Alonso’s Chelsea complete globe‑trotting pre-season tour with tactical work, team bonding and two wins
Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea concluded a pre-season tour that visited Sydney, Hong Kong, Jakarta and finished in Iskandar Puteri, Malaysia on Sunday, winning two of five matches on the trip. The campaign combined extensive travel with targeted training and tactical sessions overseen by the new manager.
The club spent 56 hours travelling and covered 24,561 miles by plane on a schedule organised before Alonso’s appointment in May, travelling further and longer than any other Premier League club and almost twice as far as last season’s US tour under Enzo Maresca. Chelsea used an Airbus A340 for parts of the journey, paused at Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake, Sri Lanka, and switched players onto Sydney time while encouraging sleep after meals to mitigate jetlag. Before departure they had already completed significant fitness work at Cobham, including gruelling double sessions.
Alonso projected a hands-on coaching style throughout the tour, frequently demonstrating passing in training, encouraging players such as Estevao Willian to cross with his weaker right foot and finishing a session with a 25‑yard half‑volley into the net. He set a tone of high standards off the pitch too, running off jetlag at a pace reported as four minutes 30 seconds per kilometre and taking part in a staff match in which he was on the winning side and “set up most of the goals.”
Players reacted to Alonso’s on-field presence. England defender Levi Colwill confessed he was “jealous” of how well Alonso could “spray balls around.” Midfielder Romeo Lavia said: “The manager was a great player, one of the best of his generation. You see that when he steps into a training session. He starts pinging balls around in a way only those who have played at the top level can. It's a privilege to be working with him, especially as a midfielder.” Alonso summed up the fortnight by saying: “We have learned a lot in these two weeks, not just on the football side but on the personal side in getting to know each other.”
Off-pitch bonding and local engagement featured across venues: training took place at Sky Park in Sydney with an open session at Allianz Stadium, the squad stayed at a hotel overlooking Darling Harbour with leisure facilities including table tennis and a spa, and younger players were given time for cinema and boat trips. Les Kiss, Australia’s rugby union head coach and a Chelsea supporter, visited and exchanged shirts with Alonso, while goalkeeper Robert Sanchez appeared on breakfast TV during the trip. Sydney-born 16‑17-year-old Mahdi Nicoll‑Jazuli emerged as a breakout performer and attracted interest from the Australian media; he has links to the city and plays for England Under-17s.
The tour’s Asian leg saw heightened local attention in Hong Kong, where the squad stayed at the Kerry Hotel and faced heavy fan interest that required increased security; players such as Cole Palmer and Colwill were recognised while shopping after sustaining knocks against Tottenham. New signing Danny Welbeck joined the group in Hong Kong, alongside Mykhailo Mudryk, Mike Penders, Geovany Quenda and Gabriel Slonina. Mudryk’s arrival was unplanned; Chelsea treated him as a full member of the squad after a 20‑month absence following a positive test for the banned substance meldonium, and he made a substitute comeback against Juventus before providing a late assist in a 3-3 draw with Johor Darul Ta'zim.
Tactical work intensified as the tour progressed, particularly after the arrival of new set-piece coach Austin MacPhee, who led sessions with a notepad while junior coaches acted as blockers and the team practised attacking patterns. Joao Pedro was the tour’s standout goalscorer, netting twice in a 3-0 win over AC Milan to bring his total to six goals in as many games across pre-season fixtures. The spell also featured a 1-0 defeat by Juventus at Kai Tak Stadium on a poor pitch and experiments with wing-backs in a back three — a system the article links to Alonso’s previous success — while Chelsea recorded two goals from corners in the week after MacPhee joined.
Chelsea now return to two weeks of preparation at Cobham before hosting Alonso’s former club Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, 15 August, and opening their Premier League campaign away at Fulham on Monday, 24 August.
