Why Chelsea's Final Pre-Season Tour Match Might Have Caused More Harm Than Good | OneFootball

Chelsea's pre-season tour of Australia and Asia has now come to an end. Video Credit: Absolute Chelsea

Chelsea ended their pre-season tour with an underwhelming 3-3 draw with Johor Darul Ta’zim in Malaysia on Sunday.

Back-to-back games in two days are unusual even for a pre-season.

After battling AC Milan in Indonesia on Saturday, Chelsea had to face Johor Darul Ta’zim in neighbouring Malaysia 24 hours later.

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso dealt with it by fielding two different starting 11s for these games, and he clearly had the squad to do so.

This allowed Alonso to give more players the opportunity to impress, but it had its downsides.

Liam Delap's brace and an own goal from Antonio Glauder in the 89th minute following a cross from substitute Mykhailo Mudryk ensured the friendly ended in a draw after a fiery affair at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium.

Here are three reasons why Chelsea's final game against JDT may have caused more harm than good for the Blues.

Alonso decided to stick with the 3-4-2-1 formation, which is understandable given the success Chelsea had with it in the 3-0 win over Milan the previous day.

The problem is, however, Alonso did not have a second set of 11 players that suited this structure in his pre-season squad.

Geovany Quenda and Jamie Gittens, who are primarily right and left winger, respectively, had to operate as wingbacks.

Additionally, the two centre midfielders, Dario Essugo and Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli, are box-to-box players.

Unlike Moises Caicedo, who looked comfortable covering for out-of-position wingbacks off the ball, Essugo and Nicoll-Jazuli clearly need more time to adapt to covering the field horizontally, rather than vertically.

The young Argentine was forced to leave the pitch early in the 29th minute after picking up a hamstring injury.

Since sustaining a hamstring tear back in April 2024 when he was still at Boca Juniors, Anselmino has had recurring problems with his thigh.

Last season alone, he had to miss a total of 23 games during his loan spells at Borussia Dortmund and Strasbourg due to hamstring-related issues.

Chelsea’s pre-season schedule is certainly not solely to blame for his injury, but it may have played a part.

Alonso has been very cautious in managing Anselmino, with this game being the centre-back’s first start throughout the pre-season tour.

However, would Alonso have been more reluctant to start the 21-year-old if Chelsea had not had to play two games in two days?

Anselmino is reported to be in line for a potential loan move this summer, and the injury could pull him out of the market.

From the five games on this pre-season tour in Australia and Asia, Chelsea have kept just one clean sheet and conceded 10 goals.

Conceding three against Johor Darul Ta’zim certainly did not help boost the team’s confidence in their defensive line.

Tosin Adarabioyo was left with a big responsibility in this match, playing in the middle of a back three alongside relatively inexperienced Tayo Subuloye and Reggie Watson for the majority of the game.

Watson, in particular, is a midfielder and had to fill in as a defender after Anselmino’s injury.

This shows that the new formation itself is not a magic solution without suitable personnel.