Former defender Nemanja Vidic has shared his thoughts on Chelsea's second defeat under Xabi Alonso during pre-season preparations. The ex-footballer urged fans not to judge the Spanish coach based solely on these friendly results, highlighting some important lessons learned from their match against Juventus.
This is Xabi Alonso's second defeat in pre-season. I'm not going to judge him based on these games, as it is all about experimentation before the new season kicks off.
Despite losing to Juventus, there are valuable lessons to take away. I noticed great understanding between Marco Palistra and Geovany Quenda, which appears to be stronger than with Estevao.
Mikhail Mudrik played a few minutes, but it seems like he hasn't been away for long.
Defensively, we saw Wesley Fofana, Tosin, Aaron Anselmino, Josh Achiampon, and Sarra. I believe that after this game, Xabi Alonso has already identified players who won't be part of his plans for the new season.
Dario Essugu and Romeo Lavia will be essential for Chelsea alongside Moises Caicedo, provided they can stay fit. Jamie Gittins and Mikhail Mudrik will seriously compete for starting positions under Xabi Alonso if they also remain healthy.
Xabi Alonso experimented with a 4-4-2 formation. Though they lost, the experiment was promising. As I've said before, during pre-season games, the focus for any manager should really be on individual performances and team insights, rather than the final score on the board.
