Graham Potter does not expect Chelsea stars to take their foot off the gas before the World Cup

Chelsea boss Graham Potter does not expect players to hold back despite the World Cup looming

Speaking to the media (h/t Daily Mail), Chelsea boss Graham Potter does not expect the players to hold back on their efforts despite the World Cup looming around the corner.

The showpiece tournament in Qatar is due to start in two weeks’ time, with top European players falling to injuries in the past few days after a gruelling schedule of games had to be played to accommodate the tournament in the middle of a club football season.

Chelsea have seen N’Golo Kante, Ben Chilwell and Reece James ruled out from the World Cup, although the latter is pushing hard to feature as his injury recovery is ahead of schedule.

Talking about how it is tough to play any football half-hearted, here’s Potter (h/t Daily Mail):

“I don’t think it’s fear (from the players), I just think it’s part of the challenge, it’s how it is. It’s very difficult to play Premier League football, or Champions League football, and go at it half-hearted. That’s pretty much impossible, then at the same time you know there’s a World Cup a couple of weeks away, so that’s a tricky position for everybody.”

A World Cup happens every four years, so it is a tournament that is precious to players. Moreover, because there are qualification tournaments to earn the right to feature in it, any player cannot guarantee that his or her team will qualify for the next one.

So, if the players and their country are participating in it this year, they would ideally want to play rather than get injured a few days before, leaving themselves with no chance of recovery.

Hence, it is a catch-22 situation because players cannot go half-hearted in club games as that would increase the risk of an injury as well. Nothing can be done now because many would have expected this issue to arise when this tournament was moved to be played in winter this year.

More Chelsea News:

• Paul Parker tips Chelsea to sign a wing-back as Ben Chilwell and Marc Cucurella “not good enough” for Graham Potter
• Real Madrid eyeing Chelsea target Moises Caicedo as Luka Modric’s replacement
• Ally McCoist urges Chelsea to sign Wilfried Zaha and believes the winger would walk into the team

Hence, for players who will miss it, tough luck! For the ones who are fit going into the final week of the club season before the break, they have no option other than doing their best rather than fearing an injury.