{"id":775316,"date":"2026-09-19T02:08:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T02:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/775316\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T02:08:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T02:08:21","slug":"chelsea-analysis-no-joao-pedro-no-goals-as-xabi-alonsos-problems-mount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/775316\/","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea analysis: No Joao Pedro, no goals as Xabi Alonso’s problems mount"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chelsea<\/a> signed a striker from Brighton<\/a> for the second successive summer, bringing in Welbeck to reunite him with Joao Pedro and provide support in attack.<\/p>\n

Welbeck, 35, was tidy in possession but, with little service, managed only 17 touches before being substituted in the 71st minute.<\/p>\n

Unlike Joao Pedro, who is capable of creating chances for himself, Welbeck found it difficult to influence the game in the same way.<\/p>\n

Joao Pedro came into the weekend with the most goal involvements in the Premier League, having scored three and provided three assists in four appearances this season.<\/p>\n

His impact extends beyond goals and assists, with the Brazilian linking well with Palmer and Rogers. Against Brentford<\/a>, however, Rogers arguably produced his quietest performance since arriving from Aston Villa<\/a> in the summer.<\/p>\n

Rogers eventually moved up front with fellow striker Emmanuel Emegha sidelined through injury and still waiting to make his Chelsea<\/a> debut.<\/p>\n

Before Brentford<\/a>‘s opener, it was a closely contested match that appeared likely to be decided by the first goal. Chelsea<\/a>, however, made victory a certainty for the hosts with a dramatic collapse.<\/p>\n

Alonso has not managed to cure Chelsea<\/a>‘s set-piece weaknesses. They have conceded 23 goals from set-pieces since the start of last season – no Premier League side has let in more. And Anthony’s simple header from a corner took this season’s total to five.<\/p>\n

Set-piece defending was an area Chelsea<\/a> sought to address when they appointed Bernardo Cueva from Brentford<\/a> two years ago. This summer, he was replaced by another highly regarded specialist in Austin MacPhee.<\/p>\n

Asked about Chelsea<\/a>‘s defending from set-pieces, stand-in captain Levi Colwill told Sky Sports: “Not good enough. At times we have been bullied in the box and we definitely need to improve.<\/p>\n

“We have full trust in our set-piece coach and are still adjusting to new ideas, but we need to improve as a team.”<\/p>\n

Like many of his predecessors, Alonso has been attempting to instil a stronger competitive edge within his squad and improve the mentality of his players.<\/p>\n

That issue has often been linked to the relatively young age profile of the squad, but Chelsea<\/a> fielded their oldest starting XI since May 2023. Henderson, in making his debut on Friday, lined up alongside fellow over-30s Welbeck and goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.<\/p>\n

“I would say that we have dropped our consistency and our competitive mentality in the second half. We know that small details can be decisive,” Alonso said after Brentford<\/a> added two late goals.<\/p>\n

It is also fair to say Alonso is still experimenting with systems and personnel, and has yet to settle on a style of play that gives his side control throughout a match.<\/p>\n

“It’s not about looking for excuses,” the Spaniard told Sky Sports. “We need to look at each other and know that we have to work and improve because there is still a long way to go.”<\/p>\n

After the initial excitement – and victories – provided by Alonso’s attacking football, Chelsea<\/a> head into the international break with serious questions to answer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chelsea signed a striker from Brighton for the second successive summer, bringing in Welbeck to reunite him with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":775317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[218,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-775316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-football","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=775316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/775317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=775316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=775316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=775316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}