Alonso says Chelsea lacked “competitive mentality” and weren’t ready for Premier League level | OneFootball

Xabi Alonso spoke to the TV cameras after Chelsea’s defeat to Brentford, and didn’t hold back in his conclusions about his team.

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Chelsea were well beaten by Brentford in last night’s Friday Night Football in the Premier League, and after the game Xabi Alonso had to try to make sense of it all.

While this is all new for Alonso, what’s frustrating for Chelsea fans is how familiar it all is. We’ve heard the same message from multiple managers, and with a whole different set of players now in place.

This is clearly a cultural issue, and one that will take more than buying players and changing managers every year to solve.

Alonso “disappointed” by result and performance

BRENTFORD, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 18: Jaidon Anthony of Brentford scores his team’s first goal past Emiliano Martinez of Chelsea during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Brentford and Chelsea FC at Gtech Community Stadium on September 18, 2026 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

“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,” Alonso said in quotes picked up by the Chelsea official website.

“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.’

He’s got three weeks to work on it.

In other news…

Joe Cole saw one change Xabi Alonso made and knew exactly what it meant – a message to the board from the new manager.

Some of the most damning quotes after the game came from Chelsea defender Levi Colwill, who admitted his team were sometimes getting bullied by the opposition.