Another Defensive Nightmare
Chelsea suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat away at Brentford on Friday night. The result leaves manager Xabi Alonso facing serious questions about his team's defensive setup as their poor start to the Premier League season continued.
Jaiden Anthony opened the scoring at the Gtech Community Stadium, netting his first goal for Brentford. Chelsea fought to get back into the game, but two late goals from Igor Thiago and Fábio Carvalho sealed a comfortable win for the hosts.
Unwanted History for Alonso
The three goals conceded on Friday mean Alonso has joined an unpopular group of managers. He is now one of only six bosses in Premier League history to concede two or more goals in each of their first five games in the division.
Alonso joins Mick McCarthy, Sammy Lee, Terry Connor, Slavisa Jokanovic, and Scott Parker in this unwanted club. Chelsea's defense has been leaking goals at an alarming rate, conceding 12 goals so far this season, which was the highest in the league before the rest of the weekend's fixtures.
Set Piece Weakness Exposed
To make matters worse for the Blues, Anthony's opening goal came from a set-piece. This was the sixth goal Chelsea have conceded from set-pieces this season, which is another league high.
Opponents are finding it far too easy to exploit Chelsea's weakness in the box. This is an area that Alonso must fix quickly if he wants to turn things around.
Alonso Demands Better Focus
Speaking after the match, Alonso admitted his players struggled to maintain their concentration. He pointed out that his team dropped their consistency and the competitive mentality needed in the second half of the match.
"The small details can be decisive," Alonso said. He added that his team must learn to keep their level up for the full 95 minutes, noting that they knew the Premier League would be hard but they must do better.
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