“You have to feel it. We’re not feeling it,” Xabi Alonso said after Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat at Brentford. However, Chelsea are stuck in a familiar feeling.
Another loss, their 11th of the calendar year – more than they had in 2025, with three months of this year. At least two goals conceded for the fifth straight Premier League game under Alonso. More determined misery.
“We lost our consistency, our competitive mentality needed in the second half,” Alonso said. This will worry Chelsea fans the most. It was all too easy for Brentford to take over in the second half.
And there’s another ongoing trend: Chelsea are losing a game. Remember, they were outplayed in the vast majority of their Premier League games last season.
The first thing you think about when you go up against Brentford are the groups. Long shots, clever angles – the lot. And just like against Hull in their previous game, Chelsea lost control of the game conceding once again from a spot kick.
It was the fourth goal they have conceded from a shot in five Premier League games – taking their total since the start of last season to 23, joint worst of any team in the Premier League.
Once again the ball was placed right over Emiliano Martinez towards the back post and neither the keeper nor the outfield players could react. And the worst part about Chelsea? Brentford saw it coming a mile away.
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Jaidon Anthony leads Brentford against Chelsea.
“We scored (the back post) in the first half,” Vitaly Janelt said Sky Sports. “There was a big gap at the far post. We targeted it and I think it was our first corner of the second half.”
And Chelsea are suffering from all these difficulties, despite now having the best dead-ball coach in the league in Austin MacPhee. Bernardo Cueva, who was their manager before MacPhee and now has a different role at the club, was even snapped up by Brentford from the Blues.
“We haven’t been good enough, we’ve been bullied at times and we need to improve on that,” Levi Colwill told Sky.
Chelsea are struggling at the back
“But we have faith in our group coach; we are still adapting to new things, but we have to improve as a team.”
It’s not the only area where Chelsea need to improve defensively. The way they allow teams to break into their back third is among the worst in the division – they have gone 22 consecutive Premier League games without a clean sheet.
Chelsea have struggled all season at the back
On average, Chelsea concede 2.2 penalty goals per game. And they deserve it, because the xG numbers say they’re expected to allow the same number of shots on goal as their goal.
What doesn’t help is a clear inability to defend the penalty area. Chelsea are also in the top three this season for conceding shots in their penalty area on average, allowing around 10 shots per game. Their goalkeepers are trained like rams.
With defensive numbers like these, it’s no wonder Chelsea haven’t been able to hold onto a lead in their last three league games.
They burst out of the blocks so quickly – it was the first Premier League game where they failed to take the lead inside the first 10 minutes of the game, but they almost did when Pedro Neto had a good chance saved.
And then when Chelsea fall behind, they’ve been pinned so many times that bad habits start. “It’s about everything. It’s about mentality, football and tactical things that we have to keep improving,” Alonso said.
We concede the first goal, you’re still in the game, but then we lost our form. We were out of control.”
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Watch Kevin Schade push Chelsea’s Valentin Barco during Brentford’s 3-0 win over Chelsea.
That grip could be eased in the future when Moises Caicedo returns, but the lack of consistency they have without the Ecuadorian is a concern.
Two summer signings in Jordan Henderson and Valentin Barco started the Brentford game, but it was the Bees who looked the strongest in midfield.
Keith Andrews’ side arguably have the best squad depth in that area of the pitch too – they won the game 3-0 with record signing Mamadou Sangare sitting on the bench for over an hour.
At the moment, Joao Pedro looks like Chelsea’s most influential player in terms of goals. JP Morgan’s front line was split for the first time this season – and Chelsea failed to score for the first time this season.
Of course, it was always going to take time for Alonso to implement his ideas at Stamford Bridge. This was a Chelsea side with seven summer signings in its starting line-up, with the Spaniard the fourth manager to take charge of the club in nine months.
“It doesn’t happen overnight,” said former Chelsea captain Gary Cahill Sky Sports. “I think with what you are saying he will be judged in the next five, six, seven weeks to get that right because you will have that time on the training ground and then we should start to see his methods come to fruition because we have seen him in an attacking sense.”
“It’s not just groups,” Alonso said of where Chelsea need to improve. “In defensive duels, in lifting and controlling games.” That said, there aren’t many parts to the game other than those four.
“We have a lot to work on during the international break,” added Colwill. He can say that again.