Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso admitted “everything is disappointing” after his side’s 3-0 loss to Brentford tonight.
Chelsea were arguably the better side in the first half but capitulated just after the hour mark when Jaden Anthony headed in a corner kick to give the home side the lead.
Igor Thiago scored his first goal of the season to make it 2-0 and Fabio Carvalho added the third in stoppage time to cap a terrible night for Alonso at the Gtech Community Stadium.
He told BBC Match of the Day: “Everything is disappointing, especially the result, but we can do better. We have to do better. For 45 minutes we were good but in the second half we conceded three goals. You need to be very focused and once you concede a goal from a set-piece it gives them an advantage. Strength and control because once you concede the second goal you need to be very focused and once you concede the ball in the set piece it gives them advantage and control because once you concede the second goal it becomes more difficult and when we get a little bit closer we have to correct our discipline.
Chelsea provided almost no offensive opportunities and also looked weak defensively.
“In the first half we were [the box] “We missed the last pass, the last dribble to get in a clear position to shoot, but that’s only part of it,” said former Real Madrid coach Alonso. “The other part is when you need to hold on, when you need to tighten up, [the opponent] You need to know how to defend and stick together when someone tries to attack you. Win the duel and be consistent in that regard. “
Lack of forward momentum and weak defense – Chelsea’s problems exposed
Chelsea have now scored 12 goals in 5 Premier League games, the most in the top flight.
Alonso said: “It’s all important, but for sure the individual and collective details have to be better, but not just defensively, in terms of possession, there are things we need to do better.”
Set-pieces remain a big issue for Chelsea and England international Levi Colwell admits they must improve in this area if the club can move forward.
He told Sky Sports: “It’s not good enough. At times we were bullied in the penalty area and we definitely need to improve. We all trust our set-piece coach and are still adapting to new things. We really need to improve as a team.
“I don’t think our morale dropped. It hurt, we tried to equalize and we got hit on the counterattack. I don’t think our morale dropped.
“We still have a lot to improve on. We can’t rely on our front three to get us out of danger. The rest of us have to help out where we can. We definitely have a lot of room for improvement.”
Brilliant Brentford enjoy victory
While it was a dismal night for Chelsea, it was a celebratory one for Brentford, who accepted the praise from the fans at the final whistle.
Owner Keith Andrews said: “I felt like there was something brewing tonight and I had an incredible calm around our team because I trusted them. I saw a humility and a desire within the team that we could challenge each other.
“We have to continue to get better in this league. The money teams spend on players is just words on paper. What we do every day in practice is push the boundaries, open up to each other and continue to be on this journey. I love this journey.”
The win moves Brentford up to third with the remainder of the weekend’s games.