It is hard enough, and near impossible, for Enzo Maresca to know his best Chelsea side, let alone actually put it out on the pitch right now. Still working with new players and building up an understanding of just what he has available, it has been a tricky start.

Not made any easier by the late transfer window business, Maresca's squad has changed significantly from the one he inherited and even the one he took on pre-season. Injuries and suspension have kept Reece James out of selection, whilst Cole Palmer's introduction to a first full campaign at Stamford Bridge was delayed by his own summer commitments with England.

It has left performances to reflect just what Chelsea are: A collection of talented players without too much of a relationship on the pitch, good enough individually to win matches but lacking cohesion to build consistency. A two-week break is unlikely to help make the progress towards learning Maresca's system any smoother.

What Maresca will gain from the first international window of the season is time. He will have had a fortnight with a large group of players back at Cobham who can be grooved and rested. Those who stayed behind include Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Wesley Fofana, Malo Gusto, and even Palmer eventually.

The injury concerns that come with Gusto and Palmer - especially for the former, who has not been seen in any training videos released by the club - do temper this somewhat, but Jadon Sancho will benefit from an easing-in period at a new club.

Benoit Badiashile, Axel Disasi, and Tosin Adarabioyo have all formed part of a first-choice Conference League defence under Maresca so far and have had a chance to build their own fitness up, as has Christopher Nkunku. The Frenchman does not have a defined role in the Chelsea team currently but is too good to be left from the starting lineup for long.

He and Maresca will be undoubtedly working towards getting the best out of each other, whilst the break has also come at a good time for Romeo Lavia. He started the first two games of the season before missing the next three with injury.

A hamstring problem has blunted early optimism that came with his first league minutes in over 12 months. Lavia's injury was not expected to be serious though and this break has offered him recovery time. The same is true for James.

He is yet to feature despite being available for Conference League matches. With a Premier League suspension ruling him out of the first three games, James suffered another setback in his attempt to get back to playing regular minutes.

Chelsea have not lost any more ground with James just yet and will hope to have made progress during the break with him. It still leaves Maresca at least two players short of what is probably his best XI on paper though (Jorgensen; James, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella; Lavia, Caicedo, Fernandez; Palmer, Jackson, Nkunku).

Nkunku, Lavia, and James are all in a state of limbo one way or another, whilst Malo Gusto's own injury before the break has added doubt over his readiness to feature at Bournemouth. Maresca is certainly getting closer to a fully fit squad, something definitely aided by the break, but translating that into a strongest XI and the performances to go with it is a harder task.