This is a familiar state of Chelsea under Xabi Alonso: the attack creates explosive moments, but the defense continuously makes mistakes and causes the home team to drop victory.
Chelsea drew with Hull City 2-2 in a match where they once again showed attacking power but revealed too many gaps behind. The trio Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro combined to create both goals, but defensive problems continued to cost Chelsea. Even goalkeeper Martinez could not avoid uncertain moments.
In the opposite direction, Hull continues to make a strong impression. The newly promoted team was once predicted by many experts to be relegated, but after 4 matches they have 8 points, unbeaten and only conceded 2 goals, both against Chelsea. More notably, even when the official playing time was about to end, Hull still actively sought victory instead of being satisfied with one point.
The Blues are playing football on the fragile boundary between attacking power and instability in defense. Chelsea have not kept a clean sheet in the last 20 Premier League matches and have conceded 9 goals after 4 rounds this season. This is clearly not the achievement of a team that wants to compete for the championship.
The draw against Hull once again exposed Chelsea's familiar problem. They have attacking players strong enough to cause difficulties for any defense, but defensive ability is still unstable. The absence of Moises Caicedo makes it difficult for Chelsea to control the midfield area, while the system shift from 3 defenders to 4 defenders does not bring the necessary certainty.
Conversely, Hull showed that they are not an easy team to beat. Oli McBurnie caused many difficulties for Chelsea's defense, and the players who came on as substitutes brought significant energy. After 4 matches, Hull is still undefeated and proves that solidarity can help them overcome pessimistic pre-season predictions.
With Chelsea, the problem is not in the ability to create beautiful moments. They have enough quality in attack to make fans excited. What Alonso needs to solve is stability. If defense is not improved, Chelsea's attractive performances will continue to be accompanied by feelings of insecurity until the last minutes.
The match may be very exciting, but I hope that one day Chelsea can play a boring match and still win. This match repeats some of the problems we are facing. It will take time to fix them. When they are leading, the whole team still has to maintain focus, play their best and not easily miss opportunities.
Regarding defensive ability, we are discussing ways to solve the problem and will definitely improve. However, at the present time, those limitations are still affecting Chelsea's playing style" - Alonso said after the match.
