Chelsea’s week began with an uneasy jolt at Cobham.
During the open section of Tuesday’s training session, Pedro was nowhere to be seen. The Brazilian has been Chelsea’s sharpest attacking blade this season, and his absence cut through the morning mood.
Three goals, three assists, five games. He has carried Chelsea’s threat almost single-handedly at times, most recently bailing them out with a late equaliser against Hull City on Saturday. Take that form out of a squad still trying to find its rhythm, and the anxiety is immediate.
He was not the only notable omission.
Reece James, the club captain and one of Alonso’s key tactical pillars, also missed the main group. So did Moises Caicedo, whose stop-start season has yet to ignite.
James mystery deepens
James’ absence will trouble Alonso most.
The England international has been repurposed in central midfield this season, and he has embraced the responsibility, completing the full 90 minutes in three of Chelsea’s four league games. He finished the draw at Hull looking fresh, no visible sign of discomfort, no late limping, no indication that anything was wrong.
That is what makes Tuesday’s no-show so unsettling. When a player who has become central to the team’s structure suddenly disappears from training without any obvious in-game incident, questions follow quickly inside any club. Chelsea will know how delicate James’ fitness history is, and every missing session carries weight.
Caicedo caution continues
With Caicedo, the story feels different, and more familiar.
Alonso had already set the tone before the Hull match, warning that Chelsea would not rush the Ecuadorian back. The 24-year-old is yet to start a game this season, his campaign repeatedly nudged off course by the same nagging physical issue.
“Not yet, we’ll see for Brentford,” Alonso said last week when asked about the possibility of a return for Friday’s fixture. It was a manager drawing a clear line.
He doubled down on that stance, stressing that the club cannot afford to gamble with Caicedo’s body. The message was blunt: no risks, not now.
The numbers behind it tell their own story. Caicedo missed the opening weekend against Fulham, then managed just 14 minutes in the chaotic 4-3 win over Brighton before the problem flared again. That brief cameo was enough to set him back, ruling him out of the meetings with Arsenal and Leeds.
For a player signed to anchor the midfield and dictate games, his season has barely begun.
A campaign stuck in first gear
Chelsea built much of their summer planning around Caicedo’s energy and control in the middle of the pitch. Without him, Alonso has had to improvise, pushing James into midfield and leaning heavily on Pedro’s form in the final third.
That makes Tuesday’s training sheet particularly stark: no Pedro, no James in the main group, Caicedo still being handled with kid gloves. Three of the intended pillars, all missing at once.
For a squad that has already felt the strain of early-season injuries and disrupted line-ups, it is an unwelcome pattern.
A glimpse of good news
There was at least one bright thread running through the session.
Summer signings Marco Palestra and Jordan Henderson both trained fully with the squad, a sight Chelsea staff have been waiting on. Their integration has been slower than hoped, but this was a clear step towards long-awaited debuts.
If they come through the next few days unscathed, Alonso’s options will finally begin to thicken. Henderson’s experience and Palestra’s fresh legs could ease some of the burden on a midfield currently held together by improvisation and hope.
For now, though, the picture remains finely balanced.
Chelsea head towards Brentford with their standout forward missing from open training, their captain absent from the main group, and their marquee midfielder still stuck on the fringes. The next team sheet will say a lot about how fragile, or how resilient, this season’s plans really are.
