Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.
Xabi Alonso said Romeo Lavia had a “mental block” when it came to featuring for a full 90 minutes.
Alonso’s Chelsea ran out 3-0 winners over AC Milan in a pre-season friendly in Jakarta on Saturday.
With Chelsea also in action on Sunday, Alonso named a strong team but had plenty of players clock up a lot of minutes.
That included Lavia, who played the full match.
The midfielder has made 43 appearances for the Blues since joining them from Southampton in 2023. However, he has been taken off in all 25 of the matches he started, and a string of injuries have limited his game time to just 1,858 minutes.
And Alonso feels part of Lavia’s problem has been to do with mentality and a fear of going the distance.
“I’m very happy for him,” Alonso said to Chelsea TV after the game.
“Because he has had a mental block. He was tired, but I said let him play, let him enjoy the 90 minutes. When he finished, he was exhausted. So I think he’s really happy.”
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 8, 2026
Chelsea turned in a dominant display at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, where Joao Pedro scored twice, and Moises Caicedo netted with a sublime volley.
The Blues had 18 shots, getting eight of those on target and accumulating chances worth 2.2 expected goals (xG), while Milan failed to have an attempt on goal.
“In pre-season, we have a few games already and for sure, the more players we have available, the more options we have,” Alonso said.
“I think that we will get better and by the start of the Premier League season we will be ready. But even that will be another starting point in the evolution of the team. So it will be a process that takes months and in every game.”
After rounding out their tour of Asia against Johor Darul Ta’zim, Chelsea have a 15-day break before facing Fulham in their opening Premier League game of 2026-27.
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