Ethan Ampadu answers a selection of questions on the daily work players do behind the scenes at Cobham...
What time do you get to Cobham? What do you do before training?
If it’s a normal day, when we have a 10.30am meeting, or training at that time, I normally get in around 8.45am, so quite early. I have breakfast at 9am and after I’ve eaten I just relax for 15-20 minutes and check my messages.
After that, just before 10am, I’ll go down to the gym and do some pre-training work, whether that be stretching or core work. Then we’ll have our meeting and go out to training.
What do you have for breakfast?
For breakfast I’ll either have scrambled egg or an omelette, but it’s always egg in some form. I’ll have some avocado as well and also a bagel with jam on it. After that I’ll have a bowl of fruit with some yoghurt mixed in. I have the same thing every day.
Do you always wear the same kit?
We have a Premier League training kit and a Champions League one as well (pictured below). For the majority of the season it’s normally cold so I’ll wear long bottoms, and I’ll probably wear them even when it’s hot to be honest, as well as a t-shirt, jumper and gloves. If it’s really cold I might put a snood on as well.
And what about your boots?
I like to wear boots in so if I know I’m going to be wearing them in a game I’ll use them in training for a day or two beforehand so they don’t feel stiff.
How many pairs do you go through in a season?
I wouldn’t say I get through too many really. If a new colour comes out I’ll get them in studs and moulds and then if they become too worn or get holes in them I’ll get a new pair. But I won’t get a new pair of the same colour before another colour comes out.
If I’m playing badly I’ll change them but if I’m playing well I don’t really change them unless a new colour comes out. In terms of colours, I like to stick to dark colours, I’m not one for the bright boots. I usually just wear black, but the last two I’ve had have been dark grey and dark blue, which are fine for me.
What are your optimum training conditions weather-wise?
A bit cold. Probably not rain, although training isn’t bad in the rain. As long as it’s not windy. I’d rather train in the cold weather than hot weather. Away from football, I much prefer it to be hot but when I’m training a little bit of cold is okay.
What do you do after training?
After training what I normally do is have my protein shake and then either go down to the ice baths and hot baths and spend a bit of time in those, usually longer in the hot bath but you have to go in the cold one as well.
After that I usually do some more gym work because I still have a lot of work to do in order to get stronger. Then I might go and watch some clips of my own game, or if I’m playing for the Under-23s they might have a meeting so I’ll go over to that. It’s all about preparing myself.
What do you have for lunch?
For lunch I’ll have pasta with green pesto. I didn’t like pesto until I came to Chelsea but now I have it every day. I’ll have some chicken and avocado with that. Closer to a game I’ll probably try to put more carbs and pasta into the body.
Credit: chelseafc.com