Xabi Alonso, Manager of Chelsea, gestures
Xabi Alonso, Manager of Chelsea, gestures
Yes, we are all excited to see the likes of Joao Pedro and new signing Morgan Rogers play for Chelsea this season!
Both players managed to make an impact in Chelsea’s 3-1 victory over Real Sociedad on Saturday in the club’s final game of pre-season.
Pedro scored a brace after Rogers opened the scoring for his new side in just 11 minutes.
However, there could be a couple of surprise packages at Stamford Bridge this season that also end up bringing a lot of excitement to the stands.
Enzo Fernandez reaction on Chelsea return
Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP via Getty Images
Pedro Neto and Marco Palestra will excite Chelsea fans in the wing-back positions
Not many were expecting too much from Marco Palestra when Chelsea signed him from Atalanta earlier in the summer.
Palestra arrived at Chelsea as a 21-year-old with a relatively low profile. But many Blues supporters are now talking about him after some very promising performances in pre-season.
In both the full-back and wing-back positions, Palestra has been a machine, getting up and down the pitch and causing plenty of problems when arriving in the final third.
Towards the end of Chelsea’s pre-season, including Saturday’s game against Real Sociedad, Xabi Alonso has used wing-backs. If he persists with them, that is going to get the best out of Palestra and the Italian is going to continue to excite in that role.
On TalkingPoints, one Chelsea fan is all for Alonso utilising a system that employs wing-backs.
I think it was a breath of fresh air to see wingbacks, for as long as I’ve watched Chelsea, they’ve always had an attack minded fullback. Passes, tricks and flicks went astray but seeing players not knowing when to stick or twist and moving into space seemed so far away from what we’ve been watching for 4 years
Pedro Neto could also make a very similar impact to his teammate. Neto is not a natural wing-back like Palestra, but he has the attributes to play there.
The Portuguese has the pace, work rate and crossing ability to start in the wing-back position, and we have seen that in the games he has played so far under Alonso.
Pedro Neto of Chelsea runs
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Neto is attracting interest from other clubs, but he is not thought to be a player whom Chelsea want to sell.
Alonso will be eager to keep hold of Pedro, especially after seeing what he can do in the wing-back position.
READ MORE:Xabi Alonso’s role in five players being left out of Chelsea’s win vs Real Sociedad
There are much bigger names in the Chelsea squad, but Pedro and Palestra could end up bringing just as much excitement from the wing-back positions as they bomb past defenders and get crosses into the box.