“In any game, you can do better. That’s part of the process to learn from things that we can do better, things that we have done well. In the stage that we are now, it’s normal that we are going through these momentums.”
That was Xabi Alonso’s blunt assessment moments after Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to Tottenham in a Chelsea vs Tottenham friendly in Sydney, and it tells you almost everything about where his rebuild currently stands.
Alonso wasn’t rattled by the scoreline. He was diagnosing a pattern and the numbers from Accor Stadium back him up.
Chelsea dominated for the better part of 40 minutes after Tottenham’s Kevin Danso was sent off three minutes into the second half, yet finished with just four shots on target — identical to Tottenham’s tally, despite playing against 10 men for almost the entire half.
In front of a sell-out crowd of 80,363, that single stat is the clearest evidence of Alonso’s “game management” complaint: territory and control without a matching return in quality chances.
Chelsea lined up in the 4-2-3-1 shape Alonso has used throughout pre-season, with Cole Palmer and Estêvão given license to interchange off a central striker.
It’s the same platform that produced a 6-4 shootout against Western Sydney Wanderers days earlier — fluid in possession, but repeatedly punished for switching off at moments that mattered.
Chelsea fell behind in the 17th minute when Manor Solomon broke down the right and squared for Sandro Tonali, whose shot deflected in.
The response was immediate: Palmer sparked a swift counter, Jamie Gittens delivered the cross, and Estêvão headed home to level it inside four minutes. The first half was tight and even.
Then came the red card. With Tottenham down to 10 men for the entire second half, Chelsea pushed numbers forward and controlled the ball for long stretches.
Estêvão rattled the crossbar, Palmer went close from a free kick but the Blues were unable to find a second goal and seal the win.
In stoppage time, Tottenham substitute Jamie Donley struck the post from a rare foray forward, and Richarlison swept in the rebound to win it.
This is where the tactical picture matters more than the result. Once Tottenham dropped into a deeper, narrower block after the red card, they conceded space out wide but compressed the central areas Chelsea’s front four wanted to attack.
Chelsea’s crosses and cutbacks kept finding bodies rather than gaps, and with Romeo Lavia held back rather than risked for a full 90, the double pivot behind the front four lacked the extra runner needed to arrive late in the box.
The result was exactly what the stat sheet shows: plenty of the ball, not enough penetration.
This isn’t a new problem for Alonso, and it’s worth remembering how he answered it at Bayer Leverkusen.
He inherited a side treading water near the relegation zone in October 2022 and spent his first full season building the exact habits he’s now asking of Chelsea.
It was patient possession funneled through clear structural roles, and above all, defensive discipline in the moments after losing the ball.
Leverkusen went from mid-table strugglers to an unbeaten Bundesliga title within two years. Alonso’s message after Tottenham — that Chelsea are “going through these momentums” — is the same first-season diagnosis he gave at Leverkusen before that transformation took hold.
Estêvão was Chelsea’s most dangerous outlet, scoring the equalizer and forcing a smart stop off the crossbar.
Palmer’s instigation of the equalizing move was the clearest sign of his creative influence returning after a quiet post-World Cup layoff.
João Pedro’s persistence in the box drew the foul that got Danso sent off, while 17-year-old Dastan Satpayev held his place on the left flank without looking out of his depth against senior Premier League opposition.
Chelsea finished 10th last season under a managerial carousel that included Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior, and Alonso’s brief is explicitly to get the club back into the Champions League places.
His Premier League bow comes on August 24 at Fulham, followed by a first home game against Brighton and a trip to champions Arsenal on September 5 — an unforgiving opening month that will offer little time to keep “learning on the job.”
Chelsea’s tour continues with Juventus in Hong Kong in midweek, followed by AC Milan and Johor Darul Ta’zim before the squad returns to London.
A final home warm-up against Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge on August 15 will be Alonso’s last chance to test his patterns before matches start to count.
Alonso has never suggested Chelsea would be the finished article by August.
His comments after the Tottenham friendly reflected a manager more interested in long-term habits — discipline, composure, game management — than short-term results in matches that carry no points.
He’s fixed this exact problem before. Whether he can do it fast enough for a Chelsea side that opens its season in three weeks is the story to watch.
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