After a weekend on which pretty much every potential challenger to Arsenal had demonstrated their flaws, there was a sense, perhaps even a need, for Chelsea to emerge as a serious contender – if only to prevent the title race becoming a procession. And while they were far from flawless, there were at least some indications that they could mount some kind of challenge.
They looked extremely dangerous in the final third, and Cole Palmer was involved in all three Chelsea goals, perhaps benefiting from a first summer off in three years. But they were rather less impressive through midfield or at the back, despite Josh Acheampong’s all-action performance, while goalkeeper remains the problem it has been since Thibaut Courtois left.
It could easily have gone wrong: in the final quarter-hour; Antonee Robinson lofted an effort wide with Robert Sánchez off his line and Ryan Sessegnon smacked a shot from a narrow angle straight at the Spanish keeper. But neither opportunity was taken and so Chelsea got Xabi Alonso’s reign off to a winning start.
At this stage, performances and learning the system are probably the most important thing, but if there is to be some sort of dart at the title, results matter if only to keep Chelsea somewhere near the race until the point at which Alonso’s principles are absorbed and they do find something close to top form.
Perhaps what’s most striking, though, is how different the approach is to Enzo Maresca’s. Where Maresca prioritised control to often stultifying effect, Alonso’s game is based on rapid turnovers and transition. It’ll probably settle down as his systems become deeper rooted but there was a sense of recklessness at times to their play. It was harum-scarum, end-to-end, thrilling stuff, which is all very well to watch, and may even come as a relief after the sterility of Maresca and the shambles of Liam Rosenior, but may not be great for consistency or sustained runs of form.
Alonso could hardly have dreamed of a quicker start, João Pedro putting Chelsea ahead after 31 seconds, matching the record for the quickest goal scored in the reign of a Premier League manager, David Unsworth’s goal – also against Fulham – in David Moyes’s first game in charge of Everton in March 2002. João Pedro had scored eight goals in eight pre-season games; and this a player Maresca told not to focus on scoring goals shortly before he went on a run of seven games without a shot. That was a first indication of a forward line starting to show signs of an impressive understanding. All three combined for the third goal, Morgan Rogers flicking on for João Pedro who held the ball up for the overlapping Palmer to slip his shot cleverly between Bernd Leno’s legs.
Alonso’s first go at finding a pattern amid the legions of players assembled by BlueCo involved a midfield made up of two players who, despite being at Chelsea together for the past three years, had never previously been paired in the centre: Roméo Lavia and Reece James. It was not entirely by choice: Moisés Caicedo was left out as a precaution while Enzo Fernández remained on the bench until the 65th minute as Manchester City continue their pursuit of him. And it didn’t entirely work. It may look a defensively robust pairing but there were long spells when Fulham had control of midfield.
A feature of Alonso’s approach, and one of the reasons it takes time and commitment to learn – qualities that were notably lacking at Real Madrid – is that players can emerge in unexpected positions. Which doesn’t entirely explain how the right-sided centre-back Maxence Lacroix found himself running on to Palmer’s pass in the Fulham box but, having got there, he demonstrated great poise to skip around Jorge Cuenca and cut the ball back for Rogers to score his first Chelsea goal.
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Yet for all that was new and positive, and for all that was raw and unintentionally exciting, there was one glaring and inexplicably familiar failing for Chelsea: in goal. Sánchez’s positioning seemed very strange for Fulham’s first goal, drilled in at his near post by Josh King (who also benefited from a bizarrely ineffectual attempt to track from Rogers), and while it was a far less glaring error, he pushed Timothy Castagne’s shot straight to Gonzalo García for Fulham’s second.
Although Sánchez doesn’t perhaps quite deserve the negative reputation he has among certain Chelsea fans, he did make a league-high five errors leading to goals in 2024-25 and three last season. It remains mystifying that a club that signs wide forwards by the dozen continues to refuse to invest in a top-class goalkeeper. That may yet hold Chelsea back.
Generally, though, Alonso can be satisfied with his start: a win against Chelsea’s local rivals, an impressive display from Acheampong, a number of fluent interactions from his front three and plenty of signs of his system beginning to take hold, with a few obvious improvements to be made. And from the point of view of fans and casual observers, it looks like it should be fun.