Xabi Alonso suffered his first defeat as Chelsea manager on Sunday afternoon with Arsenal narrowly beating their London rivals at the Emirates Stadium
Cole Palmer
Cole Palmer struggled in Chelsea's defeat to Arsenal(Image: James Gill - Danehouse)
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It was clear from 77 seconds in what Chelsea's intentions were at the Emirates Stadium.
Away from home, against the Premier League champions, many people's champions-elect, who went into the game with a zero next to the 'goals against' column, but Chelsea were looking to play on the front foot. Morgan Rogers' goal with just over a minute on the clock gave Xabi Alonso, in his biggest test as Blues manager to date, the dream start in enemy territory.
Those on the other side of the stadium could not believe it. It looked like pandemonium in the away end at the Emirates, with several inflatable Champions League trophies - brought along to taunt Arsenal, who are still without one after their final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in May - thrown into towards the north London sky.
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Unless Chelsea could build on it, there was always a sense of the goal being too early. Because in football, that is, remarkably, a thing; a side as strong as the reigning champions were always going to have opportunities in their back yard.
Alonso's side, naturally, retreated, but the Chelsea manager did not want that. "I want to compete in the best-possible way to win," said the Spaniard post-match.
"Today we didn't want to sit deep from the first minute and to wait and to make a long game. We wanted to be active, we wanted to be protagonists in the pressing, sometimes to go higher, sometimes lower, to have good possessions. And we have done many right things.
"We need to make it better, we need to learn from them, because this is the top level. When we have to play top level, we want to be as efficient and as accurate in all the phases of the game.
Xabi Alonso
Xabi Alonso following Chelsea's defeat at Arsenal(Image: Catherine Ivill - AMA)
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"But this is where we are, this is game three for us of this new start, this new phase that we are starting with Chelsea. But I am happy with the spirit and the attitude from the players. They have given everything, they have tried and they fought really hard."
That much is true. Alonso's version of Chelsea is still very new and there is encouragement to be taken from going toe to toe with the clear favourites for this season's league title. There are, however, many areas where the Blues need to improve.
At times, it felt as if Chelsea's midfield might as well have not been there. Reece James started alongside Romeo Lavia in a double pivot, but they were broken through at ease by Arsenal, especially during that spell in the first-half where the Gunners were camped inside the Blues half.
Chelsea have now conceded seven goals from their first three league matches. The Blues' defensive line are having to do too much work at the moment. There is supposed to be some form of shield from the midfield but it has been too easily penetrated in the opening exchanges of the campaign.
Alonso was asked about the leaky defence and whether it was No.1 on his to-do list and explained: "My priority is to win games and for that, normally it's easier when you don't concede many goals. So for sure, this is something that we need to address.
"We want to do better, we want to be tighter, to be more clinical, more balanced. But this takes time as well."
How Arsenal only scored one goal in that one-sided spell is quite remarkable. James, for the most part, has impressed when asked to play in the centre of midfield this season.
Reece James
Reece James has played in midfield for Chelsea so far this season(Image: Catherine Ivill - AMA)
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Stamford Bridge insiders say the club captain is expected to play a leading role in the engine room this term. Alonso told reporters last week that he believes the 26-year-old can become one of the best midfielders in world football over time, despite his natural position being on the right side of defence.
However, there were times on Sunday where James' defensive instincts as a midfielder were lacking. For Arsenal's second goal, the eventual winner, Martin Odegaard made a third-man run into the box before slotting past a helpless Emiliano Martinez.
It was clever for Arsenal. They knew what they were doing. The relentless Riccardo Calafiori made a decoy run to drag Maxence Lacroix away and that allowed Kai Havertz some space to jog into. Wesley Fofana then sensed the danger and came across, allowing all of the room in the world for Odegaard behind him.
Havertz's dummy was exceptional and it took Fofana completely out of the game. James, though, should have sensed the danger quicker. Instead, Odegaard, as pictured below, was given plenty of time on the ball before he could pick his spot and fire the Gunners ahead for the first time in the match.
Reece James (circled) is not paying enough attention to the third-man run from Martin Odegaard
Reece James (circled) is not paying enough attention to the third-man run from Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard(Image: Sky Sports)
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It's impossible to say with absolute certainty whether Moises Caicedo would have tracked Odegaard closer, but it felt like a moment where Chelsea missed their Ecuadorian midfielder. Alonso said after the game that there is no long-term issue to worry about with Caicedo's unspecified injury, but it was too much of a risk to use him at the Emirates.
The drop off without Caicedo is a concern for Alonso. The Spaniard had Malo Gusto and Valentin Barco as central midfield options off the bench on Sunday, with the former coming on but the latter not being used.
Gusto is a right-back who can play in midfield but he is yet to convince supporters when asked to operate in a central area. The fact Barco has only played eight minutes of Premier League football to date - and that was because of an injury to Caicedo in the win over Brighton - suggests he may not be high in Alonso's thinking when it comes to matches in the top-flight.
Chelsea came close to striking a deadline day deal to sign Lamine Camara but AS Monaco's decision to pull the plug has left the Blues a bit light in the middle of the park. And it is something supporters online are particularly concerned about.
There are, however, some positives to take from north London. Rogers is certainly one of them.
The 24-year-old looks more and more the part with every game he plays. No Chelsea players have more Premier League goals than Rogers (two), level with Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro, in the opening three matches of the campaign.
Scoring against the club that wanted to sign him in the summer was sweet for the England international, who was on the receiving end all afternoon-long from the home support. Rogers more than made the most of his breath-taking early goal, where he ran towards the corner flag before replicating an iconic celebration from Arsenal legend Thierry Henry.
Morgan Rogers celebrates
Morgan Rogers celebrates putting Chelsea ahead away at Arsenal(Image: Chris Lee - Chelsea FC)
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A celebration Gunners supporters loved seeing once upon a time, but it was less appreciated right in front of them from the one that got away.
Arsenal fans ultimately got the last laugh, though. Rogers was anything but laughing at one point in the second-half where the Chelsea man lost his head after an altercation with Gunners midfielder and England colleague Declan Rice.
Rogers and Palmer were on a threatening attack down the left-hand side and the former was trying to give the latter an option at the edge of the box before being brought down by Rice. Rogers thought he was tripped by Rice off the ball, and marched over, furiously, to the Arsenal midfielder while pointing his finger in his direction.
Morgan Rogers was furious at Declan Rice in Chelsea's defeat to Arsenal
Morgan Rogers was furious at Declan Rice(Image: Catherine Ivill - AMA)
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The Blues attacker then shoved Rice before it turned into a bit of a brawl. Gusto and James were playing peacemakers but Rogers was absolutely livid.
Palmer had words with Rice at full-time. While it wasn't clear what Palmer was saying to his Three Lions teammate, he may well have been sticking up for his best mate.
There were a few moments where tempers flared from a Chelsea perspective at the Emirates but that, on the discipline front, was an enormous improvement on what we witnessed in recent seasons at Arsenal.
At least there is some early evidence of the much-talked about change of culture behind the scenes at the west London club.
There now needs to be a change in other on-field issues. Starting with the midfield and that should, in turn, help the defence.
Leeds United in the Carabao Cup next and Alonso hasn't got much time to prepare.