Xabi Alonso says Chelsea ‘lost control’ in Brentford defeat

Xabi Alonso admitted Chelsea lost control of their 3-0 defeat by Brentford and agreed with Levi Colwill that his side were intimidated by their opponents’ set-pieces.

Brentford scored three times after half-time to secure a comfortable victory, with goals from Jaydon Anthony, Igor Thiago and Fabio Carvalho.

The result extended Chelsea’s winless run in the Premier League to three matches under Alonso. They had previously lost to Arsenal and drawn with Hull before being beaten by Brentford.

Alonso criticised the way Chelsea managed the game and said they had lacked the consistency and competitive mentality required after the interval.

“I think we lost the stability and competitive mentality that we needed in the second half,” he said.

“We know that the small details can be decisive. We should not give the opposition an advantage in matches like this.

“But it is about 95 minutes, and we have not been able to maintain that level throughout the few matches we have played at the start of the season. That is something we need to improve.”

Colwill, who captained Chelsea in the match, said Brentford had caused problems from dead-ball situations.

“It was a difficult game,” Colwill told Sky Sports. “Maybe we exposed ourselves too much when we went a goal down, and they took advantage of that by hitting us on the counter-attack. They are very good at doing that.

“We were not good enough in the second half. We have a lot of work to do during the international break.

“Perhaps we were intimidated at times by their set-pieces, and that is an area where we need to improve our performance.”

Colwill also said Chelsea could not rely on their attacking players alone to rescue them when they were under pressure.

“We cannot depend on the front three to get us out of dangerous situations. We all have to help one another,” he added. “There is still a lot of room for us to develop.”

Alonso agreed with his captain, saying Chelsea’s shortcomings went beyond their defending at set-pieces.

“It is not just about set-pieces,” he said. “It includes the challenges, the defensive side, building from the back and the moments when we conceded the first goal.

“Even then, we were still in the game. But when you lose your organisation, you lose control.”

The Chelsea manager said his players needed time to understand the demands of competing for the full duration of a match.

“Understanding the game and knowing what it takes to compete until the end is a process that needs time,” Alonso said.

“The players need time to take that in and feel it. At the moment, we have not fully reached that point where we can compete throughout the whole match.”