Xabi Alonso played for Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich and was a key figure for Spain when their midfield dominated international football between 2008 and 2012. He does not need to be educated about the importance of control, but there has been a clear distinction between his identity as a player and how his Chelsea side have played. Chelsea’s average possession stands at 47.8% after nine league games.
They have made the eighth-most passes in the Premier League and are at their most dangerous on the counterattack. Give them space and they will run riot, but Alonso is yet to see a complete performance and knows they need to improve in midfield. Reece James has been out with a knee injury since September and the engine room lacks consistency.
Alonso has experimented with different partnerships but is yet to settle on his favoured lineup and will be forced into another change if Chelsea find themselves without Moisés Caicedo when they visit Sunderland on Sunday afternoon. The Ecuadorian, who has already had a spell on the sidelines with a calf injury, has not trained fully after feeling discomfort this week. It is a complication for Alonso, who keeps having to deal with injuries to key players.
The striker João Pedro is out with a thigh injury, the centre-back Maxence Lacroix is hamstrung and there will have to be further adjustment if Caicedo cannot prove his fitness before Chelsea face the league’s bottom side. Jordan Henderson is the obvious replacement for Caicedo. Chelsea could require the former’s experience given Sunderland probably need to turn the game into a battle, although they will also need poise in possession and are likely to get it from Roméo Lavia, whose elegance would make him an ideal in Alonso’s system if only it could be guaranteed his body was not going to let him down again.
We have been here before with Lavia, who has had little luck since joining from Southampton three years ago. The Belgium international barely played during his first season at Chelsea and has had plenty of false dawns since. The potential is not in doubt; the uncertainty is whether Lavia can stay fit.
Chelsea have not given up on the 22-year-old. Lavia has the talent to reach the top, but is he durable enough? He had not completed a full 90 minutes for Chelsea before going the distance during the Carabao Cup shootout defeat at Liverpool 10 days ago.
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