'I spotted glaring Chelsea problem in pre-season, I'm 'surprised Xabi Alonso hasn't solved it'

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso must find a solution to his team's defensive woes if he is to compete for the Premier League title.

That is the opinion of experienced former Tottenham, Everton and Aston Villa scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.

The Blues dropped points at home in a 2-2 draw with Hull City on Saturday, conceding twice and ultimately coming from behind to claim a point despite having gone ahead in the opening minutes.

Chelsea have already conceded nine goals in the Premier League this season, with their dazzling attack having bailed them out against Brighton and Fulham.

Alonso is not blameless - the Spaniard took criticism for the bizarre decision to bench Maxence Lacroix for Saturday's game.

But with games against the likes of Brentford, Bournemouth and Everton approaching, Chelsea must gain some solidity.

Chelsea 'don't get points for getting beat'

Alonso certainly has experience of coaching a good defence, having overseen Bayer Leverkusen's unbeaten Bundesliga season.

The Spaniard's team only conceded 24 goals in those 34 games, conceding more than one goal in a single game just five times.

Yet he undoubtedly had better tools at his disposal in Germany, with inexperience and mistakes rife among the Chelsea backline.

"Unless he gets it sorted out, I mean, again, he's had all summer to do it," King told Football Insider when asked about what Alonso can do.

"I think all the teams he seemed to have managed, have always been very, very good, very good going forward, but I'm surprised he's not carried it on from when he was at Bayer Leverkusen. I mean, because he transformed them into a very well-organised unit.

"To beat Bayern Munich and Leipzig and all the other sides to win the championship, I mean, that's a hell of a feat.

"But here, I mean, he's had the summer, and I think he saw it during the pre-season games that they were, you know, some of the games were quite high-scoring games, both attacking and defensive. So why wasn't this addressed during the summer?

"Listen, three points are more important than three goals, unless you win. How many times have you heard someone say, 'oh, well, we got beat 5-3 or 4-3.' Yeah, but you got beat. You don't get points for getting beat."

What is Xabi Alonso lacking at Chelsea?

Looking back at Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen squad, there are certain differences that can be noted.

The back three of Jonathan Tah, Edmond Tapsoba and Odilon Kossounou was full of quality, but the Chelsea three is far from awful.

The problem comes more in the midfield. The Leverkusen two of Granit Xhaka and Roberto Andrich or Exequiel Palacios was strong and defensive, but progressive in their passing.

Without Moises Caicedo, Alonso is being forced to shoehorn right-backs into his midfield partnership, and his team are suffering for it.