Analysis
Brentford 3-0 Chelsea: Defensive issues for Xabi Alonso laid bare after chastening west London derby defeat
Chelsea well beaten 3-0 by Brentford after dismal second half in the west London derby; Xabi Alonso's side continue to fail to keep clean sheets, concede from set-pieces and lack 'competitive mentality' when they fall behind; Chelsea now winless in three league games after a good start
Saturday 19 September 2026 00:24, UK
"You need to feel it. We're not feeling it," said Xabi Alonso after Chelsea's 3-0 loss at Brentford. Yet Chelsea are stuck in a familiar feeling.
Another defeat, their 11th of the calendar year - more than they had in 2025, with three months of this year to go. At least two goals conceded for the fifth straight Premier League game under Alonso. More set-piece woe.
"We dropped our consistency, our competitive mentality needed in the second half," said Alonso. That will concern Chelsea fans the most. It was way too easy for Brentford to take over that second half.
And there's another continuing trend: Chelsea being outbattled in a match. Remember, they were outrun in the vast majority of their Premier League matches last season.
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The first thing you think about when you come up against Brentford is set pieces. Long throws, smart corners - the lot. And just like against Hull in their previous game, Chelsea lost control of the match by conceding once again from a set-piece.
This was the fourth goal they have conceded from a set-piece in five Premier League games - taking their overall tally since the start of last season to 23, the joint-worst out of any Premier League side.
Once again, the ball was put right on top of Emiliano Martinez towards the back post and neither the goalkeeper nor the outfield players were able to react. And the worst part of it for Chelsea? Brentford saw it coming a mile off.
"We did target [the back post] at half-time," said Vitaly Janelt to Sky Sports. "There was a big gap at the far post. We targeted that and I think it was our first corner of the second half."
And Chelsea are suffering from all these set-piece woes despite now having the best dead-ball coach in the league in Austin MacPhee. Bernardo Cueva, who was their set-piece coach before MacPhee and now has a different role at the club, was even pinched from Brentford by the Blues.
"We have not been good enough, at times we have been bullied and we need to improve at that," said Levi Colwill to Sky.
"But we trust in our set-piece coach; we are still adjusting to new things, but we do need to improve as a team."
It is not the only area where Chelsea need to improve defensively. The way they allow teams to penetrate their defensive third is among the worst in the division - they have gone 22 straight Premier League games without a clean sheet.
On average, Chelsea concede 2.2 non-penalty goals per game. And they deserve to, because the xG numbers say they are expected to allow that same number of shots on target on their goal.
What doesn't help is a clear inability to protect the penalty area. Chelsea are also in the top three this season for conceding shots in their own penalty area on average, allowing around 10 per game. Their goalkeepers get used as a battering ram.
With defensive numbers like these, it's no wonder Chelsea have been unable to hold onto a lead in their last three league games.
They explode out of the blocks so quickly - this was the first Premier League game where they failed to take the lead in the opening 10 minutes of the game, but they nearly did when Pedro Neto had a good chance saved.
And then when Chelsea fall behind, they have been pegged back so many times that the bad habits kick in. "It's about everything. It's about the mentality, the football and the tactical things that we need to keep improving," said Alonso.
"We concede the first goal, you're still in the game but then we lose the shape. We were out of control."
That control could be eased in the future when Moises Caicedo returns, but the lack of solidity they have without the Ecuadorian is a concern.
Two summer recruits in Jordan Henderson and Valentin Barco started the Brentford game, but it was the Bees who looked stronger in midfield.
Keith Andrews' side arguably have the better squad depth in that area of the pitch as well - they won the match 3-0 with record signing Mamadou Sangare sat on the bench for over an hour.
Right now, Joao Pedro looks like Chelsea's most influential player from a goalscoring perspective. The 'JP Morgan' frontline was broken up 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 team 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," former Chelsea captain Gary Cahill told Sky Sports. "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."
"It's not just set-pieces," said Alonso on where Chelsea have to improve. "In defensive duels, build-up and controlling games." That being said, there aren't many more parts of the game besides those four.
"We've got a lot to work on over the international break," added Colwill. He can say that again.
