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Evening Standard

12 September 2026

Evening Standard

12 September 2026

The new manager has witnessed plenty of action in front of goal since taking charge — though not all of it has been welcome.

Xabi Alonso has confirmed that his decision to take off Jorrel Hato at half-time during Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Hull was purely tactical.

The Blues went ahead early against Hull but found themselves 2-1 down by the interval after Mohamed Belloumi struck twice. Hato was at fault for the first goal, with the ball bouncing over his head and allowing the Algerian to finish past Emi Martinez. Joao Pedro scored after the break to level matters and make sure the points were shared.

Hato was replaced at half-time by Pep Chavarria, and Alonso made it clear the change had nothing to do with injury. He told reporters: “We wanted a player with another profile. Pep is different, that was the decision.

Chelsea are beginning to build a reputation as one of the Premier League’s most entertaining teams, with 19 goals seen across their opening four matches.

Substituted: Jorrel Hato

Getty

That is due in part to a back line that has looked alarmingly open at times, with the team’s strong attacking unit repeatedly helping them out.

“I hope one day you will [come to the post-match press conference] and say it was a boring game,” Alonso joked with reporters, before acknowledging: “[This result] repeats patterns we are making. It will take time to fix them.

“When we get the lead, you still need to be competing, and not to give chances so easily for them to come back.

“Especially the first goal, we can do much better. It was too soft to give them this goal, because then we were controlling, we were creating chances, and that momentum we had changed the mood and the score of the game.

It is something we need to be talking [about] and need to address

Xabi Alonso

“It is something we need to be talking [about] and need to address. It has had an impact on our performances.”

Asked whether his defenders were his biggest concern, Alonso added: “We can do better. We need to know that even when we have the lead, a very important part of the game is to hold together, keep the distances, to go intense in the situations to defend, and I am sure we can do better.

“We need to be aware that in any situation, any team in the Premier League can hurt you. Today it was from a long ball, two bounces, the way it happened, you need to be very aware.

“You have to be ready. The danger can come from any situation. If you are soft, you are not prepared, you will be punished, and today we were punished.”