An impressive pre-season performance in Jakarta against Milan this evening resulted in a convincing 3-0 victory for Alonso’s side. Joao Pedro netted twice for the Blues, taking his tally during our summer tour to five, and there was a fine Moises Caicedo volley as we lifted the Indonesia Super Cup 2026.

The Blues played with fluidity throughout the game, with our shape morphing in and out of possession and players rotating positions in the final third. And Alonso believes that adaptability is crucial to any success that comes in the season ahead.

'We want to be versatile in our approach and system,’ he explained. ‘I think we have the players to adapt to different ones because they understand how to support each other.

‘The principles are the same but the movements can change; we need to be unpredictable, we want to be flexible, and we want to have a threat. The system is just a picture; you need to move, rotate and create dynamics [in the team] and that is when the picture becomes a movie.

‘We are not just sticking to one idea and the more options that we have, the better team we will be.'

Today’s game in Jakarta was the penultimate fixture on our tour of Australia and Asia. Our final game takes place tomorrow as we face Johor Darul Ta'zim in Malaysia.

Alonso has been encouraged by the development of his side during pre-season, but he insists progress will be made in the weeks and months ahead.

He said: ‘In pre-season, we have a few games already and for sure, the more players we have available, the more options we have.

'I think that we will get better and by the start of the Premier League season we will be ready. But even that will be another starting point in the evolution of the team. So it will be a process that takes months and in every game.'