Xabi Alonso said he needed to take responsibility after Chelsea turned a miserable first half into a 6-3 cup win over Leeds at Stamford Bridge. The home crowd booed at the interval, then watched Chelsea score six times after the break to recover from 2-0 down. Alonso had made nine changes to his starting line-up, and he did not try to hide from that call.
Alonso's first-half judgement
"I need to take my own blame and my own responsibility on the things that happen," Alonso said after the turnaround. He added: "I need to be able to help them better so they are not responsible, and after you need to react and think what's better for the team."
That was the clearest part of his post-match message. He said he would analyse the decisions and learn from the night, which puts the spotlight on the way he set Chelsea up before kick-off and how quickly he moved when the game was slipping away.
Chelsea's league position gives the result some weight as well. They are 6th in the Premier League, so a cup tie like this is not just a noisy night at Stamford Bridge, it is also a reminder that the margin for another flat start is small.
The substitutes changed the night
Alonso made four substitutions at half-time, bringing on Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, Pedro Neto and Reece James to try to change the rhythm. Chelsea then found the goals that had been missing before the break, and the bench clearly had a part in the comeback.
Palmer's recent 7.9 rating in a 4-3 win fits the idea that he remains one of the players who can lift Chelsea when the game starts to tilt. Rogers has also been in form, with an 8.3 rating in a recent Premier League outing.
Alonso rejected a "cynical" reading of the gap between his regular starters and the players who came in at half-time. He still has a selection puzzle to solve, though, because the game changed once the first XI was broken up and Chelsea were forced to respond instead of wait.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →
