Chelsea Seek Momentum in Jakarta as Alonso's Ideas Take Shape

Chelsea’s pre-season tour reaches Jakarta with a familiar theme: another Italian opponent, another early test of Xabi Alonso’s ideas, and a growing need for momentum.

A flat 1-0 defeat to Juventus in Hong Kong on Wednesday followed the loss to Tottenham last weekend, leaving the new head coach still searching for a performance that looks like a blueprint rather than a trial run. The results themselves do not yet wound, but the pattern will irritate him. Chelsea have had the ball, had their moments, yet rarely looked ruthless. That has to change, and quickly.

Jakarta offers the next laboratory. Another Italian challenge, another chance for Alonso to adjust the angles of his pressing, his build-up, his front-line combinations. He has spent the opening weeks testing structures; now he needs to see some conviction. Pre-season or not, players understand when standards are being set.

The squad picture remains complicated. Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill are still doubts after missing the Juventus defeat with minor injuries. Neither absence is expected to linger into the season, but each lost session matters when a new manager is drilling patterns and partnerships. Palmer is central to Chelsea’s attacking identity, Colwill to the defensive one. Their fitness shapes how brave Alonso can be with his line and his press.

One return, though, changes the tone. Mykhailo Mudryk is back.

The winger stepped onto the pitch in midweek for his first Chelsea appearance in 20 months, days after his doping ban was lifted. It was a cameo framed by rust and raw emotion rather than sharpness, but it marked the end of a long, lonely spell on the outside. In Jakarta, he could go one step further: a first Chelsea start since November 2024.

That possibility gives this friendly a different edge. Mudryk’s pace and direct running have always hinted at a weapon Chelsea never quite learned to use. Now he re-enters a squad under new management, in a system that might finally suit his instincts. Alonso will be tempted to throw him in from the outset, if only to see how quickly the Ukrainian can reconnect with the rhythm of elite football.

This match is also only half the assignment. Chelsea face Johor Darul Ta'zim in Malaysia on Sunday, turning the weekend into a double-header that will test both fitness and depth. Alonso must split minutes, protect key legs and still push for a performance that feels like progress. Some players will get their audition in Jakarta, others will be held back for Johor, and a few will be asked to carry heavy workloads across both.

Selection, then, becomes a story in itself. Who does Alonso trust to respond immediately after back-to-back defeats? Who is managed carefully with an eye on the Premier League opener rather than the pre-season schedule? And which fringe players sense that this, in the humidity of Jakarta, might be their best chance to force their way into the manager’s plans?

Chelsea’s tour has moved from curiosity to scrutiny. The results may not yet count, but the impressions do. Jakarta offers no trophies, no points, no grand declarations.

It does offer something else: a chance for Alonso’s Chelsea to look like a team with a clear direction, rather than one still shuffling through ideas in the dark.