Martin Keown is right, Xabi Alonso's treatment of Chelsea player vs Tottenham was 'strange'

Xabi Alonso will be wondering what went wrong against Tottenham, with Chelsea's manager's first conclusion likely to be that it was his team selection.

In an ideal world, the Blues would have started all three of their talisman attackers.

However, Joao Pedro's injury meant the Spaniard was forced into a change.

Instead of going like-for-like, the 44-year-old opted to experiment with Geovanny Quenda as one of the wide number 10s.

Morgan Rogers was deployed as the central attacking option.

However, the former Aston Villa man proved he was not quite as instrumental in leading an attack, with Alonso having another option on his bench.

Why Danny Welbeck should have started vs Tottenham

Danny Welbeck will be thinking to himself how he was only afforded a cameo appearance in the 88th minute against Tottenham.

With Pedro out injured, it was the perfect chance for the veteran forward to come into the line-up and make a difference.

Alonso thought differently with his selections coming under fire following the game.

Speaking on BBC Match of the Day, Keown questioned the decision to play Rogers out of position, with Welbeck left to watch on.

He stated: "That seemed strange. Danny, you know what he can offer, and they used him very late in the match, and I couldn't really understand why he didn't start."

The English striker has only started once in the Premier League this season, and while he did fail to score on that occasion, he has impressed against top-flight opposition.

Welbeck scored twice in the Carabao Cup against Leeds, showing the veteran can still get among the goals.

Alonso can't experiment with striker again at Chelsea

Alonso will undoubtedly have his own reasons and justification for starting Rogers as a number nine, but the forward proved he is not equipped for that role.

Against Tottenham, he had just one shot, which was blocked as per FotMob.

He created just one chance, resulting in expected assists of only 0.03, while he also failed in his two attempted dribbles.

However, the main evidence was his ability to go up against the opposition in duels.

Rogers won just three of 17 contested duels, with seven of those total duels being in the air.

Of those, he ended the game with a zero per cent win rate.

Rogers is not a striker, and he does possess the qualities to be an effective option there. Alonso will have learned his lesson.