Xabi Alonso praised Chelsea winger Estevao Willian for his "good impact" in his apparently planned start in Saturday's 2-0 win over Manchester United.
Alonso raised some eyebrows when he decided to leave Estevao unused on the bench in Chelsea 's Carabao Cup fourth-round defeat to Liverpool on Wednesday.
It was, therefore, a pleasant surprise to many Chelsea fans that the young winger made the starting line-up against Manchester United at the weekend.
Estevao got to play in a familiar right-winger role, while Morgan Rogers played on the left and Cole Palmer operated as a number 10.
While the 19-year-old was unlucky to have two goals disallowed for offside , he was still a bright spark in Chelsea's attack throughout the game, causing a lot of problems for Manchester United's defence.
Interestingly, Alonso revealed that he had always planned to start Estevao in this game.
"We spoke after Tottenham, and he was always going to be playing today," the Chelsea manager said about Estevao in his post-match press conference.
"He has had the best response to show that he deserves more, that he was prepared, and that's what you want from your players.
"I'm very happy for him. He was really close to scoring that goal. He worked really hard; he was tired."
If this is the case, then Alonso truly intended to keep it secret, given that he faced a lot of questions about Estevao's omission after the Carabao Cup loss to Liverpool and kept quiet about it.
That said, some would still argue that Estevao could have helped Chelsea push for more as a substitute at Anfield, considering Alonso still had one more substitution slot available.
Regardless, this time, the decision paid off. Estevao, as many expected, managed to show that he can compete for starting minutes with a strong performance.
Alonso was not surprised, though.
"I had an idea that he could have a good impact today," Alonso added about the Brazil international.
"He showed that. He was a threat; he created many chances that we could score."
Estevao finished the game having created the joint-most chances (three) and three shots on target. He was also dispossessed just once despite having the most touches inside the opposition box.
It remains unclear whether this performance secures him another start against Sunderland next week, but with Joao Pedro still out, Estevao could certainly give the team the additional firepower and creative spark they would need.
The 4-2-3-1 formation Alonso deployed against Manchester United also suits Estevao more, thanks to the extra attacking position, which means he does not have to be in direct competition with Palmer.
This was Estevao's first Premier League start since April, when he was struggling with a hamstring injury that eventually ended his debut campaign early last season.
The teenager must now continue to impress the manager in training, which will hopefully help him earn another start next week, before heading to Singapore for international duty with Brazil.
