Every word Xabi Alonso said on Chelsea transfers, Welbeck and Henderson moves, Joao Pedro heroics

The full transcript from Xabi Alonso’s post-match press conference after Chelsea’s pre-season friendly victory against Western Sydney Wanderers in Australia

Xabi Alonso will be hoping not every Chelsea match is like that. Scoring goals, yes, but going the other way, definitely not.

The Blues manager saw his side open up their pre-season account with a thrilling 6-4 victory over Western Sydney Wanderers at the Accor Stadium in Sydney. Goals from Dastan Satpayev, Dario Essugo, Jamie Gittens and a hat-trick from Joao Pedro got the west Londoners the win in Australia.

Alonso has now reflected on the game – and here is every word the Spaniard had to say:

FOLLOW OUR CHELSEA FB PAGE! Latest Blues news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page

What did you make of the game?

I think that it has been a very useful friendly that we can learn a lot from today. There were moments that we were struggling to find solutions, and we need to have this, the positives is that we correct them, but there were moments that the game management is something that we can learn from today, when they were pressing so high, it was tough to find the solution from inside, to have different understanding of what’s happening, and to make those changes in the game. It’s something that will happen often in all the games, and the more situations we have that we are struggling and we find the solutions, the better team we will be. For that I think that this friendly is going to be useful for the future, and as well for minutes for everyone, no injuries, the young ones, good experience to come in the tour and to have some minutes, and the senior ones they came on with good impact, with good minutes, so an exciting game for the fans as well.

Do you get an indication that Joao Pedro is hungry after being left out of the Brazil squad?

Very hungry. Joao is really, really determined to have a great season. He wants to, after a great last year, he scored many goals, but I think that he wants to keep scoring more and more. We need to help him, on his own it’s not possible, he will have the players around him, they need to have this hunger to score as well, it’s not just about the striker, but every time that we win and our striker scores, I am happy.

What’s your opinion of Liam Delap? A lot of speculation over his future…

Every player that is involved is doing well, Liam as well. It was 60 minutes when he had to battle hard against the centre-backs, a good few lays off, so he’s doing well and preparing for the season.

Is he lacking confidence?

I see him in a good mood, in a good desire to get proper fitness, proper football feeling good, and he’s doing well.

You’ve been linked with Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck. Does the dressing room need experience?

No, I’m sure that from today until the last day of the transfer [window] there will be a lot of rumours, so to be commenting on all of them. It’s going to be a hard task, but for sure we need proper balance in terms of qualities, in terms of positions, in terms of balance. We want to have a complete squad and we want to make a good team. For that we have an idea, we have a plan and let’s see how we set it up until the start of the Premier League.

You mentioned game management earlier, is that where more experience (new signings) helps?

Everyone has to learn, everyone. It doesn’t matter if you are young, if you are more experienced, this is what happens in the game. This is a quality as well that you need. You can be quick, you can be good at dribbling, but you can have this game intelligence to do the things and from everything we need to be quick because the competition is in just almost a month and we want to get ready for that. We need to manage that, that is so important in football nowadays.

What are your memories of playing against Welbeck during your playing days? He scored against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu…

Many rumours at the moment, so no comment.

What did you make of Dastan Satpayev today and what is the plan for him next season?

Many decisions to be taken during this pre-season. I think it is good that we have the chance to see many players that were not here last year, that they have come, as well with some injuries, but with Geo Quenda and Emmanuel Emegha as well, that they played the first two friendly games that we have closed in Cobham. You see from then and after we will take decisions so it is still early to decide how will be the squad in the first game of the competition. I knew Dastan from last year, from Almaty, and you see that he is a different player. He is a goal threat, he attacks very well this inner channel, close to the striker, coming from outside. For him it is coming from Almaty, from his first experience in the club, he has been good.

Is he physical enough for the Premier League?

He is really strong, really quick, you will be really impressed with him.

Why did Romeo Lavia not play?

He felt something in the hamstring, not a big thing, so hopefully we are expecting him to be fit for Saturday, but there was no point of taking risks today, so that is why Reggie Watson has played these 90 minutes and he has done well.