Chelsea made a thrilling start to the season under Xabi Alonso but after being beaten at Arsenal, blows against Hull and Brentford have set them back. The new Blues boss will need to solve two key issues to turn that narrative around in a key run of games coming up. That was the verdict from the latest Sky Sports Premier League podcast assessing Chelsea's start to the season under their new boss.
Chelsea's defence - which has conceded more goals than any other side so far - and their midfield - struggling to control games without injury-hit Moises Caicedo - were two areas in the spotlight. Ahead of Chelsea's return to action against Bournemouth - and with Everton (a), Spurs (h), Liverpool in the Carabao Cup (a), Man Utd (h), and Sunderland (a) before the next international break - Sky Sports News reporter James Savundra outlined the issues. And how Alonso could solve them… Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player "The defensive issues that Chelsea have had pre-date Alonso's arrival.
It is now 21 Premier League matches since they last kept a clean sheet which is remarkable - even though Chelsea have had a huge amount of change and there's been a huge amount of transition in 2026. For a club the size of Chelsea that simply isn't good enough. "Emi Martinez, it felt like a no-brainer when they signed him, because of the issues they've had over the course of the last year few years when it comes to that goalkeeper situation but also there was an acceptance I think from most football fans that Emi Martinez isn't at the level that he was two or three years ago.
Now clearly there's a period of adaptation which is taking longer than he and Chelsea would have hoped and perhaps he'll get back to that level which we've seen over the course of the last year. This is a World Cup winner he played in the World Cup final only a few months. "Maxence Lacroix made a huge amount of sense as well in terms of bringing in an experienced defender who has still got the ability to get better but what has not helped Xabi Alonso is the number of injuries he's had.
He's chopped and changed a little bit when it comes to that back line. I think the favoured backline, the favoured back three will be Wesley Fofana, Levi Colwill and Lacroix. But already Colwill, who I thought was really impressive in the FA Cup final when he came back from injury, he has struggled somewhat on the left-hand side of defence with Lacroix playing deeper in terms of that back three.
"Josh Acheampong there needs to be a role for him as well. Chelsea fans want to see him in the starting XI. But you can't win anything if you don't have a strong core and the goalkeeper has struggled a little bit at the start of the season the backline isn't quite where it needs to be and the midfield is nowhere near right now.
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