Bashir Humphreys has ended up playing a lot of preseason minutes for new manager Mauricio Pochettino due to injuries at the back, and he’s really impressed.
His interview on the Chelsea website reveals that it’s not just the games that have been tough – training sounds like hell:
“This is the first pre-season I have done fully, for one reason or another. I always heard things about what pre-season was like, like you do this and that. But this is it,” Humpreys said in quotes on the club’s official website.
“In terms of getting bullied in training everyday, it is a mental challenge,’ he said. ‘Especially within the group, to keep that mentality strong because no one really wants to do it. It isn’t stimulating, it’s not fun.
Like hurt ball [also known as murder ball] is so hard, harder than the running we’re doing but it is more fun and stimulating. Yesterday, doing box-to-box running, it was a mental challenge. In that way, this is real. I am finding it so, so tough.
While we don’t want anyone to get hurt (and we’re sure this is all being played up a little for the media) we have to admit this sort of thing really works on us. We saw players looking far too comfortable and pitifully unfit last season, and whipping them into shape is the least we expect from the new coaching staff, especially given their noted expertise in fitness and sport science.
Bash will be learning a lot here, and while he will probably go on loan once the tour is done, whichever club he joins, it looks like he will be finding himself fit and ready for the new season.
