"He Tried" - Xabi Alonso Admits He Had Hoped Chelsea Defender Could Feature vs Brentford

Xabi Alonso said Chelsea captain Reece James could not recover in time for Friday’s Premier League clash at Brentford.

There were several notable absences in Chelsea’s team sheet in the west London derby.

James and Joao Pedro are the headline-grabbing absentees, given how pivotal they have been for the team this season, but Marco Palestra, Emmanuel Emegha, and Moises Caicedo also did not make the list as hoped.

On a more positive note, James’ injury is at least not a bad one, according to Alonso.

“He had a little injury in his hamstring,” the Chelsea manager told Sky Sports in his pre-match interview when asked about James’ omission against Brentford.

“He tried, and we waited until this morning, but he couldn’t make it.

“Now we have enough time to prepare for the next one, but he was just a few days short of recovering.”

James’ absence meant Alonso had to appoint someone else to wear the captain’s armband, and it went to fellow Cobham graduate Levi Colwill.

The 26-year-old right-back has struggled with injuries for several years now, mostly hamstring-related issues. He even underwent surgery back in December 2023 in an attempt to fix his recurring hamstring injury.

It has not worked wonders. James has still had at least three hamstring injury spells and missed over 30+ games for Chelsea and England since the surgery.

That said, Chelsea have cautiously managed his minutes in the last couple of seasons, which has helped him get relatively healthier.

Amid James’ absence, Jordan Henderson entered the picture and got the nod to make his Chelsea debut as a starter in midfield, alongside Valentin Barco, against his former club.

Henderson fractured his arm during the World Cup, and despite having returned to training in the last few weeks, he had to patiently wait for the green light to resume playing. It finally came.

Similarly, Alonso decided against taking risks with Joao Pedro, who is reported to have sustained a knee injury.

“Joao we tried, but we expect to use the international break for him to be back in the next game against Bournemouth,” Alonso explained.

Based on his comments, both James and Joao Pedro are expected to be back when Chelsea return to action against Bournemouth after the international break on October 10.

The Chelsea striker recently withdrew from international duty with Brazil for the upcoming international break because of his injury. England manager Thomas Tuchel also left Reece James out of his latest Three Lions squad, which includes Chelsea duo Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers.

Alonso did not explain Caicedo, Palestra, and Emegha’s absences, but it is safe to assume that they were not fully ready to play as well.

Palestra’s omission is a bit of a surprise, though, given he had returned to training earlier this week. He is reported to have an issue with his quad. Italy manager Roberto Mancini has left him out of his latest squad.

Caicedo and Emegha, on the other hand, are managing a calf and a hamstring injury, respectively.