Gary Neville has criticised Chelsea for being “all over the place” defensively in the 2-1 defeat to Arsenal, insisting Xabi Alonso should focus on reinforcements at the back.
Chelsea took the lead early on at the Premier League champions on Sunday through Morgan Rogers, but the hosts struck back with strikes from Kai Havertz and Martin Ødegaard — and could have scored more.
Alonso’s 3-5-2 system saw Josh Acheampong, Maxence Lacroix and Wesley Fofana start in the back three — with Pedro Neto and Jorrel Hato as wingbacks — and Neville was not impressed.
“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,” he said on his Sky Sports podcast. “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.
“Maybe Chelsea will need to actually recruit more players as they move on through the next year or two with Alonso. He’s done a lot already. 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.”
Despite that frailty, former Manchester United Neville still believes Chelsea can challenge for the title.
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Chelsea, who finished 10th last season, have no European football to contend with in this campaign and had won both games before Sunday’s London derby.
“I think they can finish second — third is the absolute lowest I can see Chelsea finishing,” Neville added. “So that’s really good. 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.”
Chelsea play Leeds in the EFL Cup third round on Wednesday before hosting Hull in the league next weekend.
