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LONDON. — Picture the scene. Gabriel Jesus is named by Arsenal for their Boxing Day meeting with West Ham, eight days after missing a crucial chance in the last minute of the football World Cup final.
Earlier that day, Cristian Romero, a newly crowned world champion with Argentina, lined up for Tottenham in another London derby at Brentford.
In such circumstances, it is unrealistic to expect either player to deliver his best in vital English Premier League fixtures. Much has been said about the physical demands on players this season as they prepare for a unique tournament, but rather less about the psychological effects that may kick in when the club season resumes.
Top clubs pay more attention to mental health than ever before, with many supplying players with daily questionnaires to gauge the state of their bodies and minds. The psychologists will certainly have their work cut out either side of Christmas.
Therefore, Sportsmail understands that at a number of English Premier League clubs, there is at least as much concern about the mental state of players returning from the World Cup as there is about their physical condition. Players are defined by what they do in World Cups. They may experience the best and worst moments of their careers, all in the space of a few days.
In a conventional schedule, players have at least a month’s break between the end of a tournament and the start of the club campaign.
This year, even players who are eliminated in the group stages will have less than that, and those who reach the knockout rounds will barely have time to catch their breath. No chance to head for the beach: these players must keep their minds on the job ahead of a vital second half of the season.
Clubs where the majority of players are heading to Qatar have been discussing at length how best to manage the transition back to league action.
Get this one wrong, and it could be the difference between winning a trophy and finishing with nothing. If a player is not deemed to be in the right frame of mind, his club has the option of resting him — but who would risk leaving out their star forward on such a basis?
Yet some of the clubs lower down the division may spy an opportunity. At Aston Villa, where the majority of the squad will watch the tournament from afar, the coming weeks are a perfect opportunity to understand exactly what is required from new coach Unai Emery.
The Spaniard will take his players to Dubai for warm-weather training and use that break to instil his principles.
Leicester are another club where few key players will be selected by their national sides and Brendan Rodgers will see their training camp in Abu Dhabi as a chance to build on recent improvements. — Mailonline.
Online Reporter