Xabi Alonso was acutely aware of Chelsea’s dire disciplinary record when he took the job in the summer. It was something he set out to change, and early signs showed he was succeeding in that pursuit. That was until his side fell apart against rivals Tottenham Hotspur, a side they have become so accustomed to beating at their home turf, on his worst night as Blues manager so far.
Cole Palmer’s red card, which was sandwiched between two Spurs goals in the final 12 minutes, felt like one that could only happen on an occasion like this. The deciding moment was a late challenge on Conor Gallagher, his studs catching his former team-mate on the ankle. A few inches further up and it would’ve been a straight red and a three-game ban. But the outcome on the match was the same due to earlier events.
His first yellow - just nine minutes earlier - was the result of ‘head-loss’ rather than an inadvertance of a contact sport. After being the victim of a cynical foul by Spurs midfielder Mateus Fernandes, who with his face on the grass clawed the ball away in a desperate attempt to stop a Chelsea attack, Palmer retaliated by barging into the downed Portuguese, connecting abdomen with face. It meant Palmer joined Fernandes in receiving a stonewall yellow. Tottenham boss Roberto De Zerbi thought Palmer should have seen red there and then.
Alonso insists that this was a teachable moment rather than a red flag of Palmer’s character. “I need to check the action to talk with Cole but it is one to learn for the future for sure,” he said.
Lapses like these harked back to the Chelsea of old, from a season where they received eight red cards, four more than the next highest team in the Premier League, while also ranking second for yellow cards with 90 cautions to their name.
Alonso, assisted by his older summer recruits like Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck, is intent to usher in a new era of maturity at Stamford Bridge. He had made undeniable progress in this regard since his arrival; prior to this weekend, his team were conceding fewer fouls and receiving fewer cautions per 90, and hadn’t seen red this term.
But the visit of fierce London foes Tottenham brought the biggest test yet of their nerve. Alonso used the phrase “emotional control” in his press conference before his first home derby, where he spoke of using the “electric” Stamford Bridge atmosphere to their advantage rather than their detriment. “We need to use it in a proper way,” he said.
That they did not. Chelsea were limp to the task of extending their supremely dominant run against Spurs, drowned out by the atmosphere and the rain, before frantically thrashing against the tide. They emerged deserved losers; was Tottenham’s first win at Stamford Bridge without conceding in 40 years.
On the emotional front, Alonso recognises there is still very much work to do as he repeated a sentiment held when he arrived: “We can do better.”
“We need to work and we need to improve in that,” he continued. “I think that we spoke yesterday about those things and to know that in those situations one first yellow card can be decisive, as we have seen, it's something that is a process, of the maturity of the team and of the individual players as well.”
De Zerbi, meanwhile, feels his team has found its “personality”. The events that led to Fernandes and Palmer’s altercation showed a Spurs edge that he is not something he is trying to discourage. “ I love watching my players fighting on the pitch,” De Zerbi said.
Tottenham have jumped to 12th after being rock bottom not long ago, their highest position since 2 January. After such a catastrophic start to the season, the storm clouds might be beginning to part for De Zerbi. That’s two wins from two since their warm-weather bonding camp in Marbella.
Now the onus is on Alonso to show his powers of recovery. After a start to life chock-full of encouragement, he has fallen to two of the Chelsea cardinal sins: don’t lose to Tottenham, and don’t lose to Tottenham at home. It’s as bad as bad nights come, even if it may only be one of his first.
Alonso has discipline to ingrain, just as he has confidence to re-instil. Mike Penders, the 21-year-old goalkeeping understudy to Emi Martinez who was compared to Thibaut Courtois pre-match, fell foul of a shocker own goal for Tottenham’s first as he punched into his net from a corner. Alonso is charged with picking a player of great potential back up off the canvas.
“We win, we lose together and it is part of the job to deal with and to overcome from mistakes, myself as well and everyone, so we support Mike and we support the rest of the team,” he said.
Chelsea have shown the team that they can be under Alonso, but mentally his players remain raw - something that can be detrimental when it matters most. The next days and beyond will be about the hearts and minds at Cobham as they try to shake off failure in an early test of character.