Mauricio Pochettino kick-started his Chelsea reign with a 5-0 win over Wrexham in front of a sell out crowd in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Wrexham mania took over The University of North Carolina but the League Two outfit were, as expected, dominated by the Premier League giants.
It’s very early days for both sides and Pochettino is definitely getting used to his new team amid the summer rebuild.
The four matches to come as part of Chelsea’s pre-season US tour will also prove bigger tests.
Here, Mail Sport takes a look at five things we learned from Chelsea’s opener.
Chelsea fans turned out in force for Mauricio Pochettino’s first game in charge in the USA
Maatsen finds his position
Ian Maatsen, 21, is typically a left back but Pochettino has moved him higher up the pitch to left wing and in just his second appearance for the club it proved to be an inspired decision.
The youngster opened the scoring in only the third minute with a cool, slotted first-time finish and then moved in from the left flank to score his second.
He picked up the ball on the edge of the box and injected some pace and creativity to Chelsea’s attack by playing a one-two with Carney Chukwuemeka.
After losing his marker he hit the return pass past Ben Foster first time with his left foot into the bottom corner.
He seems to suit the attacking third of the pitch – he showed that at Burnley last season. Whether he will stay at Stamford Bridge and play a role this season remains to be seen.
Ian Maatsen scored both of Chelsea’s first-half goals against Wrexham in North Carolina
Pochettino needs patience (and players!)
Just five of the starting line-up had previously turned out for Chelsea prior to Thursday morning’s match as the Pochettino project continues to take shape.
There has already been a massive overhaul this summer with 13 players departing and six new faces coming in.
Wrexham and former England goalkeeper Foster had more appearances than the whole Blues starting XI combined.
Pochettino pointed out that work is ongoing to try to bring in the right players for his plan but after such big turnover he’s going to need patience and time to fully implement his philosophy.
Just six midfielders are part of the travelling party to the United States and that is an area of concern with Andrey Santos, Conor Gallagher and Enzo Fernandez the likely starters at the moment with a lot of inexperienced players behind them following the departures of Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante, Mason Mount… and the rest.
Mauricio Pochettino needs patience and time to implement his philosophy with such turnover
Santos holds the midfield
There were encouraging signs from Santos in his first match for the club.
After being loaned back to the club where he came from – Brazilian outfit Vasco de Gama – for the second half of last season following his £18million arrival in January – he looked more than comfortable in his new surroundings.
He was disciplined in central defensive midfield role and was never shy to get on the ball to try to dictate play.
The 19-year-old was seen as a wonderkid in his homeland of Brazil and the Blues beat Manchester City and Newcastle to his signature.
Pochettino worked with Santos on his positional play in a tactically-focused open training session 24 hours before and he responded to what was asked of him.
It could turn out to be a very shrewd bit of business.
There were encouraging signs from Andrey Santos in his first match for Premier League outfit
Jackson and Nkunku look bright
Chelsea fans saw their new striking options for the first time in a competitive tie and it was Nicolas Jackson, signed from Villarreal for £32m on a whopping eight-year deal, who started from the off.
He led the line for the Blues in the first half with RB Leipzig’s £53m striker Christopher Nkunku replacing him at the break.
Jackson proved he is lightning quick as he left Wrexham captain Ben Tozer for dead to set up Maatsen’s early opener.
He glided past the central defender with ease but then also made the right decision to lay the ball off to his teammate to his left rather than shooting himself.
Nkunku struggled to get into the game but showed his clinical touch when given the chance, rounding the goalkeeper for Chelsea’s fourth of the night.
Chelsea’s new striker Nicolas Jackson has got raw pace and proved threat during the first half
Cucurella gets two chances
The left back, who expressed his desire to stay at Chelsea, and looked ready to put a difficult debut season with the club behind him when speaking to the media ahead of the pre-season opener.
He had a full 45 minutes at left back in the first half before being replace by Ben Chilwell and then got a chance to show what he can do from centre back.
In an unusual move he was reintroduced with around 15 minutes to go, taking Trevor Chalobah’s place in central defence.
He wasn’t truly tested but did make a strong challenge when one on one late on.
Chelsea left back Marc Cucurella played at left back and centre back during the match
More Stories
Furious Lions star Dayne Zorko claims AFL has legalised attacks on players’ genitals after rival who left him with ‘bruised’ groin got off with just a fine
Manchester United 2-3 Borussia Dortmund: Errors in defence lead Ten Hag’s men to defeat in Las Vegas
LeBron James ‘kept telling diners how grateful he was’ to be at dinner with son Bronny, 18, just four days after his cardiac arrest in basketball practice