Mauricio Pochettino began 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 on the University of North Carolina but the League Two side were expectedly dominated on the pitch by the Premier League giants.
It’s very early days for both sides and Pochettino is certainly getting used to his new team amid a summer rebuild.
The four matches that come as part of Chelsea’s pre-season US tour will also prove big tests.
Here, Mail Sport looks at five things we learned from Chelsea’s opener.
Chelsea fans turn out for Mauricio Pochettino’s first game in charge in the US
Matsen found his location
Ian Matsen, 21, is normally a left back but Pochettino moved him up the pitch on the left wing and it proved to be an inspired decision in his second appearance for the club.
The youngster opened the scoring in just the third minute with a superb, slotted first-time finish and then darted in from the left to score his second.
He picked up the ball on the edge of the box and played a one-two with Carney Chukwuemeka to inject some pace and creativity into Chelsea’s attack.
After losing his marker he flicked a first-time left-footed return pass past Ben Foster into the bottom corner.
He seems suited to 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 Mattsen scored both of Chelsea’s first-half goals against Wrexham in North Carolina
Pochettino needs patience (and the players!).
Just five of the starting line-up turned out for Chelsea ahead of 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 arriving.
Wrexham and former England goalkeeper Foster made more appearances than the Blues’ starting XI combined.
Pochettino noted that work is underway to try to bring in the right players for his plans but after such a huge turnover, patience and time are needed to fully implement his philosophy.
Only six midfielders are part of the team traveling to the United States and that is a concern for Andre Santos, Connor Gallagher and Enzo Fernandez, who at the moment have a lot of inexperienced players behind them after the departure of Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante, Mason Mount… and the rest.
Mauricio Pochettino needs patience and time to implement his philosophy with such turnover
Match Facts
Chelsea starting XI (4-2-3-1): Coming (Bergstrom 76); Gusto (Gilchrist 45), Chaloba (Cukurella 84), Humphreys, Cukurella (Chilwell 45); Andre Santos (Hall 63), Casadei (booked), Chukwuemeka (Gallagher 45), Moreira (Angelo 45), Jackson (Nkunku 45), Matsen (Sterling 45).
Substitutes not used: Kepa, Silva.
Wrexham starting XI (3-5-2): Foster (Lenton 45), O’Connell (Hayden 45), Tozer (Clayworth 62), O’Connor (Boyle 45); Ford (Burnett 45), Jones (Young 62), Cannon (McAlinden 62), Lee (Davies 62), Mendy (McFadjan 45); Dalby (Waters 62), Mullin (Palmer 62).
Option not used: none
Santos holds the midfield
There were encouraging signs from Santos in his first match for the club.
The club he came from – Brazilian outfit Vasco da Gama – after his £18million arrival in January in the second half of last season – looks more than comfortable in his new surroundings.
The central defensive midfield was disciplined and never shy of taking the ball to try to dictate play.
The 19-year-old was seen as a wonder kid in his native 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 ago and he responded to what was asked of him.
It can turn out to be a very tricky bit of business.
There were encouraging signs from Andre Santos in his first match for the Premier League outfit
Jackson and Kunku look brilliant
Chelsea fans saw their new exciting options in the competitive tie for the first time and it was Nicholas Jackson, signed from Villarreal on an eight-year deal for £32m, who started from the off.
He led the line for the Blues in the first half before RB Leipzig’s £53m striker Christopher Nkunku replaced him at the break.
Jackson proved he is lightning fast as he left Wrexham skipper Ben Tozer for dead to set up Mattsen’s early opener.
He eased past the central defender but then made the right decision to pass the ball to his team-mate’s left instead of shooting himself.
Nkunku initially struggled to get into the game but showed his clinical touch when given the chance, scoring Chelsea’s fourth goal of the night.
Chelsea’s new striker Nicholas Jackson had raw pace in the first half and proved a threat
Puppies get two chances
The left-back, who expressed his desire to stay at Chelsea and was set to have a solid debut season with the club when speaking to the media ahead of the pre-season opener, returned after being subbed off.
He played the full 45 minutes at left back in the first half before being replaced by Ben Chilwell and then got a chance to show what he can do at centre-back.
In an unusual move he was reintroduced after about six minutes, replacing Trevo Chaloba in central defence.
Pochettino has confirmed that Chalobah has felt his Achilles and therefore needs to come off.
Cucurella was not really tested in new areas but made a strong challenge when needed. Wesley Fofana may need to use him again in the position if Chelsea are not strong following ACL surgery.
Chelsea left-back Mark Cucurella came off the bench after being subbed off after half-time
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