Enzo Maresca has said that he does not know how Chelsea’s extremely short pre-season will impact his side.
The Blues only have a two-week window to prepare for the start of the Premier League season, having competed at - and winning - the revamped Club World Cup last month.
Chelsea defeated Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 in the final in East Rutherford, New Jersey to become world champions, and they will wear a gold badge on their shirts for the next four years to indicate as such.
That final was played on July 13, and the Blues’ squad were given three weeks break before reporting back to Cobham earlier this week.
They have two pre-season friendlies to play against Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan - both at Stamford Bridge - before they host Crystal Palace on Sunday, August 17 in their Premier League curtain-raiser.
Maresca spoke ahead of the game against Erik ten Hag’s Leverkusen about the “strange” nature of a lack of a proper pre-season period.
“I am quite curious, because it is the first time it has happened,” Maresca said of the short preparation window.
“It is strange, it is different and I really don’t know [how it will impact us]. I am curious because, as you said, Palace started [pre-season] the day after we finished in the USA.
“We had three weeks off. Now we start[ed] two days ago, we have two friendly games in 48 hours and then we go for the Premier League.
“I don’t know [what will happen]. We [will] see day by day, game by game, how we are - but I don’t know. The focus was just to allow them [the players] to recover, because we played 64 games. They never stopped for more than one year in a row, that is something that is not going to happen. It has never happened before.”
The Italian, who begins his second term at the helm, also noted that he has observed a “mood” shift within his cohort.
“I can see that the mood is - I don’t know if it is correct to say - but it’s different,” he continued.
“It is much better in terms of when you finish the season in the way we finish[ed] - quite strong. [We finished in the] top five, won the Conference League and then the Club World Cup. So, in any case, I think it is going to give players more energy, more [of a] boost. But, as I said, we need to see how we manage this situation, which is new for everyone.”
