The summer has begun, and while most football fans are desperate to get stuck into next season already, this is also the time that many supporters like to experiment with popular sporting events of different kinds.
Whether it’s the NBA playoffs, Wimbledon, test cricket or even Formula 1, there’s no shortage of alternatives to the beautiful game in the next few weeks.
After that, things get serious again – there’s now less than a month until Chelsea’s first game of their North American tour – against Club America in Las Vegas.
That’s at 3am UK time – so if you stay up for that and you’re based in Europe, you can consider yourself a true fan of the highest order.
The game after that is a midnight fixture against Charlotte FC in North Carolina – slightly less challenging for the European fan.
Those matches already look an interesting prospect. Firstly, none of those players involved in the Nations League tournament which dragged on until last week will be involved.
That means a whole host of gaps created by all our European internationals which will be filled by returning loanees, youth players – and maybe even a new signing or two.
Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Reece James and Emerson Palmieri are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of players who won’t be there, and that means the likes of Lewis Hall, Harvey Vale and maybe even Conor Gallagher (who was with England but didn’t play much) will get their chances to impress Thomas Tuchel.
As we saw with Trevoh Chalobah last summer, no player no matter how unfashionable can be ruled out from ending up playing an important role in the season to come if they can earn their manager’s trust in preseason.
This year there will be even more possibilities than usual – so many players are leaving the club in every position that there will an exceptional window for internal promotion. Many of the signings we’re trying to make won’t have a chance of being done by mid July, so just like Chalobah, people will be able to jump in and make their case to Tuchel and his staff early doors.
There are just a couple of weeks to go until we see the first players return to training, and we can really ramp up the excitement. Until then all we can do is count the days, and try to enjoy some alternative sport until the mighty Chels are back in action…
