Feels like just yesterday the squad were going off for the first of the season’s international breaks and we were all hoping it would be the catalyst to turn our season around.
A month on, we sit in an even worse position, but I’ll try and remain positive and say maybe this break is exactly what the team needs to go away, win some games and come back as a group with some confidence going into the Aston Villa trip.
Here at Read Chelsea, we have once again compiled a round-up of where all our players, from the top to the bottom, will be featuring during this hectic fortnight of football.
Beginning with our English-based players, England have already qualified for the European Championships for next summer, but Roy Hodgson has opted with another strong squad which does, of course, include vice-captain, Gary Cahill. He’ll be hoping to feature at the heart of the defence against Estonia on Friday at Wembley and then in Lithuania on Monday.
From the youngsters, the midfield trio of Nathaniel Chalobah, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Lewis Baker have all been included in Gareth Southgate’s England under 21 squad for a single European Qualifier. They’re all expected to play a part on Tuesday 13th against Kazakhstan. There’s also three Chelsea representatives in the England under 19 squad. Dom Solanke, who’s been scoring a handful of goals for Vitesse has been included along with Tammy Abraham and Jake Clarke-Salter for three games within five days. They take on Macedonia on Thursday 8th October, Finland on the 10th before finishing off with Italy on the 13th.
Eden Hazard has been included in the Belgium squad for qualifiers against Andorra and Israel in two games in which Hazard can build some confidence and hopefully net a few goals.
In the same group, Bosnian vice-captain Asmir Begovic comes up against Wales on Saturday 10th October before travelling to Cyprus for the game on Tuesday night.
Another Belgian does feature during the period as Charly Musonda will be hoping to get another cap for the Belgium under 21’s at home against Malta on Friday 9th.
Staying in Europe, three off Chelsea’s stars feature in Vicente Del Bosque’s Spanish squad. He made it very clear why he didn’t select Diego Costa during the week but has included Cesar Azpilicueta, Pedro and the man under a huge amount of pressure to perform, Cesc Fabregas. They’ll be hoping to finalise their place in the European Championship’s with games against Luxembourg on Friday 9th followed by Ukraine away on Monday 12th.
Serbia won’t be at the tournament next year as they sit bottom of their group with just one point. Two men with a huge point to prove from the Chelsea side have been included in the Serbian squad, both Branislav Ivanovic and Nemanja Matic look like they have to have good international breaks to keep themselves in the Chelsea side. Albania away on the 8th October and then Ivanovic will be up against Cristiano Ronaldo on Sunday 11th. That should be funny.
The final two European representatives are Tomas Kalas, currently on loan at Middlesbrough will be in action for the Czech Republic on both Saturday 10th and Tuesday 13th. Kurt Zouma has been included in the France squad for two friendlies against Armenia and Denmark on 8th October and 11th October respectively.
There are six other-European’s who will be involved with their under 21 squads this coming week or two in European Championship’s under 21 tournament. All six are currently away from the club on season-long loans, and I’ll begin the two Croatians. Mario Pasalic, at Monaco, and Stipe Perica, at Udinese, will both be hoping for an easier run out against the San Marino under 21’s. Elsewhere in Eastern Europe, Danilo Pantic is in the Serbian under 21 squad and will also be hoping for two wins, at home to Andorra before travelling to Lithuania for the second game. The second summer signing to feature is Cristian Manea, where the 18-year old is included in the Romanian under 21 squad.
Closer to home, Nathan Ake, on loan at Watford, is included in the Netherlands Under 21 squad, without Marco Van Ginkel this time, as they face Slovakia on Sunday 11th. The final u21 international is Andreas Christensen, currently out on loan at a struggling Borussia Monchengladbach and has dropped out of the main Denmark squad and back into their under 21 setup. They face Wales and Bulgaria at home in the space of three days.
Moving away from Europe, South American qualifying for the World Cup is about to begin and we have four players to look out for out there. Both Oscar and Willian have kept their places in the Brazil squad, whereas Ramires continues to miss out. They face Chile away on 8th October and Venezuela home on 13th October. In amongst the same qualifying group, both Radamel Falcao and Juan Cuadrado will feature for Colombia against Peru at home on the 8th and then go away to Uruguay on the 13th.
Staying in South America, Kenedy has been included in Dunga’s Brazilian under-23 Olympic side. They have two friendlies against the Dominican Republic and Haiti and after a strong squad has been named, Kenedy may struggle to get into the side, but if he does he’ll get plenty of chances in front of goal.
The final five players featuring are all from Africa. Nigeria has our most representatives from the continent with both John Obi Mikel and West Ham loanee Victor Moses included. Kenneth Omeruo was in the original squad after being named vice-captain of the Super Eagles but had to withdraw due to injury for their two-legged tie against Burkina Faso, where they will come up against fellow Chelsea teammate Bertrand Traore. The first leg takes place on the 15th October and the return leg on the 22nd October, meaning Mikel and Traore will not be available for Aston Villa, Dynamo Kyiv and potentially West Ham.
Baba Rahman also has the a two-legged tie on the same dates, against Ivory Coast and finally, Mohamed Salah will most likely feature for Egypt in their two friendlies against Senegal and Zambia, both in Dubai on 8th October and 12th October. Not bad for some ‘ey.
