Chelsea’s Asian Tour Faces Pressure After Two Defeats

Chelsea’s Asian tour has barely begun and already carries an edge. Two games, two defeats, and another Italian examination now waits in the heat of Jakarta.

Xabi Alonso’s start in the Chelsea dugout has been more scratchy notebook than smooth blueprint. A flat 1-0 loss to Juventus in midweek, tagged on to defeat against Tottenham the previous weekend, has underlined how much work lies ahead before the Premier League curtain goes up. Patterns are forming, but not yet in the way Chelsea supporters would like.

This stop in Indonesia offers no respite, only another chance to experiment under pressure. Alonso will keep prodding and reshaping, looking for a spark, a structure, a front line that clicks. Pre-season is supposed to be forgiving. The mood around Chelsea means it already feels like an examination.

Fitness clouds still hang over two key figures. Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill sat out the Juventus defeat in Hong Kong with minor issues, and their involvement here remains uncertain. Palmer is the creative hinge of this side, Colwill a cornerstone of the back line; even in July, their absence changes the tone of any rehearsal.

There is, however, one storyline that cuts through everything else.

Mykhailo Mudryk is back.

After 20 months out, his doping ban lifted only last week, the winger finally stepped onto the pitch again for Chelsea in midweek. It was a tentative reintroduction, but the symbolism was huge. Jakarta could now bring his first start for the club since November 2024, a date that feels like a different era.

Mudryk’s pace, his directness, his sheer urgency on the ball offer something this pre-season has sorely lacked. If Alonso wants to jolt this tour into life, handing the Ukrainian a starting shirt would be an obvious way to do it.

Complicating everything is the schedule. Today’s fixture in Jakarta is only the first half of a demanding weekend double-header. Chelsea face Johor Darul Ta'zim in Malaysia on Sunday, which forces Alonso into a delicate balancing act. Who plays now? Who is wrapped in cotton wool for tomorrow? Who can cope with minutes in both?

Some will be asked to go again. Others will be parked for the second leg of this Asian swing. Those choices will offer the clearest hint yet of Alonso’s early hierarchy: who he trusts, who he wants to see more from, who is still fighting just to stay in the conversation.

This is still pre-season, on paper. But with defeats already stacking up and the Premier League looming, Jakarta feels like more than a friendly backdrop. It feels like a test of how quickly Alonso can turn theory into a team that looks ready for the real thing.