Joe Cole says Xabi Alonso sent a message to Chelsea board last night that was ‘clear as day’
Former Chelsea star Joe Cole believes Xabi Alonso has told the board at the club that he does not have suitable options in his squad for this season.
The Blues go into the international break off the back of a harrowing 3-0 defeat to Brentford, with them now three league games without a win.
There is no reason for Chelsea fans to panic too much. They were missing crucial players in Joao Pedro, Reece James and Moises Caicedo.
Joe Cole believes Xabi Alonso sent a message to the Chelsea board in Brentford defeat
The lack of depth in midfield saw first Premier League starts for Valentin Barco and Jordan Henderson, while 16-year-old Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli was brought on to make his debut in nightmare circumstances.
Cole believes the fact the teenager was handed this opportunity suggests that Alonso was sending a message to the board that he does not have sufficient options in that position.
He told Premier League Productions: “Xabi Alonso, that’s a message to the board saying we’ve not got enough that I’m putting a 16-year-old kid in to midfield when we’re chasing the game away at our rivals. And yeah, that was clear as day for me that and the way he walked off at the end, you know, I think he he’d be furious with that.”
The Spaniard decided not to use either Romeo Lavia or Malo Gusto off the bench, posing questions about whether they were fully fit to feature.
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Not making a late signing to replace Enzo Fernandez has seriously impacted Alonso’s plans in the opening weeks of the season, even if Caicedo will be one of the first names on the teamsheet when he is fit.
Lamine Camara was strongly linked with a move to Stamford Bridge in the final hours of the transfer window, but Monaco pulled the plug on the deal.
This saw the transfer window end with Henderson and Barco being brought in as the only replacements for Fernandez and Andrey Santos, which on paper looks like a significant downgrade.
There is going to be pressure on the Chelsea board to follow up on what was a promising transfer window in comparison to the last few years with a significant midfield addition, either in January or at the end of the season.
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