Alonso confirms what most suspected about Penders’ games this season

Mike Penders played his first competitive game for Chelsea tonight. He won’t have many easier.

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Mike Penders made his first competitive start for Chelsea today against Luton in the EFL Cup.

He couldn’t have had much of an easier time in terms of shots against him, but despite that he was able to impress by looking calm and confident when he was on the ball.

Xabi Alonso praised him after the game:

“Talking about Mike, for sure he will have games with more work. But you could see in some moments that he was under pressure. He plays calm. He has security of his football,” Alonso said in quotes picked up by Football.London,

“He didn’t make many saves, but he’s a great project for the future and for the present as well. So we need to go step-by-step. He’s playing the cup and we need to see.”

That pretty much confirms what we were expecting – that Penders was going to play in the domestic cups. That’s a solid enough amount of games for a season where he is adjusting to a new league and a new level. An injury or suspension to the incoming Emi Martinez could add to that too. Of course, long term he will need to play more to develop fully.

The most awkward question post game was about Enzo Fernandez, who was left out of the squad entirely. Alonso did his best to dodge as much of it as possible.

Chelsea scored two goals and cruised to a win against Luton today, you can see the goals in the clips here.