Chelsea manager, Xabi Alonso, has admitted that his side must improve defensively after the Blues were held to a 2-2 draw by Hull City in Saturday’s Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have now conceded at least twice in each of their opening four league matches, extending their longest run of conceding two or more goals at the start of a campaign in 11 years.
The Blues have scored 10 goals but conceded nine, while their failure to keep a clean sheet has stretched to 20 consecutive league games, their longest such run in 65 years.
Chelsea appeared in control after Morgan Rogers gave the hosts the lead seven minutes into the match, but Mohamed Belloumi struck twice to put Hull ahead.
Joao Pedro eventually rescued a point for the Blues, with Cole Palmer playing a role in both of Chelsea’s goals.
Reflecting on the game, Alonso said Chelsea allowed Hull to regain confidence too easily after taking the lead.
“We need to be more solid and be more controlled,” Alonso said after the Hull draw.
“It was too soft to give them this hope because until then we were controlling, we were creating chances, but that momentum that we had changed the mood and the score of the game.”
Hull could have left Stamford Bridge with all three points, but Chelsea goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez made several important saves to keep the hosts in the contest.
Hull manager Sergej Jakirovic subsequently named Martinez his “man of the match” after the Argentine denied Oli McBurnie, Mohamed-Ali Cho and Lucas Herrington.
Alonso admitted that Chelsea are currently performing better in attack than defence, while acknowledging the scale of the problem. “Overall, I think that we are attacking better than defending in every part,” he said.
“We know that it’s a big topic and a big theme for us. For sure it’s just four games, but the dynamic in terms of conceding, I don’t like it and we need to do much better.”
Individual mistakes have also contributed to Chelsea’s defensive struggles, with Jorrel Hato substituted at half-time after his misjudgement on the cross that resulted in Hull’s equaliser.
Belloumi’s second goal also came after the hosts failed to clear a corner effectively.
Alonso has changed his tactical setup in each of Chelsea’s last three matches against Arsenal, Leeds United and Hull. Against Hull, he opted for a back four but explained that the decision was based on the qualities of the players available.
“It’s about the profile of the players,” Alonso said.
“You can say it was back three or four, so it’s about the choice of the players, their qualities, where they play better.”
The former Real Madrid manager also stressed the need for Chelsea to become stronger in defensive situations, particularly after taking the lead in matches.
“It will take time or it will take moments to fix them when we get the lead and you still need to be competing and not to give the chance so easily for them to come back,” he said.
Chelsea’s next test comes away to Brentford on Friday, with the Bees posing a particular threat from set pieces.
The fixture will be followed by a three-week international break, giving Alonso additional time to work with his squad.
With Chelsea unable to reinforce their squad until the January transfer window, Alonso will have to find solutions on the training ground as he looks to address the defensive shortcomings threatening to undermine an otherwise productive attack.
