Xabi Alonso has shown a faith in youth since becoming Chelsea manager, and there have already been a few successes from the Cobham academy – and one of those is Landon Emenalo.
Tuesday saw Chelsea secure a 6-4 win in their first official pre-season friendly, after behind-closed-doors friendlies against Crawley and Bromley. In three matches, Chelsea have scored an impressive 12 goals.
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What is surprising is that among the players to have played the most minutes in those three matches, 18-year-old Emenalo is right up there. The American-born teen has been starring on Chelsea’s left flank.
Starting on Tuesday, Emenalo was one of Chelsea’s best players. His energy, his work rate, his timing and his physicality were all obvious. With a left-back required, Emenalo is putting himself in the frame.
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Xabi Alonso will love what Landon Emenalo is doing off the pitch
Marc Cucurella needs replacing, and with Jorrel Hato only just back from the World Cup, Emenalo has been effectively replacing the World Cup winner in pre-season. He’s likely to do so against Tottenham.
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But Emenalo’s success this summer is not down to luck. Nizaar Kinsella reports on BBC Sport’s website that Emenalo, son of former Chelsea sporting director Michael, has been studying Chelsea’s new boss.
Kinsella writes that Emenalo has been studying the way Alonso has got his teams to play, in a bid to firstly impress the manager, but also give himself the best chance of catching Alonso’s attention on the pitch.
“He [Emenalo] has carried out extensive video analysis of Alonso’s methods in a bid to impress and, like many other footballers, took part in a post-season training camp organised by his agency.”
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Chelsea have only faced Crawley, Bromley and last season’s rock-bottom side in the Australian A-League. Hardly big competition. But you can only play what is in front of you, and Emenalo has caught the eye.
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Pep Chavarria remains Chelsea’s first choice, but Rayo Vallecano are holding out for a £42.4m fee. Huge, considering Chavarria is 28. Emenalo might just provide Alonso with the solution on the left of defence.
Not throw him in at the deep end and make him Chelsea’s first-choice option, but certainly promote him to the senior side and give him a prominent role. He deserves it, going off his pre-season appearances.
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