Photo by Chris Lee - Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Photo by Chris Lee - Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Xabi Alonso will have been pulling his hair out at some of the defending on show during Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Hull City, especially after some of his individual instructions were not taken on board at Stamford Bridge.
Morgan Rogers and Joao Pedro found the net to continue their excellent individual starts to the campaign, however defensive frailties saw the Blues scrapping just to get a point in the second half.
Alonso controversially kept Maxence Lacroix on the bench for the game, despite the fact he was Chelsea’s best aerial option and Hull were always going to be a threat from set-pieces.
Chelsea FC v Hull City - Premier League 2026/27
Photo by Alexander Canillas/MB Media/Getty Images
Xabi Alonso’s instructions fell on deaf ears during Chelsea vs Hull
When the game was at 1-1 and there was a brief injury break, and Alonso was spotted giving one-to-one instructions to his defenders to try and help them to work out how to deal with the newly-promoted side.
As per Liam Twomey, this proved unsuccessful, and Hull scored immediately after the restart.
He said to ‘Straight outta Cobham‘: “We had a great view of Alonso. Great view, can’t quite hear what’s being said necessarily, but we can see all these conversations happening. And Alonso devoted most of that two minutes to talking to his defenders one-to-one.
“He went around all of them. And it seemed like a a lot of what he was saying was kind of in possession stuff, but he was making it clear to all of them, including Gusto and Hato, what he expected from them. And then immediately from the restart, they conceded a goal like that.”
Defending has proven to be Chelsea’s kryptonite this season, and relying on their star-studded attack to score at least three goals a game was never going to work in the long run.
A statstical comparison showing the number of duels won by Chelsea FC midfielders Valentin Barco and Romeo Lavia vs Hull City.
Credit: Photo by Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images/Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images
Alonso has perfect opportunity coming to solve defensive woes
Chelsea face a tough examination in West London on Friday night against Brentford, with the defence again likely to be under threat.
After that though, the Premier League is put on pause for three weeks for the first international break of the season, giving managers a perfect chance to work on any issues that have emerged in the opening weeks of the campaign.
Lacroix is likely going to be the only Chelsea centre-back called up to represent their nation, meaning there will be plenty of first team stars available for the hard work on the training ground.
This could be what solves their biggest issue at this stage of the campaign, and hopefully put an end to a run of conceding two goals in every league game so far.