Gary Neville criticised Chelsea's "all over the place" back three in their Super Sunday defeat to Arsenal - but believes Xabi Alonso's side are capable of finshing second or third in the Premier League table. Alonso suffered his first defeat as Chelsea manager at the hands of Premier League champions Arsenal, despite scoring first after just 77 seconds through Morgan Rogers. Chelsea have now conceded seven goals in three Premier League games - and Neville says the Blues may need to sign more players in their defensive line in order to reach a new level.
He told the Gary Neville Podcast: "The back three, when I watch them, it's almost like their legs aren't connected to their hips and the hips aren't connected to their bodies. It's almost like they're a bit all over the place. "I look at the sort of best back three probably that I ever saw which was the Juventus and Italy back three with Andrea Barzagli, Leonard Bonnuci and Giorgio Chiellini - three real giants.
"They worked together as a three, they knew how to position themselves, they were great in the air, they knew how to push up and when to drop deeper. They organised the people in front of them. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player "Maybe Chelsea will need to actually recruit more players as they move on through the next year or two with Xabi Alonso.
He's just needs to get a back three that feels solid. They don't look solid, they look like they're a little bit all over the place. So that that's the main thing right now." Neville did praise the rest of the Chelsea team though - including wing-backs Pedro Neto and Jorell Hato, and says they have a great midfield and forward line if they can keep their key players fit.
As a result, Neville believes Chelsea will at least finish third - and could strive for second place on the basis of their start under Alonso. "I think they can finish second - third is the absolute lowest I can see Chelsea finishing," said Neville. If you said that to me a year ago, I couldn't see where this project was going.
"I'm as positive as I have been for three four five years about Chelsea because I think they're going in the right direction. It's not perfect, they were always going to be [against Arsenal]. I wouldn't have expected them to win - but that was as good as I felt they could have done in the game.
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