{"id":397,"date":"2026-08-04T21:10:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T21:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/footballars.xyz\/?p=397"},"modified":"2026-08-04T21:10:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T21:10:15","slug":"chelseas-new-look-back-four-is-solid-but-theres-still-one-concern-for-xabi-alonso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/footballars.xyz\/?p=397","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea’s new-look back four is solid but there’s still one concern for Xabi Alonso"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Going into the new season, we are much happier with the state of Chelsea\u2019s defence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We started the last campaign without Levi Colwill, and no other Chelsea<\/a> defender was quite able to fill his shoes while he remained sidelined with an ACL injury.<\/p>\n

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Fast forward to the present, Colwill is fully fit again and now has a new centre-back partner, Maxence Lacroix.<\/p>\n

Alongside Reece James and either one of Jorrel Hato<\/a> or Pep Chavarria<\/a>, that is a pretty solid backline. With that being said, there will be some doubts about Hato and Chavarria in the left-back position.<\/p>\n

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Do you want to see Pep Chavarria, Marco Palestra or Jorrel Hato at left-back next season?<\/h3>\n

Chavarria didn’t do a bad job in the Conference League final against Crystal Palace<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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No guarantee Jorrel Hato and Pep Chavarria will be successes in 2026\/27 season<\/h2>\n

Chelsea are confident that Hato can succeed Marc Cucurella<\/a>, who joined Real Madrid earlier in the summer.<\/p>\n

However, watching Hato last season, the 20-year-old looked much more confident and assured in the centre-back position. His best games for Chelsea came there.<\/p>\n

Hato can certainly do a job in the left-back role. He has been deployed there enough times in his career to understand what is required in that area of the pitch.<\/p>\n

But defensively, the Dutchman is not as solid as Cucurella. As for Chavarria, there are some similarities between him and Cucurella<\/a>, but the Rayo Vallecano man has never played in the Premier League<\/a> before.<\/p>\n

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Ultimately, while Chelsea\u2019s new-look defence has the potential to be a very sturdy backline as a whole, we really do not know what we are going to get from Hato and Chavarria yet.<\/p>\n

Hopefully it does not become the case, but left-back could be pinpointed as a possible weakness in this Chelsea side<\/a>, that and the goalkeeper position.<\/p>\n

Robert Sanchez made some high-profile mistakes last season, but he could be replaced by Porto\u2019s Diogo Costa.<\/p>\n

It has been claimed that Chelsea are holding discussions to sign Costa<\/a>. Chelsea are also thought to be closing in on Chavarria<\/a>, so the Spaniard and Hato look set to be Xabi Alonso\u2019s<\/a> two left-back options in the new campaign.<\/p>\n

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