Chelsea Must Learn from Arsenal Loss, Says Alonso

Xabi Alonso has told Chelsea to take their 2-1 loss to Arsenal on Sunday as an important lesson in their goal to catch up with the Premier League champions.

Blues manager Alonso had enjoyed big wins against Fulham, Brighton, and Luton in the League Cup. But Arsenal, having won their first three games, proved to be a tougher opponent in a thrilling London derby at the Emirates Stadium.

Morgan Rogers scored for Chelsea just 77 seconds into the game. But Kai Havertz equalised in the first half. Martin Odegaard then scored the winner for Arsenal after the break.

This result highlighted problems in Alonso’s defence, which has let in seven goals in three league matches. Chelsea's strong attack also struggled against Arsenal after Rogers’ early goal, leaving Alonso with a lot to think about.

“I learnt about the game, about us, about what we are doing, what we are starting,” Alonso said. “This is a process. It’s still early days for us. We want to start having clean sheets. They will come.”

“The players are committed to working hard, to knowing that we’re on the way to compete in each game. Not happy that we couldn’t get anything but we need to keep calm and carry on.”

This defeat was Alonso's first loss in four games since he took over the team in the off-season. He felt frustrated that Chelsea could not make the most of their early lead.

“It hurts because a defeat has to hurt. It was a very intense game. We had chances to equalise,” he said. “After we scored, there were 15 or 20 minutes where we had to defend too much and we were struggling a bit to get control. Overall, it was a very tight, very intense game.”

“We could do better with the second goal. You need to control the overloads on the right side.” While Alonso was disappointed to leave north London without points, he believes Chelsea will improve from this experience.

“The players have this attitude, this desire to compete better game by game to create something we believe in,” he said. “It’s game three and this is going to be a long, long ride.”