Chelsea shows promise under Xabi Alonso despite defensive issues

Chelsea’s 2026-27 Premier League season opened exactly the way you’d script it if you wanted to capture the club’s entire identity crisis in 90 minutes. A goal inside 31 seconds. A dazzling new front three. Two goalkeeper errors that nearly threw it all away. And a final scoreline, 3-2 over Fulham, that left everyone simultaneously excited and concerned. Xabi Alonso’s first competitive match as Chelsea manager delivered entertainment. Whether it delivered reassurance is a different question entirely. The good, the bad, and the goalkeeping Joao Pedro set the tone immediately, finding the net before most fans had settled into their seats. His strike, arriving just 31 seconds into the match on August 24, was the kind of opening statement a new era demands. Morgan Rogers, the British-record signing acquired from Aston Villa for a staggering £117 million, scored on his debut. Cole Palmer added the third. Three goals from three different attackers. In practice, Chelsea needed every single one of them because Robert Sanchez was busy gifting Fulham a way back into the match. Sanchez committed errors that directly led to both of Fulham’s goals, allowing the visitors to equalize twice before...