CHELSEA players enjoyed helicopter rides and reunions with their old clubs after Mauricio Pochettino failed to follow through with his threat to make them train on Sunday.
The Blues boss was fuming with his team after they were hammered 4-1 at top four rivals Newcastle on Saturday.
Despite a brilliant Raheem Sterling free-kick drawing them level, they collapsed in the second half at St James’ Park.
And a miserable afternoon was compounded when captain Reece James – who had firstly got clotheslined by Joelinton and then got involved in a spat with Newcastle assistant Jason Tindall – received his marching orders for a second yellow card.
Both the defender and Thiago Silva issued grovelling apologies on social media after the game to supporters after their thrashing.
Pochettino said after full-time: “We were talking in the dressing room after the game, we should go directly to the hotel and sleep, and start to train early in the morning and not have a day off.
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“These games make me very, very, very, very angry. We have to show personality and character. We cannot play this type of football.”
Chelsea sources reportedly confirmed late on Sunday night that the day off was not axed and the squad would return to training as planned this week.
And it seems that a number of players took full advantage of the rare break.
Winger Mykhailo Mudryk shared an Instagram video from a helicopter yesterday, while striker Nicolas Jackson linked up with his old Villarreal team-mates in Spain.
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The 22-year-old Ukrainian Mudryk, a £97m arrival from Shakhtar Donetsk in January, posted footage from high in the sky as he embarked on a city tour on a chopper.
He appeared off the bench in the second half in the defeat on Tyneside.
Meanwhile, Jackson was spotted wearing a huge smile entering Villarreal’s dressing room and embracing hat-trick hero Jose Luis Morales after his old team’s 3-1 win over Osasuna.
The Senegal star left the LaLiga club for Stamford Bridge this summer and penned a whopping eight-year deal with the Blues after signing for £32m.
Chelsea are next in action on Sunday when they return to home turf to take on Brighton in the top-flight.
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