After the final friendly of the preseason on Saturday, many Chelsea players will be jetting off to take part in meaningless international friendlies that do nothing but potentially disrupt the start to their club season. The first of the squads are out, and I'll turn it over to John Chapman:
Belgium forwards: Bakkali, Benteke, De Bruyne, E. Hazard, Lukaku, Mertens, Mirallas #belfra
— John Chapman (@BelgoFoot) August 8, 2013
Belgium midfield: Chadli, Defour, Dembélé, Fellaini, Simons, Witsel #belfra
— John Chapman (@BelgoFoot) August 8, 2013
Belgium defence: Alderweireld, Ciman, G. Gillet, Kompany, Lombaerts, Pocognoli, Van Buyten, Van Damme, Vertonghen #belfra
— John Chapman (@BelgoFoot) August 8, 2013
Belgium keepers: Courtois, Mignolet, Casteels #belfra
— John Chapman (@BelgoFoot) August 8, 2013
T. Hazard and Lestienne were in squad for last friendly but not this time.
— John Chapman (@BelgoFoot) August 8, 2013
The Belgian group is all fairly young, and Marc Wilmots has generally done a nice job of limiting minutes in friendlies. As long as our crew can manage to stay healthy, I'm not all that concerned by any of their participation.
One player that won't be taking part is Petr Cech, who was not named to the squad to face Greece ahead of the new season. While additional minutes for our keeper don't really concern me all that much, it's nice to see a manager that's resting his top players in meaningless games. Something tells me we won't be so lucky when Roy Hodgson reveals his squad.