Xabi Alonso and Chelsea’s Flaws Laid Bare in Desperate Comeback Against Leeds

After going down two goals before the hour-mark in Wednesday’s clash, Chelsea stormed back to defeat Leeds United 6–3 to punch their tickets to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.

A miserable first half performance saw Chelsea go into the break down 1–0 thanks to a Tarik Muharemović header. Xabi Alonso turned to his biggest stars off the bench but his side immediately conceded a second goal when USMNT man Brenden Aaronson doubled the visitors’ lead in the 48th minute.

The game completely changed after that as Chelsea’s stars took over, needing just 12 minutes to stage a much-needed comeback.

Cole Palmer buried a penalty and completed his brace two minutes later with a classy finish to equalize 10 minutes into the second half. Pedro Neto then buried a curling strike as the hour-mark hit.

Then Danny Welbeck completed a hat-trick of assists for Morgan Rogers before Leeds responded through Lukas Nmecha. But Chelsea’s attacking onslaught continued as Valnetín Barco restored the two-goal lead before Welbeck completed his brace deep into stoppage time.

On a night of a full slate of Champions League action, Chelsea’s thrilling comeback might’ve been the most entertaining match of the evening. The best and worst of Alonso’s Blues were on full display at Stamford Bridge and although they flirted with disaster, Chelsea avoided an embarrassing elimination to progress in the Carabao Cup.

Xabi Alonso Gets it All Wrong With His Team Selection

Alonso made nine changes to the XI that started against Arsenal at the weekend, with only Maxence Lacroix and Josh Acheampong keeping their place in the lineup. The heavily rotated side featured a number of players with very little experience playing together—and it showed.

Chelsea were a disjointed side on Wednesday night, and Leeds looked the superior team for the entirety of the first half—even if Daniel Farke also heavily rotated his XI. The visitors registered an xG of 1.63 in the first half, and Mike Penders was the lone player responsible for Chelsea facing just a one-goal deficit going into the break.

In a straight elimination match against Premier League opposition, Alonso started summer recruit Valentín Barco alongside 16-year-old debutant Reggie Watson—the fourth youngest debutant in Chelsea history—as his midfield pairing and it went as well as could’ve been expected. The inexperienced duo failed to keep control of the game against an experienced Leeds midfield duo of Ethan Ampadu and Sean Longstaff.

Rotations were always expected, but in a game that Chelsea couldn’t afford to lose, Alonso got too cute. His team selection exposed Chelsea’s subpar depth and set the stage for a catastrophic result to materialize. It’s a major wake-up call for the Spanish boss; had it not been for the brilliance of his star attackers, his initial gamble would’ve backfired spectacularly, resulting in devastating consequences.

"I need to take my own blame and responsibility for what happened [in the first half],” Alonso said after the match. “They [the players] are not responsible. The reading and analysis of the individuals are not what we have seen today.”

Chelsea’s Defense Is a Major Problem

For all the rotations Alonso decided to make, he did deploy Chelsea’s strongest trio of center backs—or at least the trio he’s trusted the most to start his tenure in Lacroix, Acheampong and Levi Colwill. But as has been the case since the beginning of the season, the Blues failed to inspire any security at the back.

Chelsea’s defense constantly operated in a state of emergency, more often than not trying to correct mistakes on the fly rather than being an organized unit. It might be the case of the defenders needing some time to fully adapt to Alonso’s system, but it’s been a concerning start of the term for Chelsea’s top defensive unit as a whole.

Set pieces continue to be a thorn in Chelsea’s side. The Blues look overly passive, weak and lack tenacity when defending set pieces, constantly getting bullied inside the penalty area. Leeds registered an xG greater than one on set pieces three days after Arsenal managed a similar threat.

Lacroix had been arguably Chelsea’s best defender of the season, but he was at the scene of the crime at Leeds second goal when he got bullied to the ball by Lukas Nmecha and then again when he failed to get tight on a charging Calvert-Lewin, who entered the box unmarked to bring Leeds back in the game.

The Blues have conceded 10 goals across four games against Premier League opponents this season. Alonso better get to work on fixing a leaky backline because it’s simply not good enough currently.

Chelsea Stars Rescue Carabao Cup Season

Pedro Neto, Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers — Cole Palmer (middle), Morgan Rogers and Pedro Neto came off the bench and changed the game. | Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC/Getty Images

An uninspiring first half forced Alonso to turn to his bench and Palmer, Rogers, Neto and Reece James entered the game at the restart. Chelsea conceded almost instantly to further complicate matters, but the club’s super-subs took over the game and the comeback was complete by the time the hour-mark hit.

It took Palmer 129 seconds to bag a brace to bring Chelsea level less than 10 minutes after Leeds doubled their advantage. Then, Neto completed the comeback with a confident hit in an action where all three attacking substitutes contributed.

Rogers, meanwhile, had a hat-trick of assists and would’ve had a fourth had it not been for a slight deflection off Michael Zetterer’s fingertips which led to Barco scoring the fifth.

In a moment of major adversity that could’ve resulted in Chelsea’s premature elimination from the Carabao Cup—which would’ve sent them into crisis mode five games into the Alonso era—the team’s key players entered the pitch and resolved the Leeds equation, and they did it in style.

Chelsea remain a flawed side, but they have one of the best forward lines in all of English soccer and Alonso has them firing on all cylinders. It’s already clear that the Blues’ attack will determine just how successful the first season under Alonso ends up being.

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