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Chelsea celebrate Joao Pedro scoring against Western Sydney Wanderers(Image: Ayush Kamar/Eurasia Sport Images)
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There's no question about it: Friday evening's 3-0 thumping at the hands of Brentford has left a bitter taste in Chelsea's mouths going into the first international break of the season.
This isn't just any break, either; instead it is a three-week period of players representing their countries, meaning the Blues have to dwell on a bitterly disappointing night at the Gtech Community Stadium.
It was, without doubt, the most disappointing performance - and result - of Xabi Alonso's short reign to date. While Alonso will want to go over exactly what went wrong at Brentford in depth this week, a lot of his players will be jetting off around the world for the next two and a bit weeks before returning to Cobham next month.
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In many ways, this international break comes at the perfect time for Chelsea. After a promising start to the Premier League campaign, the Blues are now without a win in their last three outings - two defeats and a draw in that time - and they could do with somewhat of a reset.
Of equal significance is the three-week period that Chelsea's injured players will now have to work on their returns.
Chelsea could look completely different after the international break
Alonso has been dealt a bad hand in terms of injuries in the early days of his Chelsea tenure. The Spaniard has been without the Blues' most important midfielder in Moises Caicedo for most of the season thus far - the 24-year-old's only appearance a brief cameo against Brighton.
In turn, Caicedo has been left out of the Ecuador squad for friendlies against South Korea and Japan in Asia.
Alonso was hopeful that Caicedo would return to the Chelsea squad for Friday night's loss against the Bees, but the Ecuadorian did not travel to the Gtech as he recovers from a persistent calf injury.
Chelsea's well-documented midfield issues are not solely reliant on Caicedo's return but Alonso's squad will look in much better nick once the former Brighton man is back on the pitch.
In many ways, the absence of Marco Palestra has been just as significant for Alonso. The 21-year-old Italian was signed as a specialist wing-back - able to play on either side - and suits the three-back system the Chelsea manager has largely used since the start of the campaign.
Marco Palestra
Marco Palestra is yet to feature for Chelsea this season due to injury(Image: Pedro Porru/MB Media)
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After an impressive pre-season, Palestra is yet to play in a competitive fixture for the west Londoners due to a problem with his quad. Like Caicedo, there was hope that the Italy international would be in the squad against Brentford, especially because he was involved in first-team training in the week leading up, but he did not travel either.
Fortunately for Chelsea, Palestra has been left out of the Italy squad for the international break. Instead, the £47million signing will continue to build his fitness up at the club's training base in Cobham throughout over the next three weeks in the hope he will make his Blues debut at home to Bournemouth on October 10.
It has been an equally frustrating start to the season for fellow new signing Emmanuel Emegha. The Netherlands international is yet to make a competitive appearance since signing for Strasbourg. Emegha came close on August 27 after being named on the bench for the Carabao Cup win over Luton Town, but didn't come on at Stamford Bridge.
Out of the injured trio, Emegha's absence has arguably been the least significant with Alonso having Joao Pedro and Danny Welbeck to choose from as his No.9. However, the Dutchman returning to action will provide Alonso with a different sort of option from the bench.
Joao Pedro and Reece James both missed the defeat at Brentford due to injuries. The former withdrew from the Brazil squad last week, while the latter was not selected by England due to, what sources describe as, a minor injury.
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Cole Palmer, meanwhile, was recalled to the England squad for the international break after missing out on the World Cup in the summer. The 24-year-old, however, has since withdrawn due to a muscular injury, football.london understands, and will remain with Chelsea to do some recovery work over the next three weeks.
Alonso will be desperate for Palmer to be fit for when Bournemouth come to town in just less than three weeks' time.
The Chelsea manager was boosted by the return of Jordan Henderson in the Brentford loss with the 36-year-old, who left the Bees in the summer, making his Blues debut at the Gtech after recovering from a serious arm injury he suffered at the World Cup.
Chelsea should, all being well, look like a completely different squad after the international break. Alonso will want the likes of Joao Pedro, Palmer, James, Caicedo, Palestra and Emegha to use the next three weeks as time to recover from their respective injuries and build up their fitness for when the Premier League returns next month.