Xabi Alonso has admitted Chelsea lost their discipline during Friday night’s damaging 3-0 defeat against Brentford.
The Blues reached half-time level at the Gtech Community Stadium but collapsed after the break as Jaidon Anthony, Igor Thiago and Fábio Carvalho secured all three points for the hosts.
Chelsea have now gone three Premier League matches without a victory, following defeat to Arsenal and last weekend’s draw with Hull City.
Alonso did not attempt to disguise his frustration afterwards.
Xabi Alonso admits Chelsea lost discipline
Speaking after the final whistle, Alonso acknowledged that Chelsea’s performance fell well below the level required.
“Everything was disappointing,” the Chelsea head coach said in his post-match assessment of the Brentford defeat.
Alonso also admitted his players lost some of their structure as the game moved away from them.
“We lost a little bit of our discipline,” he said.
That is particularly significant after Alonso spent the build-up demanding a better balance between Chelsea’s attack and defence.
Chelsea had scored freely during the opening weeks of the season but failed to create enough clear opportunities against Brentford while conceding three at the other end.
Alonso says Chelsea must correct their own mistakes
Alonso was clear that the responsibility for the defeat rested with Chelsea rather than external factors.
“We have to correct, it was our mistakes,” he said.
The Spaniard felt Chelsea were not sharp enough in the final third and lacked the decisive pass or individual action required to break through Brentford’s defensive structure.
That left Danny Welbeck isolated for long periods after he replaced the injured João Pedro in attack.
Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers also struggled to find the same spaces they had exploited during Chelsea’s more productive attacking performances earlier in the season.
The lack of threat was reflected in a frustrating evening which ended with Chelsea failing to score for the first time in the Premier League this term.
Brentford defeat exposes familiar Chelsea problem
The manner of the defeat will concern Alonso as much as the result itself.
Chelsea had remained in the contest until Anthony opened the scoring shortly after the hour mark.
Rather than producing a controlled response, the Blues became increasingly stretched as they pushed for an equaliser.
Brentford exploited that space to add a second through Thiago before Carvalho completed the 3-0 victory in stoppage time.
The full Brentford 3-0 Chelsea match report details how quickly the contest moved away from Alonso’s side after the opening goal.
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