What Nicolas Jackson told Marc Cucurella before classy Chelsea goal as Levi Colwill message sent

football.londontakes a look at the talking point to arise from Chelsea's friendly against Brighton in Philadelphia as the Blues record their second win over pre-season

When Chelsea went behind to Danny Welbeck's goal it felt, despite being a friendly, like a reality check for the Blues after their 5-0 win over Wrexham. Brighton are a Premier League side who showed they were better than the Blues on two occasions last term who demand respect.

It will have ended close than than the Blues hoped at 4-3 but already the summer is moving ahead on a more positive trajectory than 12 months before. with that football.london takes a look at some of the talking points to arise from the win over the Seagulls.

Goalscorers galore

In the last 12 months and perhaps even longer it's rarely felt like Chelsea would be able to manage one goal so to score four, even in a pre-season friendly, feels like quite the achievement. With nine in two games, Chelsea have already managed almost a quarter of the goals they racked up in the Premier League in the whole of last term.

The forward said following the game: "When I have space I will run into the space, I always tell them [my teammates]."

It's a promising start, and Jackson was sure to reflect on what he had done well. The Senegal international spent time after the game reflecting with both Mudryk and Cucurella about their combinations.

Still, it's hard not to dream of Nkunku and Jackson starting together.

The kids stand a chance

Much has been made about the make-up of Chelsea's squad that has travelled to the USA. There is little getting away from the number of players who are 21 or under and who face uncertain prospects of making Chelsea's Premier League squad at the start of the season.

However, Malo Gusto was competitive with Kaoru Mitome in one v one situations, Andrey Santos showed he could battle with Brighton's midfield, Levi Colwill performed well, Ian Maatsen once again showed fluency to his performance, Carney Chukwuemeka was much improved and Cesare Casadei showed some good moments.

Not all of those players will be in Pochettino's regular starting lineup but Chelsea's youth are showing the correct attitute at the moment. They are attacking games with something to prove and that is providing a positivity the Blues have lacked at times.

Levi Colwill is staying put

Mauricio Pochettino may be correct when he says that he does not need to make any statement with Levi Colwill, but keeping him on the pitch for 81 minutes against his suitors certainly felt like one. He has not long joined Chelsea training but stayed on the pitch longer than Thiago Silva and performed well outside of a clumsy tackle that gave Brighton their penalty.

Benoit Badiashile's recovery and Wesley Fofana's injury leaves a small pool of competition for Colwill to compete with for a starting berth against Liverpool and Pochettino's words following Chelsea's win perhaps offered a small window into what the 51-year-old may have said to his young defender.

He said: "He is our player and he is going to continue with us. I am happy with him, his performance was good today, better than what I expected because it is only the first game with us after the season with Brighton. I am so happy, he can be one of the greatest centre-backs in England."

He added: "It is so clear, he is our player and we are happy with him and of course he is going to be part of our team."