Xabi Alonso has suggested that his Chelsea side are ‘too soft’, after the Blues dropped points at home to Hull City.
It was another flying start for Chelsea: Morgan Rogers opened the scoring with a low driven strike after just six minutes. This was the first time the visitors had conceded a league goal this season.
Though, similar patterns emerged defensively for Chelsea, and they are far too easy to play against through the middle and down the flanks.
Mohamed Belloumi scored the first of his double this afternoon with a powerful volley inside the area. This though, was mainly down to some calamitous defending from those in Blue.
Jorrel Hato was the main culprit after misjudging the flight of the ball that was launched into the area, bouncing over his head before Belloumi struck.
However, the goal wouldn’t have happened in the first place if Malo Gusto simply won his duel against Ryan Giles.
Gusto took too long to engage contact with the ball and was eventually shrugged off it by Giles, who was bombing up behind him at pace.
The second goal conceded was perhaps even worse from a defensive standpoint. This time, a corner into the box was not dealt with well by either Colwill or Martinez, leaving Ajayi to win the ball and head onto the bar, before the ball eventually fell to McBurnie who knocked it off to Belloumi again to finish (with a stroke of via a deflection.
Chelsea can’t complain about a lack of luck when they left the opening goal scorer on the edge of the box unmarked by himself.
Literally, no one even close in his vicinity. It was an appauling set piece setup and poorly defended all round.
Joao Pedro brought Chelsea back into the game with a top corner finish from inside the box with just over twenty left to go, but Alonso’s men struggled to create more clear cut chances against Hull’s compact low block for the remainder of the match.
The simple fact is that Chelsea, as good as their attack is, cannot just outscore every single team. And the overriding fact remains that the defence is all over the place.
Alonso after the game said: “We can do much better. Their first goal, one long ball, two bounces… if you are soft and don’t prepare you will be punished”
“The dynamic in terms of us conceding, I don't like it. Open play, set pieces, long balls, toughness, this competitive sense”
It is not promising signs to hear Alonso question the application and competitiveness of his players with just a few games gone.
This has been the problem so many have faced before him though, trying to find the balance between control and chaos.
Too often it is one way or the other, with fans rightly questioning players ‘losing their heads’ and making unnecessary fouls at times last season.
For now, and based on his comments today, Alonso can make his life a little bit easier with two immediate lineup changes.
Josh Acheampong in for Malo Gusto at right back, and Pep Chavarria in for Jorrel Hato, who was subbed at half time today for Pep after a poor first half.
Both Acheampong and Chavarria will give a minimum commitment level that Chelsea are lacking down the flanks. Acheampong is also a good dueller and tall, while Chavarria is a bit of a ‘dog’ defensively.
Chelsea face Brentford away next week. If you think of a side suited to play this current version of Chelsea best, then Brentford would be one of the top contenders.
They are tough, play lots of long balls, have the best long throw in taker in the league, and are dangerous on transition and set pieces.
Chelsea’s deficiencies cannot be fixed in a week, and maybe the international break will provide the perfect time for some in depth analysis, but there does need to be some improvements in each match so that fans can have reasons to back the on field project and be confident of a return to Champions League football.
