(Video): Chelsea taking “huge gamble” with “really scary” decisions in USA says pundit | OneFootball

Chelsea are slogging it out in the USA right now, following an exceptionally long season with some intense games in the summer heat.

Saturday night was next level – a slog against Benfica which went to extra time, and even had a 90 minute storm delay in the middle.

On the London is Blue podcast they hailed the players who had made it through that whole match:

“We had a couple of players who went the distance in this game. We had Moises Caicedo, Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto all go the distance in this game, Marc Cucurella, there were some pretty awesome performances in terms of grit and determination in this game,” presenter Dan Dormer said.

WATCH Chelsea vs. Palmeiras in the Club World Cup Quarter-Finals for free on any device with DAZN.

Chelsea taking “scary” risks with key players

Enzo Maresca and Chelsea celebrate. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

It’s so far so good in terms of injury, but Dormer’s co-presenter Nick Verlaney was less than happy about what he was seeing in terms of team selection:

“It’s a huge, huge gamble to play these guys for 120 minutes, especially after the better part of 4 hours of total game time [following the rain delay],” he said.

“I think the club is taking a massive risk this summer by throwing our first XI our in every game for the most part. I hope it doesn’t go poorly. But it’s scary, it’s really, really scary to me that that’s happening.”

You can see their takes in the clip embedded here:

Chelsea continue to gamble with players’ fitness

There’s no doubt it’s a gamble, and even if a gamble pays off that doesn’t make it the right decision. The prize money is great – but losing someone like Caicedo to a long term injury could end up costing us far more than just that.