It wasn’t quite palpable discord but there was a degree of grumbling at the Falkensteiner Schlosshotel on the banks of the shimmering Worthersee in the Austrian Alps last July.
It wasn’t just the pre-match meals, although that was one issue of contention. When the Chelsea players first entered the dining room before the Rapid Vienna friendly match, some had walked out on seeing the array of nuts, dried fruit and snacks.
It wasn’t a rebellion. They just assumed they were in the wrong room and went searching for their usual scrambled egg, pizza and sandwiches.
Chelsea have come a long way from breakfast confusion in Austria to being English champions
Thibaut Courtois says all the Chelsea players have had to work hard for Antonio Conte
Midfielder Nemanja Matic says the Italian has made them work hard all season long
They were soon put right, but it wasn’t only the food. It was the intensity of the work. Not old-school running, but physical work with exercise balls and bands. Then came the video analysis. Everyone knows pre-season will be hard, but there was a level of intensity and then, later, tactical analysis which surprised even Chelsea players.
‘Obviously the impression in the beginning with the manager was that we were all going to do a lot of work,’ says Thibaut Courtois, and he stifles a chuckle. It is an impression which hasn’t really changed much. ‘He worked us hard,’ said Nemanja Matic. ‘Not only in Austria, all season!’
‘There are lot of video meetings, obviously the things that a football player doesn’t like too much,’ added Courtois. ‘Only physical work and tactical work, you prefer to play little games and have fun.’
Bear in mind these are players well versed in the ways of Jose Mourinho, who made his name on the basis of the detail of his preparation, analysis and his teams’ fitness. Yet almost all the Chelsea players have reported that manager Antonio Conte stepped it up to another level. Despite this, pre-season in Austria seemed an inauspicious start.
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