Xabi Alonso lamented after Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat to Brentford, "You need to feel it. We're not feeling it," highlighting a familiar sense of frustration that has settled over the club. The loss marked Chelsea’s eleventh defeat of the calendar year – a tally that already exceeds the total they had managed in the entire 2025 season, with three months still left.
For the fifth consecutive Premier League match under Alonso, the Blues have allowed at least two goals, and their vulnerability on set‑pieces has become a recurring theme. Alonso admitted that the team’s consistency and competitive edge vanished in the second half, a point that will undoubtedly alarm supporters. Brentford capitalised on that lapse with ease, taking control after the interval and never looking back. This pattern mirrors last season’s trend, when Chelsea were routinely out‑muscled and out‑paced by opponents throughout the league campaign.
Set‑piece deficiencies were front and centre against Brentford. The Bees executed long throws and clever corners, and, just as they had done against Hull, they reclaimed the initiative by scoring from a dead‑ball. That goal was the fourth conceded from a set‑piece in the last five league games, lifting Chelsea’s season‑to‑date total to 23 – a figure that ties them for the worst in the Premier League. In the decisive moment, the ball was lofted directly onto Emiliano Martínez’s shoulder at the back post, leaving both the keeper and his defenders helpless.
Brentford’s players anticipated the delivery, and the Blues were caught flat‑footed. Vitaly Janelt confirmed the intention behind the second‑half corner, saying to Sky Sports, "We targeted the back post at half‑time. There was a big gap at the far post, so we aimed for that on our first corner of the second half." Despite having Austin MacPhee, widely regarded as the league’s top dead‑ball specialist, Chelsea continue to struggle.
Their former set‑piece coach, Bernardo Cueva, now occupies a different role at the club, and even he was taken off the bench by Brentford during the match. Levi Colwill echoed the sentiment of inadequacy, telling Sky Sports, "We have not been good enough, at times we have been bullied and we need to improve at that.
We trust our set‑piece coach; we are still adjusting to new things, but we do need to improve as a team." The set‑piece issue is just one facet of a broader defensive crisis. Chelsea have now endured 22 straight Premier League fixtures without keeping a clean sheet, and they concede an average of 2.2 non‑penalty goals per game. Expected‑goals (xG) models suggest that this leakage is statistically justified – the team is allowing roughly the same number of quality shots that the data predicts.
Compounding the problem is Chelsea’s inability to protect their own penalty area. They rank among the top three clubs for conceding shots inside the box, with opponents firing about ten attempts per match on average. This relentless pressure turns the goalkeeper into a de facto battering ram, eroding confidence and inviting further mistakes. These defensive frailties explain why Chelsea have failed to preserve leads in their last three league outings.
They often explode out of the blocks, but the opening ten minutes of the Brentford game proved an exception – they never managed to take the lead, coming close only when Pedro Neto saw a chance saved. When the team does fall behind, they frequently lose shape, a habit that resurfaces repeatedly. Alonso summed it up: "It’s about everything – the mentality, the football and the tactical things that we need to keep improving. We concede the first goal, you’re still in the game but then we lose the shape.
We were out of control." The return of Moisés Caicedo could provide some stability, but his absence has highlighted a lack of solidity in the midfield. New signings Jordan Henderson and Valentín Barco started the Brentford match, yet the Bees appeared stronger in the centre of the park. Brentford manager Keith Andrews arguably possesses deeper squad depth in that area, fielding a side that included record signing Mamadou Sangaré on the bench for more than an hour while still winning 3‑0.
At present, João Pedro stands out as Chelsea’s most influential attacking player, but even his contributions could not prevent the team from going scoreless for the first time this season. The match also marked the first occasion this campaign that the ‘JP Morgan’ front line was broken up, underscoring the broader systemic issues. Alonso’s task of imprinting his philosophy on Stamford Bridge will not be resolved overnight. The starting eleven featured seven of the club’s summer acquisitions, and he is only the fourth manager to take charge in nine months.
Former captain Gary Cahill reminded Sky Sports that patience is required: "It doesn’t happen overnight. I think with what you’re saying he will be judged in the next five, six, seven weeks to get this right because you will have that time on the training ground and then we should start to see his methods coming through because we’ve seen him in an attacking sense." Alonso himself broadened the scope of required improvement beyond set‑pieces, stating, "In defensive duels, build‑up and controlling games." Those four areas – set‑pieces, defensive duels, build‑up play and game control – encapsulate essentially every facet of Chelsea’s current shortcomings. Colwill added that the team has "a lot to work on over the international break," a sentiment that will likely be echoed throughout the squad as they regroup and attempt to restore the defensive resilience that has been missing for far too long.