This Chelsea star can give Alonso tactical option he never had at Leverkusen or Madrid | OneFootball

Joao Pedro has won Chelsea’s player of the season and looks primed to go from strength to strength under Xabi Alonso.

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Umir Irfan’s study for the BBC of Xabi Alonso’s tactical history noted a weakness in the new Chelsea coach’s setup.

In games against Bayern Munich and the Europa League final against Atalanta, Alonso’s Bayern Leverkusen struggled when facing teams which went man for man against them intensely. Leverkusen didn’t have the attacking players who could hold the ball up.

The good news is that Chelsea have just the man for job.

Chelsea stars give Alonso new tactical options

“Notably, going long in both these games failed to result in big chances for Alonso’s side because the front line struggled to make the ball stick – something Joao Pedro is capable of doing more so than Chelsea’s wide players,” Irfan noted.

It’s been a long time since we had a striker we both trust to score goals and to link play effectively. If JP can keep doing that – and Emmanuel Emegha can develop similar skills as his backup – we’ll really be onto something.

In other news…

Irfan noted another difference in the personnel that Alonso will have available – Cole Palmer is the natural Florian Wirtz replacement, but their skillset is different in one key way.

Geovany Quenda has yet to play a minute for Chelsea but some are already speculating about how he might be used next season for Alonso.

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