Chelsea flops 'in for a shock' as gruelling two-week fitness regime awaits

 Chelsea supporters are delighted to learn that the club's underachieving players are set for an intense start to pre-season training under new boss Mauricio Pochettino

Chelsea fans reckon the club’s flops are in for a shock when they begin training under Mauricio Pochettino.

The former Tottenham boss officially starts work at the Blues on July 1 but his plans for the new campaign are already well advanced. He will host a team meeting two days later before the start of full training on July 4.

According to the Evening Standard, Pochettino will put his players “through a gruelling two-week fitness regime” at the club’s Cobham training base. The Argentine is renowned for working his players hard.

Earlier this year, after Pochettino’s appointment was confirmed, goalkeeper Kelvin Davies recalled working under the ex-Paris Saint-Germain boss at Southampton.

“One session went on for an hour and 15 minutes – a continuous half, it didn’t stop,” Davis told FourFourTwo. “I remember Morgan Schneiderlin sitting on the floor next to me after he’d tracked a run, saying, ‘F***ing hell, I think I’m going to die!’ Then he just got up and ran again."

This is music to the ears of Chelsea fans, who have just witnessed an embarrassingly abject season, where the players’ work rate was regularly questioned under their various managers.

“A lot of our players are in for a shock,” quipped one fan. “Good they need that after what we witnessed the last year,” said another. A third declared: “Chelsea's pre-season should've started June, considering how poor they were last season.”

A fourth added: “Can't wait... Last season was traumatic.” Another fan joked: “Our players will end up in hospital by the end of them two weeks.”

A sixth said: “Good, these guys couldn’t press for their lives last season. Thanks Potter!”

Following that initial two weeks, Chelsea will fly to the US for matches against Wrexham, Fulham, Newcastle and Brighton in the Premier League Summer Series. There will also be a one-off friendly against Borussia Dortmund in Chicago.