Chelsea seeks momentum in Jakarta as Alonso's era begins

Chelsea’s pre-season tour rolls on to Jakarta with the mood somewhere between curious and concerned. The opposition is Italian again, the setting very different, and Xabi Alonso is still waiting for his new team to show any real pulse.

A flat 1-0 defeat to Juventus in Hong Kong on Wednesday followed the loss to Tottenham last weekend. Two games, no momentum, and a manager already nudging his plans around the board. This is still early July football, but the questions have started to form.

Alonso has spent the opening stretch of his reign experimenting with shapes and partnerships, but the performances have lacked edge. Chelsea have been tidy in spells, yet rarely threatening, and the new manager knows that rhythm in pre-season is not a luxury; it is a habit that needs forming.

Fitness clouds hang over two of his most important young pillars. Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill both missed the Juventus defeat with minor issues, and their availability again hangs in the balance. Neither problem is serious, but each absence strips Chelsea of quality and continuity in key areas: Palmer’s creativity between the lines, Colwill’s composure at the back.

One return, though, changes the tone of this leg of the tour. Mykhailo Mudryk, back on the pitch for Chelsea for the first time in 20 months after his doping ban was lifted last week, stepped into the fray in midweek and instantly became the most intriguing figure in the squad. The winger has not started a game for the club since November 2024. That could change in Jakarta.

For Alonso, Mudryk represents both a tactical weapon and a psychological jolt. The Ukrainian’s raw pace and direct running offer something this pre-season has lacked: jeopardy for defenders, space for others, a sense that something might actually happen when Chelsea cross halfway. Handing him a first start back would not just be a fitness decision; it would be a statement that the reset is real.

Jakarta is also the start of a demanding weekend. This is the first match in a double-header, with Malaysian champions Johor Darul Ta'zim waiting on Sunday. The schedule forces Alonso into a delicate balancing act. Who plays now, who is held back, and who is trusted to go again?

Some will need minutes, others protection. Senior players chasing sharpness, youngsters hoping for a rare audition, and those on the fringes trying to prove they belong in Alonso’s plans when the Premier League kicks off. Every selection call carries a hint of what the manager truly thinks of his squad.

The defeats to Tottenham and Juventus will not define Chelsea’s season, but they have stripped away any illusion that this tour is a relaxed exhibition. The performances have been too subdued, the patterns too disjointed, for Alonso to treat this as a gentle introduction.

Jakarta offers something different: a chance to break the pattern, to find a first real stride, to see whether this Chelsea side can finally look like a team being built rather than a list of names being rotated.

With another game looming in Malaysia and the Premier League drawing closer, this is no longer just about conditioning. It is about identity. How quickly can Alonso find one that sticks?