Chelsea’s £349m rebuild has left Alonso short in midfield
Chelsea spent £349m rebuilding their squad this summer, yet still finished Sunday’s defeat at Arsenal with Reece James and Malo Gusto – both converted right-backs – running the midfield.
Two right-backs, one midfield, a lot of questions
Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 at the Emirates, and it was Reece James who failed to track Martin Odegaard for the champions’ winner, per Nizaar Kinsella of BBC Sport. James otherwise played well, and Xabi Alonso believes he can become one of the best midfielders in the world. But James’s move into midfield only tells half the story here.
Malo Gusto came on for Romeo Lavia in the second half. Moises Caicedo is out injured after breaking down 11 minutes into a substitute appearance against Brighton, and Jordan Henderson remains sidelined with a broken arm. Chelsea have no European football this season, which at least buys Alonso time to work with fewer fixtures.
Ashley Young summed up the concern to BBC Sport: “Chelsea don’t have European football this season so they’re playing less games and can concentrate on the Premier League. But the worry is you’re finishing a game against the champions, and you’ve got two right-backs in midfield.”
Here’s the thing: this isn’t really about a failed transfer window in the way the headline number suggests. Chelsea recruited 10 first-team players and still couldn’t get a midfielder over the line on deadline day, and that’s the real issue.
Monaco pulled the plug on Chelsea’s £47m move for Lamine Camara at the last minute – a collapse that left officials at Stamford Bridge furious. Bids of up to £64m for Bournemouth’s Alex Scott were rejected earlier in the summer, and Roma boss Gian Piero Gasperini blocked a move for Manu Kone. Meanwhile Chelsea sold Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City for a joint British-record £125m without bringing in a direct replacement.
To be fair to the club, there’s a case that they’ll cope. Alonso argued before the Arsenal game that five fit midfielders should be enough without midweek Europe, and he doesn’t sound worried about Caicedo long-term. “Not longer term, but it is about assessing the risk. Probably last week we brought him back too early and I don’t want to make the same mistake again,” he said.
Valentin Barco, a natural midfielder signed from Strasbourg, has been overlooked for Gusto in all three league games so far – which tells you Alonso trusts positional flexibility over specialist cover right now. That approach has cost Chelsea 25.6% possession against Brighton, their lowest since records began in 2003-04, and seven goals conceded in three matches. They’re 10th from last season with a 33-point gap to Arsenal to close.
Alonso called the summer “phase one,” which is a fair way to frame it – but if Caicedo’s return doesn’t fix things, questions over not replacing Fernandez won’t go away before January. We think Chelsea got away with it against Brighton and got caught out at the Emirates. The margin for error just isn’t there without a specialist holding midfielder in reserve.
