Alonso Admits Chelsea Not Good Enough to Compete For 90 Minutes

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso admitted his side are not yet consistent enough to compete for 90 minutes in the Premier League after they suffered a 3-0 defeat to Brentford on Friday.

Chelsea looked competitive in the opening half at the Gtech Community Stadium but collapsed after the interval, conceding three goals as Jaidon Anthony, Igor Thiago and Fabio Carvalho secured a comfortable victory for Brentford.

Alonso was particularly disappointed with Chelsea’s second-half performance and acknowledged that 45 minutes of good football is not enough at Premier League level.

‘Disappointed. Disappointed with the second half, with the result. This is not enough to compete in the Premier League and not to hold for 90 minutes. Today we were punished,’ Alonso said.

‘At the moment we are not being consistent enough to compete during the whole game. 45 minutes is not enough, you have to keep during the whole game knowing that each detail is important.

‘Each action can be decisive.’

The defeat extended Chelsea’s winless Premier League run to three matches and left Alonso with the international break to work on the problems exposed by another disappointing result.

The Spaniard, however, acknowledged that preparations will be affected by players leaving for international duty.

‘We will have enough time [during the international break] but not all the players will work – some will be away. Once they are all back, we will prepare the next game,’ he added.