5 Things We Learned As Chelsea Secure 6-4 Pre-Season Win Over Western Sydney Wanderers | OneFootball

Chelsea secured a 6-4 win over Western Sydney Wanderers on Tuesday in the first friendly in their pre-season tour of Australia and Asia as super-sub Joao Pedro hogged the limelight.

New Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso made the bold decision to field a starting 11 of mostly academy players, along with Tosin Adarabioyo and Liam Delap.

Despite Dastan Satpayev's early opener, Chelsea looked uncomfortable dealing with the hosts' pressing, especially in the first half.

As a result, Western Sydney Wanderers retook the lead three times during the match, which was a result of sloppy errors from the Blues.

It took Dario Essugo and Jamie Gittens' equalisers for Chelsea to stay in the game before a hat-trick from substitute Joao Pedro sealed the win.

Xabi Alonso made wholesale changes in the second half and it proved influential. REUTERS/Hollie Adams

Here are five things we could learn from Alonso's first pre-season game at Chelsea on this tour.

Alonso opted for a back-four formation

There have been questions about whether Alonso would use a back-three system at Chelsea, considering the success he had with it at Bayer Leverkusen, but this match suggests it may not be the case.

Alonso fielded his team in a 4-2-3-1 formation, which has been Chelsea’s primary structure in the last couple of years.

This means less adjustment is needed for the players, but it may also prove difficult to make significant improvement without significant changes.

Satpayev has a brilliant start at Chelsea

The teenager will only turn 18 in a couple of weeks, which is when his move will be made official, but it is safe to say that he did well to impress as one of the new members of the squad.

Playing in a wider role than he normally does on the left wing, the former Kairat striker opened the scoring for Chelsea from a counter-attack situation.

He did really well to stay onside, outpaced two defenders, and was composed enough to beat the goalkeeper with a finish to the near post.

Shaky when playing from the back

Similar to his recent predecessors, it is clear that Alonso wants his team to build their attack from the defensive line.

This led to Satpayev’s opening goal, but on many occasions, this resulted in losing possession in dangerous areas.

While most of these were in the first 64 minutes, before Alonso introduced many of the regular starters as substitutes, Western Sydney Wanderers’ fourth goal stemmed from another Chelsea error when playing from the back.

The Brazil international finished the game with a hat-trick and an assist as a substitute.

His omission from Brazil’s World Cup squad this summer may prove a blessing in disguise for Chelsea because Joao Pedro looks fresh and raring to go heading into the season.

There remains competition for Chelsea’s backup striker spots, but the starting number nine should be very clear.

Joao Pedro was back with a bang for Chelsea. REUTERS/Hollie Adams

Chelsea are still left with a left-back problem

Following Marc Cucurella’s transfer to Real Madrid, Chelsea must assign a new starting left-back for the new season.

Landon Emenalo started in this position in this game, before Aaron Anselmino, who is primarily a centre-back, replaced him in the second half.

On the other hand, Jorrel Hato, who should be the likeliest candidate to replace Cucurella in the starting 11, was left out of the matchday squad since he started the pre-season late after representing the Netherlands in the World Cup.