New Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso praised his forwards after an impressive performance that guided them to a thrilling 3-2 away win at Fulham on Monday night.
Alonso described them as “special” forwards after Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro combined to inspire his first win as Blues boss.
Alonso enjoyed the perfect start to his reign thanks to his decision to give Rogers, Palmer and Pedro the freedom to tear into Fulham’s defence.
Pedro took just 31 seconds to open the scoring with a composed finish from Palmer’s pass. This is now the fastest ever goal scored in the opening weekend of a PL season.
“We were a threat. The three strikers were combining well and creating chances.
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“Overall, the squad is balanced. The special players need to have the freedom but as well they need to have the responsibility to help the team,” the Spanish manager stated after the game.
“We know they have the talent to create many chances. It is a good start. But it is not to rely only on them. We need to have control, quality and toughness,” he added.
Rogers justified the whopping £117 million fee that Chelsea paid to Aston Villa to make him the most expensive British player in history.
The England star bagged Chelsea’s second goal, firing home with aplomb after Fulham had punished a mistake from Blues goalkeeper Robert Sanchez to equalize through Josh King.
Palmer joined the party after half-time, scoring from an acute angle to put Chelsea 3-1 up, in what is being termed as his best performance in a Chelsea jersey in a year.
Alonso was sacked by Real Madrid in January after less than eight months in charge.
The former Liverpool midfielder has a point to prove as he tries to rediscover the midas touch that led Bayer Leverkusen to an unexpected German title in 2024.
“It was a really intense game. We suffered, we competed, we did whatever it takes in certain moments,” Alonso said.
“The early goals helped to get confidence. At the end, you know you have to roll your sleeves up and fight to defend your goal,” the 44-year old manager concluded.
The victory lifted Chelsea into sixth place after one game, with the biggest takeaway being that they have what it takes to challenge for the title this season.
Chelsea will host Brighton in their second league match of the season before preparing for a mammoth clash against Arsenal in round three.