Xabi Alonso successfully opened his tenure as Chelsea manager on Monday, securing an entertaining 3-2 Premier League victory against west London rivals Fulham. While the result provided a positive start, the match highlighted a stark contrast between the team’s potent attacking threat and their defensive vulnerabilities.
The standout story of the evening was Chelsea’s new-look front three. Morgan Rogers, making his debut following a club-record £117m transfer from Aston Villa, linked up effectively with Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro. All three players found the back of the net, with Palmer appearing to return to peak form after a challenging year marked by injuries and his exclusion from England’s World Cup squad.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, speaking on Sky Sports, praised the trio as being “as good as anything in the Premier League right now.” However, Carragher offered a blunt assessment of the team’s defensive prospects, stating they “will never win the league with Sanchez in goal.”
Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez struggled throughout the contest, with two individual errors directly contributing to goals from Fulham’s Josh King and Gonzalo Garcia. These lapses have raised significant concerns regarding the stability of Chelsea’s defense.
Addressing the performance, Alonso emphasized that his attacking players must “lead the rest” so the remainder of the squad can follow their example. Regarding the defensive mistakes, the Spanish manager called for a collective improvement across all areas of the pitch.
“We need to accept and learn from them,” Alonso said, noting that the team is currently in a developmental process. “All the lines, from the strikers, the midfielders, the defence, the goalkeepers, we want to do better in everything.”
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