RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Xabi Alonso came to Craven Cottage hoping for another Premier League first. Twenty-two years earlier, he bagged his first English top-flight goal for Liverpool. Against a former Reds team-mate striving for the same goal in Alvaro Arbeloa, he made another happy memory on his managerial bow.
Most pictured his return to England to come with Liverpool; Chelsea fans already seem grateful he’s landed in London. While far from the perfect performance, victory in a five-goal thriller against Fulham brought a lot of encouragement.
A mixture of big spending and summer snubs seems to have forged one of the most dangerous attacking front threes in the league. Morgan Rogers showed signs he was worthy of his £117m price tag . Cole Palmer , with a point to prove after his World Cup omission, suddenly looked like a real problem again after what was, by his standards, a dud of a season. His link-up with Joao Pedro took effect within 31 seconds .
Chelsea’s front three stole the show against Fulham (Reuters)
“They are going to be a very important part of the team,” recognised Alonso, who now wants the trio’s team-mates to reach the level they exhibited on Monday night. “To build [the team] around them, no. To build the team with them. They need to take responsibility, they need to lead the rest, they need to inspire the rest, because if they do great, the other ones will follow.
“We need to reach them in the best possible situations. We need to have good links to reach them, and they need to help the team to be solid. I'm happy for the three of them. They have played for the team and they have scored, so it's always important for the strikers.”
Some Chelsea players are closer to said level than others. Maxence Lacroix was another debutant to impress; his unlikely assist for Rogers was the icing on the cake of a commanding performance in an otherwise imperfect back three. Jorrel Hato was also influential at left wing-back, his attacking impetus showing just how versatile the defender can be in an Alonso system.
There were question marks in the centre of the park, but that was with neither Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo starting. Alonso was pleased by the sound of Chelsea fans singing the Argentinian’s name again, even if it was drowned out by deafening boos from the home faithful still bearing a World Cup grudge. “Football is emotional, we have to accept in this situation,” said Alonso, keen to move forward with Fernandez in the fold. He now looks likely to stay put this term barring more late transfer drama, while only injury will prevent Caicedo from marshalling Chelsea’s midfield, as it did at the Cottage.
But there remains one glaring issue that continues to plague Chelsea, from manager to manager, system to system. Alonso’s Premier League return was nearly not so fruitful due to the body between the sticks.
It was another nightmare display from Robert Sanchez, whose trademark howlers put points at risk. Josh King’s equaliser, which Sanchez bafflingly let through at his near post, had an xG of 0.07 - the lowest of any goal scored this weekend. He then let the hosts back into the game by parrying Timothy Castagne’s strike straight out to Gonzalo Garcia.
Robert Sanchez had another dire outing in the Chelsea goal (Reuters)
For all the club’s spending, Sanchez remains the problem player, immune to being usurped from the team by a clear-cut replacement. Maybe 21-year-old Mike Penders will provide the goalkeeping solution long craved, though flinging him straight into the team would go against the club’s much-needed move away from the chaos of youth; it didn’t work with Filip Jorgensen last year.
Alonso did not seem ready to immediately lose faith in Sanchez as his No 1 after one bad showing. “It's about the team, it's not about the individual. As I said before, we can adjust a few things. The first goal, we can do better to defend, we can do better to avoid, but it's part of the game. We need to accept and to learn from them, and this is going to be a process ... Relax and carry on.”
Patience is required for Alonso’s rebuild. The belief that he must turn last season’s 10th-place team into a title challenger within this season is unfairly ambitious, even if it might be an attitude within the walls of the Stamford Bridge boardroom . Hence there shouldn’t be an overreaction when players underperform in the early days of said “process”. Levi Colwill and Romeo Lavia, a duo whose progress has been disrupted heavily by injury, were two others who left a lot to be desired against Fulham.
Xabi Alonso reiterated the ‘process’ of Chelsea’s rebuild and did not indicate he had lost faith in Sanchez already (PA Wire)
But with Sanchez, entering his fourth season as first-choice stopper, patience is wearing thin. Chelsea got away unscathed this time, but what about next?
Unlike all previous Chelsea managers under the BlueCo regime, Alonso will have an active say on whether this latest Sanchez horror show sparks late action in the transfer window. Emi Martinez is an obvious and available option, if that decision was made.
However, the manager’s comments and calm demeanour suggest he’ll be against any rash change in personnel at this stage. That may turn out to hamper his project in its all important first year.
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