Cole claims Alonso is ‘furious’ at Chelsea board over transfer decision in Brentford loss | OneFootball

Chelsea legend Joe Cole insists a “furious” Xabi Alonso sent a message to the Blues board during their 3-0 defeat to Brentford on Friday night.

The Blues were thrashed at the Gtech Community Stadium on Friday with goals from Jaidon Anthony, Igor Thiago and Fabio Carvalho giving the Bees all three points.

Chelsea sold Enzo Fernandez and Andrey Santos to Manchester City and Manchester United respectively over the summer with the Blues struggling to bring in another midfielder on deadline day.

Alonso started 36-year-old Jordan Henderson and Valentin Barco in midfield together against Brentford with Moises Caicedo and Reece James absent against Brentford.

Romeo Lavia remained on the bench in this game and Alonso turned to 16-year-old Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli, with Chelsea two goals down, to try and change their fortune.

And both former Brighton striker Glenn Murray and Chelsea legend Cole thought Alonso was sending a message to the Blues board with that subsitution.

Murray told Premier League Productions: “I think when Xabi Alonso brings on the young boy Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli at 16 when you’re 2-0 down, that is a message to the board that you don’t have enough in midfield with Santos and Fernandez leaving in the transfer window.

“It’s a big blind spot for them, they have had right-backs playing in the centre of midfield on a few occasions, today they have two natural midfielders in but bringing the 16-year-old was a big message.”

Cole added: “Glenn is absolutely right, Xabi Alonso is sending a message to the board saying we have not got enough and I’m putting a 16-year-old kid into midfield when we are chasing a game away to our rivals.

“That was clear as day for me. And the way he walked off at the end,  I think he is furious with that.”

Alonso on Chelsea vs Brentford: ‘We dropped our consistency’

Giving his reaction to his side’s performance, Chelsea boss Alonso said: “I’m disappointed at the end with the second half and the result. This is not enough to compete in the Premier League, not to be able to go for the 90 minutes. This is why today we were punished.

“At the moment, we are not being consistent enough to compete during the whole game – 45 [minutes] is not enough, you need to play the whole game knowing each detail is important and each action can be decisive.

“We dropped our consistency, and our competitive mentality needed in the second half. It’s about 95 minutes, and we have not been able to keep that level throughout these few games in the start of the season. It’s something that we’ll have to do better.”

The former Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen head coach added: “It’s not about talking or looking for excuses. We need to look at each other and know we have to work and improve.

“There is still a long way to go, but we have to check many things.”