Xabi Alonso says Chelsea have a trait he’s never seen as a manager after Bournemouth win

Chelsea returned to action on Saturday in style after beating Bournemouth 5-1 in the Premier League.

A large factor behind their victory was the quick start they were able to make. It took Jordan Henderson just two minutes to open the scoring before Morgan Rogers doubled Chelsea’s lead a minute later.

After the game, Xabi Alonso discussed Chelsea’s ability to score goals so early in matches. Before the international break, the Blues lost 3-0 to Brentford, but in their 2-2 draw with Hull City prior to that west London derby, Rogers needed less than 10 minutes to put the Blues in front.

Braces for Jordan Henderson and Joao Pedro 👀

Since becoming a manager, Alonso has coached Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen. In terms of individual talent, Real Madrid arguably have the best team in the world, but they did not score early goals under Alonso as frequently as Chelsea.

In fact, this trait of scoring so early in matches that Chelsea now have, Alonso has admitted he has not seen it before at any of the other clubs he has managed.

In his post-match press conference, he told football.london and other outlets: “I have nothing to do [with it], so I don’t have the answer. We always speak about how we try to start the game with good energy, but I have no explanation, no credit to me.

“It has never happened to me in such a short period to score that many early goals. So, let’s see if we can keep doing that. But after the goals, many other things need to happen. Maybe I prefer to score the first one in the last minute. It will happen one day, hopefully.”

The Blues are obviously being helped by having one of the best attacks in football. Again, Rogers was able to score against Bournemouth, his fourth goal in the Premier League this season, while Joao Pedro managed to grab a brace.

Cole Palmer was not on the scoresheet, but the attacking midfielder did provide an assist. The star of the show, though, was undoubtedly Henderson.

Henderson set a record against Bournemouth on Saturday, becoming the oldest player in Chelsea history to be involved in three goals in a single Premier League match. On top of his two goals, the 36-year-old was also able to set up one of his teammates on the afternoon.

Understandably, Alonso was delighted with Henderson’s performance, which has come at the perfect time. There have been huge concerns about Chelsea’s midfield this season after Moises Caicedo’s injury problem and the sale of Enzo Fernandez. However, both Caicedo and Henderson managed to deliver for the Blues on Saturday and show what they can do as a midfield pairing.