Chelsea's Tour: Alonso Faces Pressure in Jakarta Friendly

Chelsea’s Asian tour has barely begun and already feels like an examination. Another one arrives in Jakarta.

After a flat 1-0 loss to Juventus in Hong Kong on Wednesday, coming on the back of defeat to Tottenham last weekend, Xabi Alonso walks into this latest friendly with more questions than answers. The scorelines themselves are not catastrophic in pre-season terms, but the patterns will bother him: blunt in attack, loose in rhythm, still searching for a clear identity.

This is where the tweaking continues.

Alonso under early scrutiny

The new Chelsea head coach is still in the experimental phase, rotating systems and personnel, nudging players into different zones to see who can carry his ideas. Pre-season is supposed to be forgiving. The noise around Chelsea rarely is.

Two defeats from two against major opposition have underlined how much work remains before the Premier League kicks off. The build-up play has looked hesitant, the press not yet fully joined up. Jakarta, against another Italian test, offers a chance to sharpen the edges rather than simply chase a result.

Alonso knows he needs more than just fitness data from this tour. He needs signs of momentum.

Injury doubts and a long-awaited return

Team selection in Indonesia will again be shaped by medical reports. Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill both missed the midweek defeat to Juventus with minor injuries, and doubts linger over whether either is ready to be thrown back in.

Palmer’s absence strips Chelsea of their most inventive link in the final third, the player who so often stitched together attacks last season. Colwill’s situation is different but just as significant: a left-sided defender who offers balance and composure, exactly the traits Alonso wants at the back.

The brighter storyline belongs to Mykhailo Mudryk. The winger finally returned to action in Hong Kong, his first appearance in Chelsea colours for 20 months after his doping ban was lifted last week. It was only a step off the bench, but it carried the weight of a restart.

Now comes the next question: does he start?

Alonso could hand Mudryk his first Chelsea start since November 2024, a symbolic moment in a setting far from west London. His pace, direct running and sheer hunger to make up for lost time could give this side a different dimension on the flanks. For a team short on spark in recent outings, that matters.

A double-header and a selection puzzle

Today’s match is only half the job. Chelsea face Johor Darul Ta'zim in Malaysia on Sunday, turning this into a weekend double-header that forces Alonso into careful planning.

He cannot go full throttle in both games. Not in this heat, not at this stage of pre-season.

So the choices become more revealing. Who plays in Jakarta and who is held back for Johor? Which players are trusted to build understanding now, and which are managed more cautiously with the Premier League looming?

Some will be asked to go again quickly, a sign of their importance in Alonso’s thinking. Others may find themselves “on ice” until Sunday, a quieter but telling indication of where they sit in the pecking order.

More than just another friendly

On paper, it is only another tour stop: another stadium, another opponent, another night in a different shade of blue. On the training ground and in the dressing room, it feels more pointed.

Chelsea need rhythm. They need combinations that stick, a defensive structure that doesn’t creak at the first sign of pressure, and at least a glimpse of fluency in the final third. They also need to see which players can carry Alonso’s demands when the legs are heavy and the conditions unforgiving.

Jakarta will not decide their season. But for a new manager, a squad under scrutiny and a club desperate to move forward, it might just show how quickly this project is really taking shape.