Much of the last week in the Premier League has bordered on the ridiculous. Spending in the transfer window went stratospheric. Total expenditure topped £3.4bn by Deadline Day’s close.
Chelsea’s outlay of £340m on 13 players was the second highest of any side. But their performances across the opening weeks of the campaign have turned heads, too.
At a practical level, Chelsea’s squad looks as balanced as it ever has during the Todd Boehly era, with a pivot towards recruiting experience over raw potential. Stylistic changes were necessary to reflect that. But have they come at a cost?
Attacking fluency under Xabi Alonso has been established early; the Blues are one of four sides still perfect in the Premier League. Wins over Fulham and Brighton were thrilling, and also completely chaotic, containing seven goals for and five against.
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from the Premier League match between Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion.
Fans will rightly be conflicted over what they have seen. In both games Chelsea conceded the majority of open play. Brighton limited them to only 25 per cent possession, the club’s lowest share on record in a Premier League game, while against Fulham that figure was no more than 38 per cent.
And yet, what they did with the ball in the finite time they had it was exceptional. After two match rounds, Chelsea are the division’s joint-highest scorers with seven. Five of those scored in the first half of games. The front three have been electrifyingly good at dictating the early tempo.
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Does possession share matter, then? What is clear is that Alonso does not especially care for isolated stats. “The data is not important,” he said after beating Brighton. “I don’t say ‘today we need to have 60 per cent or 20 per cent’. I never talk about those things.”
But 25 per cent possession is unprecedentedly low for any top-flight side, much less a top-six team. And comes with considerable risk against sides who will use that concession against them. “This is not something we usually see from the biggest teams in our league,” reflected Jamie Carragher on MNF.
Alonso, an elite playmaker himself, will have a case to answer if this pattern of outscoring opponents using quick transitions turns out to be unsustainable. His Bayer Leverkusen team won praise – and the Bundesliga title – because of the effective way they used the ball. Most thought a similar style would be employed at Chelsea.
Why might that not be the case, then? Firstly, the condition of the two games being analysed matters. Chelsea took the lead unusually early against both Fulham and Brighton, a nominally small pool anyway, and that changes the reliance on having the ball. Focus naturally shifts to protecting the advantage.
The second consideration is the limitation of Chelsea’s midfield options. Perhaps Alonso is simply reacting to the profile of players available to him. The pragmatic approach. With Enzo Fernandez gone and Moises Caicedo nursing an injury, ball-possessing midfielders are in short supply.
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Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher believes the signing of Enzo Fernandez will make Manchester City the biggest challenge to Arsenal in the race for the Premier League title.
Romeo Lavia, for now, is acting as the central pivot. He is being supported by Reece James. Cole Palmer has even forced to drop deeper to help out, but is never likely to cover the ground of a more naturally-minded central midfielder to play keep-ball. His value is in the three goal contributions already landed.
It makes sense, then, that Chelsea have so far steered clear of the possession-dominant route. Goalkeeper Emi Martinez hit 97 per cent of his passes direct against high-pressing Brighton, under obvious instruction from his manager. Clearly an effective way of using the pace and vertical movement of the terrific trio up top.
Can it work long-term? If Chelsea want to challenge for the Premier League title, it will be tricky.
Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, centre, celebrates with team-mates after scoring against Brighton
Since Opta records began, there are only two examples of teams who have finished inside the top four with an average possession share of less than 50 per cent: Everton in 2004/05 and Leicester in 2015/16. The Premier League has moved on considerably since then.
Missing out on targets late in the window, Monaco’s Lamine Camara being the main one, means that Alonso is perhaps a midfielder short of being able to hone every detail of his preferred style. But he does have the luxury of time to work on things in the absence of European football, making a domestic uplift more achievable. His squad will be well rested.
The need for better control in games will be properly stress tested against next opponents Arsenal on Sunday, live on Sky Sports. The champions are likely to offer a more realistic barometer of Chelsea’s title threat under Alonso this season. If they do manage to gain scoreboard control at any point, they will have to be much savvier with how they keep it.
Style will no doubt evolve over time; how radically is the interesting part. There is plenty to like – and a lot still to work on.
Watch Arsenal vs Chelsea live on Sky Sports Main Event on Sunday; kick-off 4.30pm
