Alonso: Chelsea’s first friendly win ‘useful for the future’

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Xabi Alonso has taken a lot of lessons from his first match in charge of Chelsea, noting that his side need to manage games better.

Chelsea came out on top in a 10-goal thriller against Western Sydney Wanderers in a chaotic pre-season friendly, ensuring Alonso walked away from his first game with a win.

The Blues had to come from behind three times, with Joao Pedro coming off the bench in the second half to score a nine-minute hat-trick to secure the victory.

Alonso initially started with an inexperienced line-up before bringing on his more recognisable names in the second half, but Chelsea still showed a threat in attack, racking up 25 shots worth 3.2 expected goals (xG).

However, they also gave up 20 attempts from Western Sydney at the other end, while the Australian side also managed 37 touches in the opposition box and 52 final-third entries.

While Alonso was generally pleased with what he saw, he acknowledged there was still plenty to improve across the rest of their pre-season tour.

“I think that this friendly is going to be useful for the future,” said Alonso. “There were moments in the game that we were struggling to find solutions, and we need to have this experience.

“The positive is that we corrected them, but these moments of game management are something we can learn from.

First pre-season minutes in the tank for the Blues. pic.twitter.com/FC9iNXs3mU

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) July 28, 2026

“When they were pressing so high, it was tough to find a solution from inside. We have to have a different understanding of what’s happening and try to make those changes in the game, as it’s something that will happen often.

“The more situations we have where we are struggling, and we find the solutions, the better team we will be. So, for that, this friendly will be useful.

“So, no injuries, the young players having a good experience of coming on the tour and playing minutes, the senior players came on for good minutes and made a good impact, and it was an exciting game for the fans as well.”

One player who was not given any minutes at Accor Stadium was Romeo Lavia, which was a precautionary decision from Alonso.

“He felt something in the hamstring,” Alonso explained.

“Not a big thing and, hopefully, we are expecting him to be fit for Saturday [against Tottenham]. But there was no point in taking risks, which is why Reggie Watson played 90 minutes and did well.”

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