Quenda, Emegha and what we learned from Chelsea in Australia

Quenda, Emegha and what we learned from Chelsea in AustraliaImage source, BBC SportByNizaar KinsellaChelsea reporter in SydneyPublishedJust nowChelsea manager Xabi Alonso oversaw an open training session at Sydney's Allianz Stadium on Sunday evening.The ticketed event offered a first glimpse of the Spaniard's methods, with travelling and local media invited to watch ahead of his first match in charge against Western Sydney Wanderers at Accor Stadium on Tuesday.With senior players including Cole Palmer, Joao Pedro and Levi Colwill involved, BBC Sport observed the session and picked out several early indications of what the future might look like under the former Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen manager.Firstly, Chelsea held a centre-circle huddle before moving into a pre-match warm-up and then a rondo, a possession-based exercise in which players stand in a circle while one player in the middle attempts to win the ball.The session then moved on to a series of possession-based exercises, then there was a crossing and finishing exercise. It was notable that Alonso had a large coaching staff working in a well-drilled manner, but there was no preference shown to established stars such as Palmer over players such as Reggie Watson and Mahdi Nichol-Jazuli, the two 16-year-olds in the squad.There were 4,500 fans in attendance and they showed impressive knowledge of the squad, encouraging staff members such as Willie Isa and Calum McFarlane to wave to them. There was also a contingent of Kazakh fans present to support new striker Dastan Satpaev.Injury updateChelsea winger Geovany Quenda is expected to return from a minor injury during the club's tour of Asia next week.The 19-year-old has been training under new head coach Alonso but was not included in the 27-man squad that travelled to Sydney after suffering a minor setback.He joins fellow summer signing Emmanuel Emegha on the sidelines, although the striker is facing a longer spell out. The Netherlands intern...