Chelsea could be in for World Cup burnout
The 2014 World Cup has just two games left to go, and a lot of attention is turning to the upcoming club seasons across Europe. One club who must keep a keen eye on the World Cup though is Chelsea of the English Premier League, who put 16 players in to the tournament.
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Of all the clubs vying for top positions in the EPL, Chelsea have a lot to worry about thanks to topping the minutes played at the World Cup list.
The London-based club has seen its players put in a total of 3,796 minutes at the World Cup according to The Telegraph in the U.K., and with Oscar, Willian and Ramieres still left to play for Brazilian pride on Saturday that number is likely to rise closer to the 4,000 mark.
The next biggest number comes from rival Arsenal, who also have players left in the tournament and have seen its players play a total of 2,532 minutes. With Germany advancing to the finals more minutes will likely be added from the trio of Mesut Özil, Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski.
Even if you add in the signings of Alexis Sanchez (Chile) and Mathieu Debuchy (France), Arsenal’s total still is second to Chelsea at 3,252 minutes played.
Manchester United are embarking on a tour of the United States this summer, and they announced the likes of Wayne Rooney and Luke Shaw will be on the tour. It means the players who were in the group stages only have had less than a month off from soccer activities at that point.
It’s not something Chelsea, or any other club weren’t aware of going in to the offseason. After all, Chelsea has planned for a preseason training camp in Austria and won’t welcome any player from the World Cup back until July 21st at the earliest and later for those advancing further in to the tournament.
However, not having a proper layoff from the sport in general could put a big strain on the performances come the latter half of the season. It will be on the likes of Jose Mourinho to make sure those miles put on players don’t pull the team down in the EPL title race.
The question is, will World Cup fatigue be a key factor in the EPL race? Or will managers have the depth in their squads to overcome any fatigue that may set in?