There was a freshness and energy in the Chelsea camp coming into the new season following their summer influx of youthful arrivals.

At the same time, though, there was also a caution behind the scenes, an intrigued apprehension about exactly what is possible this season.

That’s the thing about young players, who this version of Chelsea are boldly putting their faith in.

They come with a carefree exuberance that can change the mood and lift the sort of gloom that hung over the Stamford Bridge club after their last season to forget.

That sense of new energy, has been further fuelled by the arrival of Mauricio Pochettino, the personable and charismatic head coach whose coaching and staff have been described as ‘top’ by certain members of his squad.

Their welcoming and engaging approach has been appreciated and contributed to an improved vibe around the camp.

The amount of individual time Pochettino and his coaches have given has also been noted and received as a welcome bonus, especially by some younger players.

But there is also an unpredictability and inexperience that comes with youth hence the uncertainty about whether they can meet the demands, as Pochettino has reiterated, that Chelsea have to win and now.

During another summer of Chelsea churn, they said farewell to 10 players from last season’s squad aged 26 and over plus the younger quartet of Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic and Joao Felix who are not exactly short of know-how.

But they have not bought in a single player from the same category with 25 year-old trio Robert Sanchez, Christopher Nkunku, Axel Disasi their most senior arrivals.

Striker Deivid Washington, whose signing was confirmed yesterday, and goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic, who is expected to follow, continue the theme.

Their squad at West Ham last Sunday contained just three players over-26 – Thiago Silva, Ben Chilwell and Raheem Sterling.

Chelsea had the second youngest starting XI on match day two of the new season behind Arsenal and overall have had the fourth youngest average age so far.

Their two displays so far have highlighted the upside of Chelsea’s plan but also areas of concern.

There has certainly been a new look and feel to Chelsea – much-needed after last season – who dominated against both Liverpool and West Ham.

But there has also been a lack of cold ruthlessness at both ends that has led to costly mistakes and left them with just one point.

‘There are many positive things [about Chelsea’s approach],’ Pochettino insisted. ‘But another thing is we need to give time for them to perform.

‘Today we have a good balance because even the younger ones have experience like Enzo Fernandez, a World Cup champion, but of course the Premier League is different.’

Pochettino highlighting the Premier League factor was notable with Arsenal, title challengers against the odds, last season a natural comparison.

Arsenal’s players for their second game of last season had over 400 more Premier League appearances between them compared to Pochettino’s squad at West Ham last week.

Whether it is in England’s top flight or just generally Pochettino accepts there are times when more nous will be needed.

He said: ‘The first step is to play well or to buy the idea of the philosophy but the second step is the most difficult thing, playing well and competing at the same time.

‘This is another football. Set pieces or things like this. In that football you need some experienced players but I think we have a good balance and it’s only about improving this and for sure we are going to improve in this way.

‘I think we can [win now]. I really believe in the squad and the quality of the squad and now it is only the process and we need to wait [for] the process.

‘We are in a good way, only of course, if today we had four or six points [it would] help to be positive but we need to be positive because it’s the beginning.

‘We are going to win games and, yes, no doubt the quality is there, it’s only a matter of time.’

After highlighting summer signings such as Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, Disasi and Sanchez, Pochettino added: ‘If we see the projection of these players, we expect the best from them, we should win every single game.

‘The way we are playing and the platform of the team gives us the opinion we are in a good way. It is only a matter of time until we put it altogether.’

Friday against Luton the pressure will be on and victory now is Chelsea’s only option.

It is a meeting between giants and minnows that brought back memories for Pochettino of his first ever managerial victory at the Nou Camp in February 2009.

He said: ‘I was taking with Roberto De Zerbi in pre-season – he’s a good friend – and I said to him: ‘I was at Southampton, at Espanyol and sometimes we face Real Madrid and it happened the same.

‘It’s the beauty of football. With Espanyol, we beat the dream team of Barcelona with Guardiola, with Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol and Co. Maybe it is similar: Luton and Chelsea compared to Espanyol and Barcelona. It was the first time a bottom team beat a top team. It was a little bit lucky! A little bit!

‘I was telling the players today in our team meeting that we need to match the desire of the Luton players.

‘If we match all this, their will and everything, afterwards for sure we presume we have better quality and we have to win. But if not and we don’t match them, the game can be crazy.’

Recalling what it took to stun Barca, Pochettino joked: ‘I can’t give the secrets to the Luton coach!’

But he added: ‘We were Espanyol, we said all we are going to do is try to win, don’t care about making mistakes, we need to be brave and everything.

‘Football is about belief, being together, fighting, no matter the quality you have. If you match this, all the qualities, then you win. If you don’t then the game is going to be over.’

A dog lover who has achieved internet fame for his desire to ‘become an animal’ has taken his first steps outside dressed head to toe in a bespoke collie costume worth more than £12,000. 

Known only as Toco, the man spent two million Yen – which equates to £12,480 – on a lifelike costume to fulfil his lifelong fantasy of ‘becoming an animal’.

In some of his most recent updates to his almost 30,000 YouTube subscribers, Toco was seen playing in his backyard – on all fours – and attempting to perform tricks in exchange for fake dog food.

But he has now ventured into the outside world to meet other people and animals for the first time.

In a pair of surreal videos posted to his YouTube channel ‘I want to be an animal’, Toco is first seen being taken out for a walk on a leash, and is later seen sniffing at other dogs in a park before rolling around on the floor.

Toco’s antics were seemingly well-received in the video by passers-by and other dogs, who seemed inquisitive above all else.

But despite having built a cult following, Toco is not yet ready to take off his mask.

Toco told MailOnline in May last year: ‘Ever since I was a small child, I wanted to be an animal. I think it is a desire to transform.

‘I’ve thought about it since I can remember.’

The dog-lover said he has hidden his identity and his human face from the world because he doesn’t want to be judged by people he knows. 

‘I don’t want my hobbies to be known,’ he said, ‘especially by the people I work with.’

‘They think it’s weird that I want to be a dog. For the same reason why I can’t show my real face.’

Then late last year, Toco told the Mirror he’s still not yet built up enough confidence to tell some of his closest friends about his hobby.

‘I rarely tell my friends because I am afraid they will think I am weird,’ he said. ‘My friends and family seemed very surprised to learn I became an animal.’ 

Toco said he enjoys ‘doing things that only dogs do’.

In September, Toco first attempted an outdoor walk. He said in a YouTube video documenting the experience he felt ‘nervous and a little scared’.

‘I’m wearing a leash because people are surprised when they see me. I’m very nervous,’ he said in the video.

‘Do you remember your dreams from when you are little? You want to be a hero or a wizard.

‘I remember writing in my grade school graduation book that I wanted to be a dog and walk outside.’

He noted how nice the wind felt in his fur, and rolled in the grass in his backyard.

Toco said he wears sandals to protect his feet and the bottom of the costume from getting dirty, after spending almost £13,000 getting it custom-made.  

His now viral videos have attracted like-minded fans, with one saying: ‘You inspire us to fulfil our dreams too.’

Another wrote: ‘I hope I become the animal I want to be as well. You’re an inspiration to us.’

Japanese company Zeppet, which creates costumes for TV commercials and films, spent 40 days making the outfit.

A spokesman said: ‘Modelled after a collie dog, it reproduces the appearance of a real dog walking on four legs.’ 

When it comes to remote living, this adventurous mom has embraced it wholeheartedly.   

Felicity Aston, 45, went about purchasing a tiny island called Vigur off the west coast of Iceland four years ago and now she is the sole resident along with her husband Gizli and their six-year-old son, Thrainn. 

The Brit, who is a polar explorer and scientist, didn’t disclose how much she purchased the 45 hectare island for, but at the time it was listed for $2.6 million.

The outcrop came with a 10-bedroom house, a number of outbuildings, and full farming rights. 

Some of the more unusual features include Iceland’s only windmill (which is a protected monument dating back to the 1860s), Iceland’s oldest boat built in 1800, and the smallest post office in Europe.

Felicity told DailyMail.com that her main source of income comes from harvesting duck down, and welcoming visitors – either for a brief stop offs or for overnight stays in their guesthouse. 

Vigur, which is around 3km from the mainland, receives around 10,000 visitors a year from passing tourist boats. 

While the windmill and post office are two of the island’s most photographed features, the abundant nature is another lure.

On the marine side of things, seals can often be spotted hauling out on the rocks and there are many whales, particularly humpbacks, in the fjord.

The family also find many fish bones washed up on shore, with some cod skulls proving to be very big in size – sometimes twice the size of a human skull. 

Moving on land, there are around 7,000 breeding eider ducks on the plot, more than 100,000 puffins, a rare colony of Black Guillemot and ‘more nesting Arctic Terns than anyone can count.’

The down harvesting season generally runs throughout June and Felicity describes it as a very labor intensive activity.

‘Eiderdown is picked by hand – lots of hands! 

‘There are approximately 3,500 eider nests on Vigur and they are randomly scattered across the 2km long island, often in well concealed nooks and hard-to-reach places.

‘Our days are spent scrambling and exploring every inch of the island, section by section, seeking out every single nest and collecting whatever eiderdown is not needed. 

‘We will make several rounds before we are done. Fortunately, Vigur is a beautiful and endlessly fascinating place to be outdoors amongst the birdlife and nature.’

Now that the eiderdown season is almost over, Felicity says they can all take a bit of a well-earned break.  

For a change of scenery, the trio take trips to the mainland. The journey in their boat can take anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes depending on the sea conditions. 

From the local fishing village it is a 20-minute drive to the nearest town, Isafjordur which Felicity says has a population of 2,500 and ‘everything you need.’

She revealed: ‘There’s a supermarket, a bakery, a pub, a good place to eat, a hardware shop, a garage and so on. 

‘There is also a hospital but for anything serious patients are transported to Reykjavik the capital of Iceland which is a 35-minute flight away.’

Felicity and Gizli, who were previously living in Reykjavik, found out about Vigur after news of its sale made national press. 

There was a campaign for the island to be bought for the nation but the authorities issued a statement ruling that out. 

It was then on the market for about three years before the couple started to think seriously about ‘whether this might be the future.’ 

Felicity explained: ‘Both me and my husband knew Vigur and we both felt the need for a new challenge, something that we felt had legacy and that we could do together.’

After battling it out against other bidders, Felicity and Gizli discovered their offer had been accepted. 

One of the hardest things about living on the island, Felicity says, are the winters as they are often trapped there for days at a time. 

She revealed ‘We are very comfortable here but the seas around us can be huge – the Denmark Strait is at the end of the fjord, the Arctic Circle a little to our north and we’re much closer to Greenland than to Europe – so getting on and off the island is hard work. 

‘We can’t keep the boat in the water in winter so every time we use it we have to drag it out of the water and up the beach. 

‘It’s hard when we are just three of us. Every trip to the supermarket is a major expedition – it gets tiring!’

In the winter, the fjord doesn’t freeze but ice around the shore drifts up from subsidiary fjords. 

The island also gets enough snow that Felicity can make a cross country ski circuit around the island and the drifts ‘sometimes build up to the roof of the buildings.’  

In the summers, the weather can be warm but Felicity warns that ‘you always need a good coat in the evenings,’ as Iceland has famously changeable weather delivering ‘everything all at once.’ 

While the adventurous couple ‘love’ life on Vigur, they admit that ‘it is not for everyone.’

Felicity concludes, before heading back to welcome the stream of visitors ashore:  ‘There is, I think, a need in us all to find our “place” in the world, somewhere we feel we belong but also somewhere we feel we have contributed or made a difference. 

‘For us, that is Vigur. Being here has taught me that you really don’t need much to be happy. It is amazing what you can do without.

‘Vigur has this incredible peacefulness to it and yet it is a riot of noise and life. Nature is so chaotic and brutal and yet being around it is somehow soothing!

‘Everyone who comes to Vigur recognizes that there is something special here – but none of us have quite put our finger on exactly what it is. You’ll just have to see for yourself.’

An anonymous masked TikToker has lifted the lid on the ‘Wild West’ of the dark web, after claiming to have found a bizarre yet disturbing array of items. 

On the surface, coke cans, iPhones and KSI‘s Prime drinks are quite ordinary things you can widely purchase on the internet.

But influencer Red Mask (@maskred) suggests a trip to the web’s darker side may give different results, having been sent bottles brimming with hotdogs, taped up devices and even creepy dolls. 

‘There’s a lot I can’t show on social media which I imagine would shock and surprise a lot of people,’ he told MailOnline. 

‘It’s like the Wild West where it seems as though anything and everything is available. Some of it may be scams, some of it may never arrive. That’s the risk you take. It’s not a safe place and not somewhere I recommend you do your shopping.’ 

The 30-year-old from East London began unwrapping his dark web parcels on TikTok in January, amassing an audience of more than 150,000 followers in three months.

While many of his purchases are things that are used, eaten or drank in day-to-day life, RedMask claims he would never dream of doing this.

‘There’s a user who sells everything and anything and I thought it would be interesting to try and purchase regular items which always seem to involved something odd,’ he said.

‘A lot of the time things come and seem normal but there is always something off.’

The dark web is a part of the internet that is generally hidden from public view and  not indexed by conventional search engines such as Google.

Accessing this part of the internet requires use of a specific browser such as Tor or i2p which hides your location and browsing activity.

Searching on the dark web is not illegal in itself, but it is home to marketplaces selling both strange and unlawful products including weapons, counterfeit currency and drugs.

RedMask continued: ‘I would recommend you find someone who has experience navigating the dark web before trying to dive right in. 

‘You can open yourself up to having your information hacked and stolen with one wrong move. You can also stumble onto some pretty gnarly stuff that you probably don’t want to see.

‘There is all the things you expect like gore and NSFW content but I think the most unsettling things I’ve come across are the huge databases of hacked passwords and bank details. 

‘I managed to find my own data had been hacked along with millions of other people. This was available to buy for a small price. You wouldn’t believe some of the email passwords that were available.’

iPhones filled with strange photos and phone numbers are among some of the more disturbing purchases Red Mask claims to have made.

In one TikTok, RedMask films himself unboxing a phone wrapped in masking tape alongside a blurry polaroid photo.

World War I tins appearing to contain Nazi medals, a Prime bottle with a written address attached and a ‘haunted’ doll are among numerous other purchases he claims to have made. 

‘I threw the doll out almost immediately as I feel like it must have a tracker or a small camera or something,’ RedMask said. 

‘I get my packages delivered to a few different secure drop off points and when I picked up this doll I had the feeling someone was watching me the whole time. So I made sure to take a different route home just to be sure no one was following.’

Objects filled with beans are a common theme of the purchases made by RedMask, including a Starbucks drink, a coke can and a coconut.

This has sparked some scepticism among followers about how genuine his videos are, with some accusing the parcels of being ‘homemade to get likes’.

Global Security Advisor Jake Moore at ESET also added that there is ‘no proof these videos are even representing genuine dark web purchases’.

He said: ‘The problem with buying anything on the internet is that the buyer has no knowledge with what they are truly buying, let alone confidence or insurance in the sale which can leave people vulnerable. 

‘The seller, however, will know the purchaser’s postal address which makes such purchases one sided and potentially slightly more dangerous.

‘The dark web can be used for staying anonymous online which can be useful for when users are mindful of their privacy. But once payment is included, there is no assurance the item or service will even arrive due to seller anonymity as well as no official platform to complain to.

‘There is also no proof these videos are even representing genuine dark web purchases so people need to be very wary of the videos their algorithms are providing them.’

When approached about the truth of his videos, RedMask said: ‘People should always be wary of the content their algorithms provide them…question everything.’