Chelsea Seek Reset Against Milan in Pre-Season Clash
Two defeats on the bounce, two weeks until the Premier League starts, and now AC Milan under the Jakarta heat. Pre-season is not yet an alarm bell for Chelsea, but it has stopped being a gentle stroll.
Xabi Alonso’s side face the Serie A giants at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium this afternoon, the first leg of a demanding 24-hour double-header that ends in Malaysia against Johor Darul Ta'zim on Sunday. The schedule is brutal; the selection decisions are getting serious.
From early cruise to reality check
Chelsea’s tour had opened like a postcard. Wins over Crawley, Bromley and Western Sydney Wanderers gave Alonso a soft runway into his first summer in charge, the new manager bedding in ideas without much turbulence.
Then came the jolt.
A last-gasp defeat to 10-man Tottenham in Australia snapped the rhythm. Juventus followed in Hong Kong and edged them 1-0, Edon Zhegrova’s superb second-half strike exposing a Chelsea side that still looks unsure of itself at the back.
Two losses, one goal scored across those games, and the sense that the experimentation phase is giving way to something more urgent.
Alonso will not panic – it is pre-season, after all – but he knows momentum matters. With the Premier League kicking off in a fortnight, the Milan game is no longer just about fitness. It is about authority.
Mudryk back in the shop window
The Juventus defeat was overshadowed by one storyline: the return of Mykhailo Mudryk.
Having resolved his anti-doping disciplinary case with the FA, the Ukrainian winger stepped back into the fold and straight into the spotlight. Chelsea now have a fully available player who is also firmly on the market, with multiple clubs tracking him for a loan move.
Jakarta could bring something new – his first start for Chelsea since November 2024. For a club weighing his future, and a coach searching for width and incision, this is a valuable audition.
Battle for the gloves
Another key subplot sits 90 yards further back.
Robert Sanchez made his comeback from injury against Juventus, but the No1 shirt is no longer his by default. Young Belgian goalkeeper Mike Penders has been pushing hard all summer, and the Milan game may offer the clearest signal yet of Alonso’s thinking.
Penders is tipped to start in the predicted XI, a bold call in a fixture of this profile. If Alonso sticks with that plan, it is a statement: reputations are no shield this summer.
Defensive uncertainty and the Colwill question
Chelsea’s defensive fragility has been a theme of Alonso’s brief reign. The manager can point to a revolving cast at the back, with injuries and cautious calls denying him the settled back four every coach craves.
Levi Colwill’s return could change that.
The England defender, who missed most of last season with a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury, was not risked on the uneven surface in Hong Kong, along with Cole Palmer. Both absences were described as precautionary, and both are expected to be in contention in Jakarta.
For Alonso, Colwill is central to any sense of stability. A left-footed organiser who can anchor a high line, he is the defender around whom a coherent unit can be built. The sooner he strings minutes together, the sooner Chelsea’s back line might stop looking like a trial run.
Palmer, Nicoll-Jazuli and the new core
Palmer’s situation is slightly different. He is already one of the first names on the teamsheet when fit, Chelsea’s creative heartbeat and their most reliable attacking reference point. His availability against Milan would instantly raise the technical level of the front four.
Behind him, the summer has thrown up a surprise.
Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli, just 16, has forced his way into the conversation. The Sydney-born England youth international started against Juventus and looked like he belonged, selected ahead of Romeo Lavia and Dario Essugo to partner Moises Caicedo in midfield.
That was not a token gesture. It was trust.
Alonso’s willingness to lean on a Cobham graduate of that age says plenty about the standards Nicoll-Jazuli has set in training. With two games in two countries in as many days, the teenager will almost certainly see more action. The only question is whether it comes from the start or off the bench.
Geovany Quenda is another who has cut through the pre-season haze. The 19-year-old winger, a £40million arrival from Sporting, was one of the few bright sparks in an otherwise flat display against Juventus. Direct, confident, and unafraid to take responsibility, he already looks ready to contribute immediately.
Rotation, but a clear hierarchy
The schedule dictates rotation. Chelsea will not run a full-strength XI into the ground in Jakarta and then fly them to Malaysia to do it again 24 hours later. Alonso has to juggle.
Even so, the pattern is obvious. Milan, at 1pm BST in Indonesia’s national stadium, is the marquee fixture. That is where the spine will be tested.
A near full-strength side is expected, with the predicted lineup reading: Penders; Palestra, Fofana, Colwill, Hato; Lavia, Caicedo; Estevao, Palmer, Mudryk; Joao Pedro.
That XI tells its own story. Youth threaded through experience. Big-money signings asked to justify their billing. Fringe players, like Mudryk, placed under a harsher light.
Johor Darul Ta'zim on Sunday should then offer minutes to those on the edges of the squad, those returning from knocks, and those Alonso still needs to assess before final decisions are made.
Two weeks to convince
Pre-season results are often dressed up, then dismissed. Coaches talk about “minutes in the legs” when they win and “learning opportunities” when they lose. Somewhere between those clichés sits the truth.
Chelsea have already discovered some positives on this tour: Nicoll-Jazuli’s emergence, Quenda’s impact, Penders’ promise. They have also been reminded that a new manager and a new structure do not click into place on command.
Milan in Jakarta will not decide Alonso’s tenure, or Chelsea’s season. It will, though, show how quickly this group can absorb setbacks, how ready they are to harden up before the real thing starts.
With the Premier League looming, there is less room now for soft landings.
