There have been seasons when Chelsea have turned up at the Emirates Stadium and parked the bus. “You know, I think 10 years without a title is boring,” José Mourinho said in response to criticism from Arsenal fans after a stultifying 0-0 draw in April 2015. On Sunday, though, there was no holding back from Chelsea. “I want to compete in the best possible way to win,” Xabi Alonso said after seeing his new side edged out by Arsenal in a breathless encounter. “Today we didn’t want to sit deep from the first minute. We wanted to be active.”
The plan worked at times. Chelsea maintained their habit of scoring early goals, going ahead through Morgan Rogers, and created further openings. But they were facing the champions and do not have Arsenal’s completeness. Shortcomings were exploited, particularly in midfield. Declan Rice romped through the middle at one point and the winning goal owed much to Reece James losing track of Martin Ødegaard as Arsenal’s captain strode through to fire past Emiliano Martínez.
It was expected to be a key battleground, and the way Arsenal went 2-1 up was felt keenly by Chelsea given their difficulties on deadline day, when Enzo Fernández got his £125m move to Manchester City and no one was signed to replace the Argentinian. However, it is worth remembering Chelsea were short not only of Fernández’s offensive skills as they fell to their first defeat under Alonso. It was also significant that Moisés Caicedo was out again, an unspecified issue proving a nuisance, and it is a concern that Alonso lacks a suitable stand-in for the Ecuador international, whose ability to cover ground, snap into challenges and shield his defence would have come in handy against a midfield as powerful as Arsenal’s.
There is much to like about Alonso’s vision. Chelsea are not obsessed with possession and are speeding forward on the counterattack. Yet while they look menacing with every attack there is a cost to the chaos. Alonso has found balance elusive. Chelsea have conceded seven goals in three games, are without a clean sheet in the league since January and need the oomph provided by Caicedo if they are to make this full-throttle style work.
Caicedo, such an important presence since joining for £115m in 2023, is yet to start this season. He missed the 3-2 win against Fulham and was replaced 14 minutes after coming on during the 4-3 victory over Brighton. Alonso is erring on the side of caution. He stressed there was no long-term problem after the Arsenal game and admitted Caicedo was rushed back against Brighton. “I don’t want to make the same mistake again,” Alonso said, keeping the wider picture in mind. It is a long season, even with no European football, and the physical demands of the league means there is no point Caicedo playing through pain when doing so would surely cause more problems down the line.
As it stands, though, Chelsea are too open and cannot strengthen until January. Compromises are necessary but the jury is out on some fixes. Alonso is a believer in James, whose shift from right-back to central midfielder started under Enzo Maresca, but the captain is learning the role and his lack of feel for the position was exposed by Ødegaard.
Arsenal found the gaps. Roméo Lavia started alongside James but is yet to complete 90 minutes since joining Chelsea three years ago. The Belgian has struggled with injuries and ran out of steam against Arsenal after an hour, at which point Alonso looked to his bench and replaced Lavia with Malo Gusto, leaving his expensively assembled side to play out the closing stages with two repurposed right-backs in the middle.
This was never the plan. Chelsea looked at replacements for Fernández. They wanted Alex Scott but Bournemouth would not sell. Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton has admirers, there was interest in Roma’s Manu Koné, while a move for Monaco’s Lamine Camara which collapsed as the summer window closed left Chelsea fuming.
In January Chelsea will hope to find a player more suited to Alonso’s system than Fernández, who is not the most mobile. They are not missing him in an attacking sense. Chelsea are scoring and the bigger headache is what to do out of possession. They do not have another player with Caicedo’s skillset.
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Dário Essugo was billed as Caicedo’s deputy when he joined last year but does not have Alonso’s trust and has been loaned to Strasbourg. Jordan Henderson is recovering from a broken wrist and is 36, and sending on Gusto over Valentín Barco was an early pointer. Barco, signed from Strasbourg this summer, is promising but the 22-year-old is inexperienced and, in any case, is more passer than destroyer.
Arsenal started with Rice, Ødegaard and Myles Lewis-Skelly in midfield. They kept the £75m Bruno Guimarães in reserve and brought on two Spanish World Cup winners in Mikel Merino and Martín Zubimendi, another player wanted by Chelsea.
The gulf in midfield resources told and it was the absence of Caicedo that mattered most for Chelsea. Perhaps Alonso could have adjusted and fallen back. If Chelsea continue to look so vulnerable at the back in the big games the tactics will be called naive. Yet Alonso will trust that sticking to his ideals will be rewarded in the long run. This is the start of a process. He is introducing a new system and accepts it comes with risks. The problem is that he does not have a midfielder to put out fires if Caicedo is out.