Football can change very quickly.
Just a few months ago, there were plenty of Liverpool supporters — myself included — who were desperate to see Xabi Alonso become the next Liverpool manager.
Liverpool were struggling under Arne Slot and there was a growing feeling among supporters that the club needed a change.
Alonso was one of the names that many Reds fans would have loved to see walking into Anfield.
Fast forward to now and Alonso is having a difficult start to life at Chelsea.
And the latest numbers make for uncomfortable reading.
Chelsea simply cannot keep a clean sheet
Chelsea have now played five Premier League matches this season without keeping a single clean sheet.
Their results have been:
● Fulham 2-3 Chelsea
● Chelsea 4-3 Brighton
● Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea
● Chelsea 2-2 Hull
● Brentford 3-0 Chelsea
That’s 12 goals conceded in five Premier League games.
Chelsea conceded three again on Friday night as Brentford beat them 3-0, with Alonso’s side now having gone three league matches without a win.
In fact, Chelsea currently have the worst defensive record in the Premier League, having conceded 12 goals.
That’s a serious problem.
But it’s still early
We have to be fair here.
It’s only five games.
It would be ridiculous to suggest Alonso is suddenly a bad manager because Chelsea have made a poor start defensively.
He’s managing a new team, with new players and his own ideas that will take time to implement.
There are also mitigating factors.
Chelsea have had injuries to important players, and they were missing Reece James, João Pedro and Moisés Caicedo against Brentford.
So Alonso deserves time.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t look at what is happening and acknowledge that things aren’t going particularly well at the moment.
And I have to admit something…
When Liverpool were struggling last season, I was one of those supporters thinking:
“Why aren’t we getting Alonso?”
There was so much excitement around him.
His work at Bayer Leverkusen had made him one of the most highly regarded young managers in European football, and the idea of a Liverpool legend returning to Anfield was incredibly appealing.
I could completely understand why Liverpool supporters wanted him.
I wanted him too.
But this is football.
What looks like the obvious appointment at one club can look very different when you actually take charge somewhere else.
Alonso has a big job ahead of him
Chelsea have plenty of talent.
That’s what makes their defensive problems particularly surprising.
They can score goals.
They’ve already scored 10 in their five league matches.
But conceding 12 at the other end means they are giving themselves an incredibly difficult task every week.
You cannot keep asking your attackers to score three or four goals just to win football matches.
Eventually, you need some control.
You need clean sheets.
You need to be able to close games out.
And that’s something Alonso has to find quickly.
Liverpool supporters should be patient with Iraola
Interestingly, this also gives us something to think about with Andoni Iraola at Liverpool.
There were supporters who wanted an immediate transformation when he arrived.
But football doesn’t work like that.
Liverpool are also going through a period of change.
Iraola is trying to establish his own style, and we’ve already seen that there are weaknesses that need addressing.
The 0-0 draw with Fulham showed that Liverpool still have plenty of work to do.
But that is exactly why patience is important.
Alonso is experiencing first-hand how difficult it can be to walk into a big club and immediately make everything click.
I still love the idea of Alonso at Liverpool
And here’s the funny thing.
Even after seeing his difficult start at Chelsea, I wouldn’t suddenly say my previous opinion was completely wrong.
I still think Alonso is an excellent young coach.
I still think he has enormous potential.
And I still understand why Liverpool supporters wanted him.
But perhaps the bigger lesson is that there is no such thing as a guaranteed managerial appointment.
Sometimes the manager you desperately want isn’t necessarily the manager who would have produced the immediate results you imagined.
For now, Alonso has a big job on his hands at Chelsea.
Five games isn’t enough to write anyone off.
But 12 goals conceded and no clean sheets is certainly something he needs to fix.
And as a Liverpool supporter who was desperate to see him come to Anfield when we were struggling under Slot, I’ll admit it:
I’m quite happy to give Iraola the time to prove himself.
Football has a funny way of making you question what you thought you wanted.
Jamie (The Kopite View)
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