Chelsea Player Ratings vs. Brentford: Undermanned Blues Crumble in Embarrassing Half

Xabi Alonso’s honeymoon period at Chelsea is well and truly over as the Blues lost 3–0 against Brentford, conceding three goals in an embarrassing last half hour of Friday night’s match.

Many predicted a high-scoring affair given the way Chelsea games had unfolded this season. But the first half was the complete opposite, as both teams struggled to generate much of anything in the final third, and the game went scoreless to the break—much to the delight of a previously severely-criticized Blues backline.

Chelsea’s control of the game slowly unravelled as Brentford grew into the match after the break. Finally, the hosts pounced on their positive moment when Jannik Schuster won from a corner and headed the ball back to Jaidon Anthony, who was there to head home the second ball to give the Bees the lead just past the hour-mark.

Alonso’s men tried but looked powerless to produce a response, and it was the hosts that landed the knockout blow. Kevin Schade was unleashed through on goal, and a stellar Emiliano Martínez save was all for naught, as Igor Thiago tapped in the rebound to double Brentford’s lead 83 minutes in.

Brentford sensed Chelsea were there for the taking and rubbed salt in the wound in stoppage time when Fábio Carvalho won at the back post to tap-in the hosts’ third, completing the Blues’ collapse.

Chelsea now head into the international break injury-ridden and having collected just one point from their last three Premier League games. Improvement is required quickly on the other side of the break, or else Alonso will begin feeling the heat.

The Problem That Won’t Go Away

Jaidon Anthony goal vs. Chelsea. — Chelsea were punished on a set-piece—again. | Rob Newell/CameraSport/Getty Images

Another Chelsea game, another goal conceded from a set-piece. For the fifth time this season, the Blues conceded from a dead-ball.

Four Chelsea markers didn’t suffice to avoid Schuster from rising and winning in the air from a corner to head back the ball into the heart of the penalty area. As has become a trend, three Chelsea players were caught ball watching, allowing Anthony to comfortably drift inside the six-yard box and head in Brentford’s opener into an open net.

Alonso described Chelsea’s defensive effort as “soft” after conceding two avoidable goals in the 2–2 draw against Hull City last time out. The Blues responded with their best overall defensive effort of the campaign through an hour of Friday’s game, but all it took was one set-piece for their manager’s blunt description to ring true again.

Big money was spent to bring in set-piece coach Austin MacPhee this summer, but for all the creative wrinkles the dead-ball guru can cook up offensively, a bigger emphasis must be placed on their dreadful defensive record in set pieces. They look, frankly, uncompetitive at times.

Ultimately, the familiar recipe to punish the Blues ignited Brentford’s rout and condemned Chelsea to their fifth-straight trip to Gtech Community Stadium without a win.

Chelsea Player Ratings vs. Brentford (3-4-2-1)

Jordan Henderson made his Chelsea debut. | Alex Pantling/Getty Images

*Ratings provided by FotMob*

GK: Emiliano Martínez—6.9: Did well not to cough up any rebounds from the shots he saved, confidently corralling the ball. His distribution was fine outside of a poor lob that nearly allowed Brentford to catch the defense out of position.

CB: Wesley Fofana—7.4: Runners often got behind him, but he showcased strong recovery speed to avoid potentially-dangerous actions from materializing.

CB: Maxence Lacroix—6.2: Caught ball watching in the action of Anthony’s opener and then was late to try to play Schade offside, letting him go through on goal in the action that ended with Brentford’s second.

CB: Levi Colwill—6.2: Uncharacteristically wasteful in possession, as the usually-tidy passer routinely opted to hoof the ball high up the pitch under no real pressure. Started well defensively but unraveled along with the rest of the team in the second half.

RWB: Pedro Neto—6.1: Keeps looking at home playing as a wingback covering ground down the right. Caoimhín Kelleher denied him the opener with a fine save early. Needs to improve his decision-making in the final action, though, and became incredibly erratic as the game went on.

CM: Jordan Henderson—6.8: Man-marked Mikkel Damsgaard and erased him from the game until Chelsea conceded the first. Orchestrated Chelsea’s possessions from deep and was always in position to shield the backline. Strong Blues debut under a shower of boos from his former club’s supporters.

CM: Valentín Barco—6.9: Impressive first half. He combined well with Cahavarría and Rogers and found pockets of space to dictate possessions. He also timed challenges well and led the way with the most defensive contributions. He was underwhelmed by Brentford’s second-half onslaught.

LWB: Pep Chavarría—7.1: Expertly found space to exploit down the left flank, routinely getting in positions to float crosses from the wing.

AM: Cole Palmer—6.5: In and out of the game as he had multiple markers waiting for him whenever he received the ball. Dropped deeper to get involved in the actions and had a few nice runs and passes, but ultimately had limited influence.

AM: Morgan Rogers—7.2: Chelsea’s biggest threat on the night, especially in the first half where he registered four shots. He disappeared from the match after the restart.

ST: Danny Welbeck—6.6: Used his body well to create Chelsea’s most dangerous action of the first half but barely had a sniff of goal and looked slow overall leading his side’s dynamic attack.

SUB: Geovany Quenda (71’ for Welbeck)—6.0: Only managed 13 touches during his cameo.

SUB: Josh Acheampong (72’ for Fofana)—6.0: Could do nothing to help Chelsea avoid a late capitulation.

SUB: Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli (87’ for Barco)—N/A

SUB: Estêvão (87’ for Neto)—N/A

Subs not used: Mike Penders (GK), Jorrel Hato, Malo Gusto, Roméo Lavia, Jamie Gittens.

What These Ratings Tell Us

Wesley Fofana, Igor Thiago — Wesley Fofana (left) played his best game of the season. | Gaspafotos/MB Media/Getty Images

Pep Chavarría was excellent in his first Premier League start since joining Chelsea from Rayo Vallecano this summer. Jorrel Hato has started for much of the term but has endured his fair share of defensive struggles The Spaniard didn’t put a foot wrong and is a much bigger threat in attack, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he keeps his place in the XI moving forward.
Much has been said about Wesley Fofana and Chelsea’s suspect backline, but on Friday the Frenchman showed all the traits that, when healthy, have made every manager during his four years at the club place their faith in him as a starter. He might now hold the edge over Josh Acheampong after starting the season on the bench. He was surprisingly removed in the second half, and Chelsea worsened without him.
It’s hard to be overly-critical of Danny Welbeck given how solid he’s been during his Carabao Cup starts. However, the energy, fluidity and overall quality of João Pedro was sorely missed on Friday. It’s no surprise that Chelsea’s attack looked unable to reach peak potential, and they better hope the Brazilian’s absence doesn’t extend past the international break.

The Numbers That Explain Chelsea’s Historic Defeat

Both teams produced a combined xG of 0.78 in the first half and failed to create a single big chance.
Chelsea didn’t register a single shot on goal from the 30th minute of the game onwards.
The hosts produced a whopping xG of 2.26 in the second half alone, while Chelsea could only muster 0.47.
The Blues have now conceded a Premier League-leading 12 goals this season.
Brentford defeated Chelsea at home for the first time since 1938—a historic result.

Statistic	Brentford	Chelsea
Possession	41%	59%
Expected Goals (xG)	2.65	0.85
Total Shots	13	12
Shots on Target	6	2
Big Chances	4	1
Passing Accuracy	80%	87%
Fouls Committed	10	7
Corners	4	12

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