of bleep tests and hard running
Wonderkid Estevao Willian is seen racing against Moises Caicedo after moving from Palmeiras
Levi Colwill’s ACL injury was crushing and his absence will be felt in the coming campaign
Reece James and Joao Pedro laugh as they bond after a successful Club World Cup venture
Enzo Maresca will be balancing Premier League football with the Champions League this year
There was music like Home by Knucks — other UK rappers are available — blasting in the background as Liam Delap performed jumping squats with a barbell on his shoulders and Moises Caicedo hopped over a mini-hurdle before balancing on one foot.
Estevao Willian, 18, the Brazilian wonderkid, was taken under the wing of the Portuguese speakers, not least Pedro Neto. The goalkeepers, Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen, had their reactions timed while throwing themselves forward whenever one of the buttons in front of them flashed green, like a game of Whac-A-Mole.
All this was overseen by an army of performance coaches, tracking the players’ data in real time on devices. ‘Love that, Rob.’ ‘Yes, Moi.’ ‘Go on, Liam.’
The gym session over, the group went outside, where Maresca concentrated on technical stuff. One of his warm-ups resembled a game of tag as the players split into two teams — the chasers and the chased — inside a coned square.
Passing patterns were repeated, movement drills involving mannequins, attacking sequences where Joao Pedro would break behind before scoring beyond Gaga Slonina, Chelsea’s third-choice keeper.
Levi Colwill’s ACL injury was crushing. His absence will be felt over the coming campaign — Maresca is pushing for a proper replacement — and the performance department monitored how Colwill’s team-mates responded throughout the remainder of their truncated pre-season.
Asked for his assessment, Maresca said: ‘Where we are from one to 10? We are OK. We are good.’
It is helpful their first four Premier League fixtures are all in London — less travelling, more time at Cobham — while they will not face a top-six side until a trip to Liverpool in October.
