During the international matchday before the Premier League return, Chelsea had the opportunity to welcome a number of key players back to the training ground. Facing the next 21 days and 7 matches, Tuchel will have more room to maneuver...
Chelsea are not always friendly on international match days, but Chelsea are always the injured side. This year alone, Ngorlo Kante and Christian Pulisic missed key games for the Blues due to injuries during their time with the national team.
Meanwhile, although Ben Chilwell is part of Gareth Southgate's side, in Europe this summer "it's hard for him to completely relax and shake off his personal disappointment," Thomas Tuchel explained in September, the 24-year-old who was confined to the bench in the first weeks of the season. "When he got to [pre-season], I thought he was mentally tired and had to worry about all sorts of contingencies."
Fortunately, Chilwell's situation has improved since then. Last time in the win over Southampton, he returned to Chelsea's starting line-up and made it to the top scorers list. That earned the 25-year-old recall of the Three Lions, who made his debut in An easy win over Andorra on Saturday.
He did not represent England at all at the European Championship and was accused of poor training attitudes, mentally and physically affected.
Chilwell is not the only Chelsea player to benefit from this round of international matches. Kay Havertz regained his rhythm of scoring in the German game, with Timo Werner showing his growing confidence with two brilliant goals in the 4-0 win over North Macedonia.
However, the biggest boost from the international break was the good news that happened to Chelsea closer to home. That could be very important for the West Londoners to win the Premier League title.
When Southampton visited Stamford Bridge ten days ago, the Saints were unable to visit Reece James, Kante and Pulisic because Tuchel was suffering from an injury camp.
James and Pulisic were both sidelined with ankle injuries at the time, while Kante was in self-isolation because he tested positive for Covid-19.
Haha, the east wind blows war drums, and now the situation is very different.
Kante returned to Cobham and resumed training at home last week. James, meanwhile, resumed playing at Chelsea's training ground yesterday, having recovered from a loss to Manchester City at the end of last month.
Pulisic has yet to rejoin the first team, but sources say the club hopes the U.S. star will return to the training ground under Tuchel's supervision before heading to Brentford, a promoted man on Saturday.
For Chelsea, the Bees will not be easy to deal with. They played seven games in their first Premier League, with Thomas Frank's side suffering just one defeat and currently finishing seventh – and that's only because Brighton won in stoppage time.
If it weren't for the international break, Tuchel would have had to be out of james and Kante in this game, plus Pulisic, who is to be determined. But the two weeks of valuable time between the win over Southampton and the trip to Brentford Community Stadium allowed the pair to return to the game.
The UEFA Champions League final took place on 29 May 2021 in Porto, Portugal
That will benefit Chelsea this weekend and beyond, as the Premier League returns after the end of the international match day this weekend, with Chelsea having seven games to play between now and the next international match in mid-November. Four of them played in the Premier League against Brentford, Norwich, Newcastle and Burnley. There are also two Champions League home-and-away doubles with Group H Malmö, first in London and then on 2 November in Sweden. There will also be a fourth round of the League Cup against Southampton on 26 October. As a result, Tuchel will need his entire squad, which could minimise the risk of fatigue and injury to key stars.
There's no reason not to worry about Chelsea, international match days are always available and don't always hand out lucky amulets to this team that gathers players from all over the world. Let's not forget that both Lukaku and Antonio Rudiger have missed the game the past week with minor injuries.
Thomas Tuchel is a very analytical man and goes through various processes when it comes to picking a team for a certain game. That's why we often see the Chelsea boss change his stance every week. He loves fiddling with his squad too much, but what if he could name the strongest team he could do without Romelu Lukaku? Maybe we'll actually see you this weekend!
Edward Mendy missed the Ballon d'Or finalists
goalkeeper
Mendy – Tuchel's heart meat.
Defence
He should be part of the defender when Reece James is back to health, either as a full-back or a centre-back on the right, but it's clear that to keep Chelsea in the best shape, they need him to be there as a full-back.
So that means James and Benchwell will be the strongest side; then who is at centre-back needs to be decided against the opponent.
Antonio Rudiger has an automatic draft pick and is therefore number one between Andreas Christensen, César Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva and Trevo Chaloba. On paper, the three-backs of Azpilicueta, Christensen and Rudiger will be the most stable, as Thiago Silva can't play as many games as the others, especially in fast-and-back matches. Who will take the place of Rudiger in this match against Brentford? What a sight for Chaloba!
midfielder
Although in the 10 months since the German came to the club to replace Lampard, Jorginho is a man with automatic draft picks like Rudiger, despite the huge workload he took on in Tuchel's start. But who plays with him has always been a question. Mateo Kovasic has a good start to the season, but as Ruben Loftus-Cheek walks out of the wilderness and back into the game, Kovasic's position may not be as safe as it used to be.
Ngolo Kante is also back from covid-19 quarantine, and it's hard to ignore him because he's one of the best midfielders on the planet.
Front
Chelsea have two clear starters in their strongest starting line-up in the attacking zone, namely Romelu Lukaku and Mason Mount.
Chelsea lost both of Mount's missed games and the West Londoners' attack was somewhat clumsy without the England international.
Tuchel has said there is no reason to sign Lukaku for a club-record £97.5 million and then put him on the bench, but he had to do so this weekend.
So Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech, Kay Havertz and the currently injured Christian Pulisic are all vying for one spot, and they will be fighting for two at the weekend.
In their current form, it's hard to ignore Werner and Havertz, who may come off the bench despite their struggles on the Blues' pitch.
There is no doubt that this Premier League suspension is good for the Blues, but Tuchel still has to be cautious.
"Sun Tzu's Art of War" Yun: The literal literal translation is that if you have ten times the enemy's strength, you will surround the enemy and fight him; if you have five times, you will directly rush up and beat him; if you have doubled, you will try to clean up one by one; if the strength of the enemy is similar to that of the enemy, you must be more calculating; if the strength of the enemy is not as large, you must learn to retreat, and you must dare to be a turtle with a shrunken head; if the strength of the army is far inferior to the enemy, you must quickly hide.
Tuchel is a wise man, whether he understands Sun Tzu's art of war or not, he just hopes that he can seize the favorable opportunity, do a lot of work, and dora run fast. The result? This will only be clear in the coming weeks.