Chelsea head coach, Xabi Alonso, has explained why he played three teenagers against Brentford in the Premier League on Friday.
Alonso watched as Brentford defeated Chelsea 3-0 at the Gtech Community Stadium.
The former Real Madrid manager opted to bring on youngsters
Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli (16), Geovany Quenda (19) and Estevao Willian (19) in the second half of the encounter as Brentford claimed all three points.
Asked at his post-match interview why he brought on three teenagers, especially a 16-year-old Nicoll-Jazuli rather than more experienced players on the bench, Alonso said as quoted by Football London, “Yeah, with 2-0 we brought Mahdi [Nicoll-Jazuli] because he has great energy, that at the moment in the middle we were short of numbers.
“The other ones are Geo [Quenda] and Estevao. Yeah, because they have been trained well, they are part of the squad,” he said.
Chelsea will now face Bournemouth in their next Premier League match at Stamford Bridge after the international break.
EPL: Why I played 3 teenagers against Brentford – Chelsea coach, Alonso