Chelsea suffered a damaging 3-0 defeat to Brentford in the west London derby on Saturday, leaving manager Xabi Alonso's defensive problems painfully exposed. It was Chelsea's 11th loss of the calendar year — more than they accumulated across the entirety of 2025 — and their winless run in the Premier League now stretches to three games.

"You need to feel it. We're not feeling it," said Alonso, a sentiment that cuts to the heart of Chelsea's difficulties. His side have now gone 22 consecutive Premier League matches without a clean sheet, conceding at least two goals in each of the last five league outings under his management.

Set-piece vulnerability returns to haunt Chelsea

Brentford's game plan was never a secret. Set pieces — long throws, rehearsed corners, aerial menace — are central to everything Keith Andrews' side do, and Chelsea obliged by surrendering another goal from a dead-ball situation. It was the fourth time in five Premier League games that Chelsea had conceded from a set piece, taking their tally since the start of last season to 23 — joint-worst in the division.

Brentford midfielder Vitaly Janelt confirmed the intent was clear from the interval. "We did target the back post at half-time," he told Sky Sports. "There was a big gap at the far post. We targeted that and I think it was our first corner of the second half." Emiliano Martinez, caught flat-footed near the back post, could not prevent the opener.

The irony is not lost: Chelsea employ Austin MacPhee, widely regarded as the Premier League's finest set-piece coach, and previously poached set-piece analyst Bernardo Cueva from Brentford itself. Despite those credentials, the back-post weakness persisted.

"We have not been good enough — at times we have been bullied and we need to improve at that," admitted defender Levi Colwill. "But we trust in our set-piece coach; we are still adjusting to new things, but we do need to improve as a team."

Deeper defensive rot

The set-piece problem is only one layer of a wider defensive crisis. Chelsea are conceding an average of 2.2 non-penalty goals per game — a figure their expected goals against data entirely justifies. They rank among the top three sides in the Premier League for shots conceded inside their own penalty area, allowing approximately 10 per match. Their goalkeepers are routinely exposed to direct pressure with minimal protection.

"We concede the first goal, you're still in the game, but then we lose the shape. We were out of control," said Alonso. The collapse in the second half against Brentford illustrated that pattern starkly — Chelsea's "competitive mentality," as Alonso himself described it, evaporated once they fell behind.

Chelsea did start brightly — this was the first Premier League game this season in which they failed to take the lead inside the opening 10 minutes, though Pedro Neto went close early on. But once Brentford seized control, the familiar bad habits returned. On the bench for the Bees for most of the afternoon was record signing Mamadou Sangare, whose presence underlined Brentford's considerable squad depth in midfield.

Alonso under pressure but Cahill urges patience

With Moises Caicedo sidelined, Chelsea lack the midfield anchor that holds their structure together — and it showed. Summer arrivals Jordan Henderson and Valentin Barco both started but were outplayed by a Brentford midfield that dominated the second half with ease.

Former Chelsea captain Gary Cahill urged perspective, telling Sky Sports: "It doesn't happen overnight. I think he will be judged in the next five, six, seven weeks to get this right because you will have that time on the training ground and then we should start to see his methods coming through."

Joao Pedro is emerging as Chelsea's most consistent attacking threat — and tellingly, this was the first game this season in which Chelsea's much-discussed frontline was broken up, and the first in which they failed to score. "It's not just set pieces," said Alonso. "In defensive duels, build-up and controlling games." The international break arrives at a timely moment — if there is enough time to fix what ails them.