Fatigue the Key Issue Ahead of Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace

Chelsea take their unbeaten Premier League record to Crystal Palace this Saturday for their first game back after the international break. The Blues are currently five points clear at the top of the league but will be wary of the threat posed by their London rivals.

Last season, Chelsea were beaten 1-0 by the Eagles in a defeat that effectively ended their title challenge. Jose Mourinho was scathing in his assessment of the Blues’ performance that day as he felt his star players struggled for motivation, per the Croydon Advertiser:

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[We have had] quality in every match we lost except here. You see the matches we lost and try to find the points in common; Stoke City away, Everton away, Newcastle away, Crystal Palace away, West Bromwich away, there were points lost.

You try to find common points, and clearly we have some players who because of their profile, they find it difficult to perform in some profile of match. You have some players they are fantastic in some matches, but they disappear in some matches. You can find easily in these matches something in common.

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The attitude of the squad was not the only issue in that game. Mourinho’s counter-attacking tactics were controlled by Palace, who used the home advantage to restrict the Blues’ movement in the final third. The Chelsea players did not do themselves any favours, either, as they managed to find the target with only two of their 21 shots, per BBC Sport.

The changes in personnel this summer should see the Blues avoid such profligacy this time around, but there is a key issue that will concern the Special One.

Barring John Terry, Didier Drogba and the injured Ramires, all of Chelsea’s first XI were on international duty last week. Willian and Oscar have only just returned from Brazil’s tour of Asia, while Andre Schurrle sat out Germany’s clash with the Republic of Ireland due to a virus. Eden Hazard also travelled for no reason initially, as he sat out Belgium’s match against Andorra because of a bruised toe before playing in the latter match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Yves Logghe/Associated Press

There were two positive pieces of news for the Blues from these internationals. Diego Costa was relieved to break his duck for Spain when he scored against Luxembourg, while supporters will be even more grateful that he has returned to London in one piece. Mohamed Salah also scored for his country as Egypt beat Botswana 2-0.

The strength in depth of Chelsea’s squad has been spoken about a lot this season but when 20 players are scattered across the world just as they are finding their rhythm as a team it is bound to have an impact. From the strongest attacking midfield in the league, Mourinho will now have to assess how fatigue has affected his key players.

Per Lee Thomas-Mason at The Mirror, Chelsea’s internationals have travelled the furthest during this break, clocking up a whopping 96,556 miles between them. By contrast, the handful of Palace players who represented their countries had less far to travel. Only captain Mile Jedinak had to leave Europe as he represented Australia in their 1-0 defeat to Qatar in Doha.

Crystal Palace manager Neil Warnock will be well aware of Chelsea’s history of faltering after the October international break, and it will encourage his team to make the most of the Blues’ jet lag. Whether Mourinho can counter that remains to be seen, but this is certainly a headache he could do without.