Soccer
Xabi Alonso delighted by Morgan Rogers’ immediate impact at Chelsea
Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso is glad to see Morgan Rogers enjoying himself in blue as the England international prepares to face Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, where he could have ended up had things worked out differently this summer.
The Premier League champions seemed a likely destination for Rogers after the World Cup before Chelsea sealed a £117million deal with Aston Villa.
Rogers scored on his league debut in the 3-2 win at Fulham and looks set to become a key man in Alonso’s reshaped squad.
Alonso feels there is plenty more to come from the 24-year-old, who has quickly rekindled his understanding with close friend Cole Palmer, the pair having been in the Manchester City academy together.
“Talking about the squad planning and taking big decisions, for sure, Morgan’s one was a big, big one to get a player of his stature in present and future,” Alonso said at a press conference.
“He will be a key player for the next six, seven years. Right now, he has had a great impact.
“His chemistry with the whole team is great, the chemistry with his striker partners is fantastic and that is happening in a short time.
“It gives us a lot of hope for the future. And he looks really happy as well, so that is important.”
Chelsea sold Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City on deadline day but were left frustrated when a bid to bring in Lamine Camara from Monaco collapsed late in the day.
Alonso, though, believes the squad still has plenty of depth in midfield.
“We have different qualities, personalities, like Valentin (Barco), he is young, but he has come with great energy,” the Blues boss said.
“We have Hendo (Jordan Henderson), he has the composure, the mentality, he knows what is going on in the game so he is getting closer and closer to playing time (after injury).
“With Romeo (Lavia), Reece (James) as well, even Malo (Gusto) can play (there), (Reggie) Watson as well, Mahdi (Nicoll-Jazuli) from the academy.
“We have options and we need to have the right balance and we think that we have quality, competitiveness for all the season and to face each opponent.”
Alonso’s new-look Chelsea have won all three of their games so far.
However, they prevailed 4-3 against Brighton at Stamford Bridge last weekend having only around 26 per cent possession.
Former Real Madrid boss Alonso, though, is not about to concern himself with a data analysis overload as he tries to slow Arsenal’s impressive opening to their title defence.
“After a game you have so many stats and it depends on what you look at, you can have a different read,” he said.
“If you see the possession, it tells you something. If you see the xG (expected goals), the number of shots, it tells you another thing.
“We are able to adapt and for sure there will be games that we have a lot of possession, but we have struggled to score.
“We are in early days, we have had two games, two wins, but we are aware that we can do better and we want to do better. I think that we will improve for sure.”
