Chelsea were on a fruitful run of results before the interruption of this month’s international break, but the pause may still be good for certain individuals at Stamford Bridge.
Enzo Maresca’s side signed off for the two-week break with a 1-1 league draw at home to Nottingham Forest. They were actually on a five-game winning streak before that across all competitions.
There’s several stars in the Chelsea squad flying high right now. For example, Darren Bent picked Cole Palmer and Marc Cucurella in his Premier League Team of the Season so far.
However, some other members of the squad have plenty of work to do in terms of their own form.
Here are three Chelsea players who will benefit the most from the October international break:
Mykhailo Mudryk
Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk finds himself in and out of the starting line-up right now. He knows when he joins up with his country Ukraine for the international break that he’s likely to get starts, though.
The 23-year-old left-winger has had a frustrating start to the season, scoring zero goals in his eight club appearances. Currently, he finds himself on the bench in league matches and coming into the starting XI in the various cup competitions.
In fairness, the rapid attacker has shown glimpses of rediscovering his form with three assists for the Blues this campaign.
Hopefully, he’ll return after the international break with an extra spring in his step. It will certainly help that he scored the winning goal in Ukraine’s 1-0 victory against Georgia on Friday night.
Pedro Neto
Similar to Mudryk, Pedro Neto is another individual struggling to get into Chelsea’s strongest line-up.
The 24-year-old winger, who joined the Blues in the summer from Wolverhampton Wanderers, has two goals in 10 games this season. But he’s not consistently starting in Maresca’s team yet.
It’s been a pleasant surprise that Neto has been fit and firing given his previous injury record, but now he needs more minutes on the pitch to find his rhythm.
Neto is part of a Portugal squad that takes on Poland (Saturday) and Scotland (Tuesday) in the next few days, so hopefully he gets good game time for his country.
Reece James
The international break feels timely for Chelsea captain Reece James because it gives him another two weeks to continue with his latest recovery from a hamstring injury.
It’s so frustrating that the 24-year-old right-back is still waiting to make his first appearance of the season. However, there’s at least some good news regarding his fitness.
Journalist Matt Law recently told ‘London is Blue’ that James is due back in full training with Chelsea next week.
He must be itching to get back on the football pitch to contribute for the Blues. In the meantime, Malo Gusto is providing outstanding cover at full-back.
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