The 5th Stand app and the official Chelsea website have been granted exclusive access to Chelsea’s pre-season tour, and we will be on hand every step of the way to keep you updated at what Thomas Tuchel and his players are getting up to in our daily tour diaries.

As our series from camp continues, we pick out the best bits from the last few days…

Riding out the storm

With the next day a match day, training was down to one session on Tuesday and that was shifted from the heat and humidity of the Florida morning to an early-evening timeslot.

The rescheduling worked. A brief afternoon storm had reduced both the temperature and some of the humidity and a breeze greeted the players on arrival at the regular pitches.

Ball work was very much the order of the final training before taking on Charlotte FC, with short-passing exercises, some half-pitch work with all players involved, and then attack and shooting drills – with the goals peppered with free-kick practice to conclude it, as the sun began to go down on another US tour day.

The Blues will fly to Charlotte ahead of our evening (US time) clash, which is available to stream live and for free on The 5th Stand app and the official Chelsea website.


Jorginho sits down for a podcast


After the players had refuelled with some lunch, it was time to rest up before the afternoon training session.

For some players, including Jorginho, there were some media duties to attend to in the hotel. Our Italian midfielder, born in Brazil, sat down with Igao and Mitico from Podpah – the biggest Brazilian podcast around.

Jorgi chatted over a number of interesting topics, including his humble beginnings in Brazil, playing for the Italian national team and what it meant to win the Champions League with Chelsea before finishing up with the guys and heading onto the team coach for afternoon training.

If you want to listen or watch to Jorginho’s Podpah interview, then head to their social media channels now!

Di Matteo pops by

Roberto Di Matteo has arrived in Orlando, as he becomes the latest former Chelsea star to join the club’s pre-season tour.

The former midfielder and Champions League-winning manager will be based within the camp for the final leg of the tour, being involved in a number of commercial activities as part of the club.

To kick-off, Di Matteo flew ahead of the team to Charlotte – the venue of our next game – to meet fans, pose for photos and take part in a Q&A session.


Let battle commence!

While the main focus of this pre-season tour to America is to sharpen up the fitness levels before we return to Premier League action at the start of August, building team spirit is also very important.

The set up our Orlando hotel includes a video games console, boards games and shuffleboard but, by far, the most popular game of choice is the table tennis tournament.

Trevoh Chalobah impressed in the team tournament but the best viewing came in the earlier rounds, where Thomas Tuchel took on Christian Pulisic!

We won’t spoil things by revealing who wins, but make sure you stay tuned to our channels for the video of the match to be published later this week!