‘Tinkerman’ Alonso’s Chelsea side still searching for identity

Constant changes in formation and personnel – and another disappointing defeat.

Xabi Alonso’s frustration was clear as Chelsea‘s identity struggles continued in a 1-0 defeat to Sunderland.

It is starting to feel as though the Spaniard is the latest “Tinkerman” at Stamford Bridge, a moniker first associated with Blues boss Claudio Ranieri back in 2002-03.

For the first time this season, Chelsea lined up with a three-man midfield – but they were also without a recognised striker for the second match in a row, with Pedro Neto again struggling to lead the line in their loss at the Stadium of Light.

By contrast, struggling Sunderland were led by target man Brian Brobbey, who won a 36th-minute penalty after being brought down by Levi Colwill. Enzo le Fee converted the game’s only goal from the spot.

That decision came moments after Chelsea were denied a penalty when Cole Palmer went down under a challenge from Luke O’Nien, but the video assistant referee ruled that contact had started outside the box.

Those two incidents in quick succession meant Alonso and his coaching staff appeared angry on the touchline after the Sunderland goal.

However, the Chelsea manager refused to criticise the officials after the game – instead he gave brief answers that changed the subject and were critical towards his players for not carrying out the gameplan properly.

Asked whether Brobbey was simply unstoppable, Alonso, 44, replied: “No, he’s stoppable. He’s stoppable, but we have to do it better than we did today.

“Out of almost nothing he got a couple of chances. He got the penalty as well.

“I’m not happy with how we defended that situation. It’s something that we could have avoided, something that we had worked on during the week. To concede penalties is not good for us.”

It left nowhere to hide for Colwill, who was substituted at half-time, with Moises Caicedo filling in at centre-back despite having barely completed a full training session all week and needing careful management of his own fitness issues.

Chelsea also created few clear chances, aside from a headed opportunity that £117m signing Morgan Rogers squandered, while Palmer also struggled – days after being left out of the England squad.

Before the season started, Alonso said he wanted his Chelsea side to be “unpredictable”.

Although factors such as injuries are beyond his control, his side have achieved that, but to their own detriment.

Chelsea’s identity crisis

Only Tottenham (28) have made more more line-up changes than Chelsea (24) in the Premier League this season.

Early in the campaign, they at least had a settled and exciting front three of Joao Pedro, Rogers and Palmer.

That was largely why they got off to a positive start to the season, despite failing to keep a clean sheet against top-flight opposition until Alonso’s eighth game in charge.

With Caicedo injured, they struggled in midfield and kept making match-to-match changes, while also experimenting with personnel to fix the defence.

However, they largely looked on course to emulate the back-three system Alonso used to win his historic German double at Bayer Leverkusen in 2023-24.

However, as Caicedo returned from the international break, captain Reece James was injured.

Joao Pedro featured in wins against Bournemouth and Everton before sustaining a thigh injury, having already missed Brazil’s international matches.

Number one goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez broke his jaw in a collision at Everton, while Maxence Lacroix, who had been a near ever-present since joining from Crystal Palace in the summer, is expected to be out until January with a hamstring injury.

Defender Jorrel Hato has also suffered a setback in recent weeks.

It has left Alonso reacting to events when selecting his starting XI, with the Spaniard saying: “There are situations. Yesterday Josh [Acheampong] said he was not ready to play, so we are short of options and we need to walk through this step.

“Even when we win, when we lose, we miss some players that we have injured and for sure we are waiting for them to come back because they are important.”

He admitted his side were missing Joao Pedro, although supporters have also been frustrated that Estevao Willian, who came on at half-time on Sunday, has started only one league match this season.

Prior to Sunday’s game, Chelsea were averaging just 46% possession. They then dominated possession at Sunderland (68.7%) but created few significant chances.

Meanwhile, only Crystal Palace have conceded more shots on target than Chelsea‘s 50, while the Blues top the league with 53 shots on target, meaning there have been plenty of chances at both ends.

Alonso can still be pleased that Chelsea have collected five more points than they did from the equivalent fixtures last season, with the club on course to qualify for the Champions League while sitting fifth in the table.

However, that is a low bar after a dismal campaign last season, when Chelsea finished 10th.

Going into the November international break, Alonso remains a long way from establishing a style of play, or an identity capable of bringing consistency – although he promised promising in an interview last week that Chelsea would be “different” and “better” by the end of the season.