Chelsea attack firing under Alonso

Chelsea FC appointed former Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso as their manager ahead of the 2026/27 season this summer. Amidst massive speculation surrounding his former club Liverpool, Alonso took up the Chelsea job and has made an instant impact with the Blues. Although it’s early days yet and Chelsea has only played three games under Alonso, there are definite signs of improvement over last season.  

Chelsea made several reinforcements in their squad this summer, cutting out the deadweight and strengthening key positions. They bought defenders Maxence Lacroix (Crystal Palace), Marco Palestra (Atalanta) and Pep Chavarria (Rayo Vallecano) to shore up the defence. The Blues have also signed experienced stalwarts in Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Danny Welbeck (Brighton and Hove Albion) and Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa) to bring leadership to an otherwise young squad. Chelsea has also strengthened their attack with Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa and recently also brought in midfielder Valentin Barco from Strasbourg.  

All the new signings have not only improved their squad but also given the new manager the tools to play attacking and attractive football. Chelsea started their new season with an exciting 3-2 win away against Fulham. They then defeated Luton Town 2-0 in the League Cup second round, progressing to the next round. Last weekend they defeated the Seagulls in another nerve-racking 4-3 encounter. The Chelsea attack of Morgan Rogers, João Pedro, Pedro Neto and Cole Palmer seems to be thriving under Alonso as all of them have contributed to the seven goals in the Premier League. Compared to last season when they were struggling to create chances and score goals, their attack looks primed to score multiple goals every game. 

With the addition of Morgan Rogers, they seem to have gone up levels in attack, especially the pace up front is lethal in case of turnovers and counter-attacks. A few of the situations they have scored from, reminds one of how Liverpool’s attacking trio of Sadio Mané, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah used to bomb forward under Jürgen Klopp. Although it’s still early days, Alonso has definitely worked with the attackers during pre-season and it can be seen in their first three performances. 

Cole Palmer struggled a lot for form last season but he looks to be enjoying himself under Alonso. He was nailed on for England’s World Cup squad but missed out due to poor performances, hence the rest in the summer has done him a world of good. Chelsea is producing attractive, free flowing football as opposed to last season’s drab performances. This is the first time since the 2018/19 season under Maurizio Sarri that Chelsea has won their first three games of the season. 

The Blues’ fans are super excited with the rock-and-roll start to the season but we don’t believe Chelsea is ready for a title challenge yet. There are glaring issues with the defensive side. With Moisés Caicedo injured and Enzo Fernández on the verge of departure, the Chelsea midfield and defence hasn’t impressed. They have outscored opponents but conceded five goals in three fixtures so far, keeping a clean sheet in only their League cup game. 

When any new manager joins a club, there are likely to be teething issues and Chelsea may be suffering from that as well. When given a little more time and with key players returning from injuries, Alonso could surely tighten up the defence. Lack of European football could also act as a blessing in disguise for the West Londoners as it gives them a relaxed schedule which could mean less injuries and single-minded focus on the Premier League and the domestic cups. 

The Chelsea management has already fixed several issues- bringing in Maxence Lacroix to partner Levi Colwill at the heart of defence, brought in Marco Palestra to fix the right-back problem and most importantly brought in the experienced Emiliano Martínez to fix their biggest weakness by replacing the error-prone Robert Sánchez in goal. However, they still have work to do as they are frantically searching for possible reinforcements in midfield with the transfer deadline approaching. 

As for now, Chelsea is on a winning spree, playing exciting football with Alonso bringing the noise back at Stamford Bridge. This Chelsea front line is versatile and dangerous and could cause opposition defences a lot of headaches this season. Looking at their blockbuster start to the new Premier League season; it would be interesting to see how their frontline combines as there is a genuine possibility that they crash the goalscoring charts this season.