Xabi Alonso has made it clear since the beginning of the season: if a player is not playing regular minutes, he must take the opportunity when presented.
In the case of Estevao Willian, the young Brazilian talent made his first Premier League start of the season in a 2-0 win over Manchester United, which he did.
From Chelsea’s perspective, all the pre-match talk was about Estevao, who was an unused substitute in the Blues’ penalty shoot-out defeat to Liverpool less than 72 hours earlier. Alonso refused to give too much away while fielding countless questions about the 19-year-old.
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In a way, the typical reserved Alonso, who knew all along that Estevao would start against Man United, was too much of a brand.
Estevao did not take his manager’s trust for granted. Asked about Estevao’s performance after the game, Alonso said: “You ask me, but sometimes I can’t give you all the information. [before a match]. We spoke after Tottenham and he knew he was going to play today.
“He got the best response to show that he deserves more, that he’s ready and that’s what he wants from a player, so I’m very happy for him.
“He deserved to enjoy his game, he connected well with the crowd. He was really close to scoring that goal. He fought hard at the end, he was tired and it was a good day for him.”
Estevao was a constant threat to the United defense during his 87 minutes on the pitch. In that time, the Brazil international has attempted more shots (six) than any other Chelsea player – and it’s also the Blues’ joint-most in the Premier League since the start of the season.
While Estevao’s return to the side certainly added another dynamic to Chelsea’s attack, Pedro Neto suffered as a direct result. The Portugal international spent most of the game as a No.9 for the Blues, but struggled to get much involved as the west Londoners saw off the Mancunians.
Neto managed only 35 touches during the 87 minutes he spent on the field and did not create any chances. The 26-year-old managed three shots — two of which were on target — and posted a 0.42 xG. In that sense, he was attractive enough, but Neto, being the player he is, would have liked the ball more.
Elsewhere, Cole Palmer’s performance caused division among Chelsea supporters online. While some were happy with the 24-year-old’s looks, others felt he was still far from his best. But the important thing is that Palmer scores and the Blues secure the three points.
The statistics confirm those who enjoyed the performance of the England national team against their childhood club. Palmer created 1.01xG across the game, created three chances, had 85 touches and completed 19 passes in the final third – more than any other Chelsea player.
Perhaps no one performed better than Romeo Lavia in the infamous royal blue shirt. The Belgian midfielder produced perhaps his best performance since signing for Chelsea in August 2023.
Lavia was everywhere for the Blues. Along with Moises Caicedo, Lavia helped dominate the midfield battle – and that was the key to winning the game. The opening goal of the afternoon at Stamford Bridge underlined this.
Chelsea’s midfield duo found an opportunity to attack Bryan Mbeumo near the midfield line. The United striker was very casual, while Lavia and Caicedo were anything but, and they pressed the Cameroonian to try and win the ball back.
Lavia then waited for the loose second ball and made sure that he would be the only one to win it. That in turn set off Morgan Rogers and the Chelsea striker produced some magic in the final third, a major turning point in the afternoon.
Alonso, who has a soft spot for central midfielders, was delighted with the 22-year-old’s performance: “From a midfielder’s point of view, it was my best, top performance.
“He did a lot of things right, he always connected the defense with the attacking players, he managed to change the game, he made a lot of right decisions, he was very dynamic, competitive.
“So I think not just this game but the last two, three weeks he’s been playing at a really good level and I’m really happy for him and he deserves a lot of credit for his performance today.”
It was by no means a perfect Chelsea display on Saturday and Alonso would have wanted more from his players, especially in the first half. But the manager’s half-assed team talk did the trick. He wanted his players to be more economical in possession and put more thought into the ball after many sloppy spells in the first 45 minutes.
This worked. The red card helped, of course, but Chelsea were within three points before Lisandro Martinez started his nonsense.