‘Their legs aren’t connected to their hips’ – Gary Neville slams Chelsea trio after Arsenal woes

Gary Neville predicts Chelsea will make defensive upgrades over the next couple of transfer windows after watching Xabi Alonso’s “all over the place” back three struggle during Sunday’s defeat at Arsenal.

The Blues suffered their first competitive loss under Alonso as they succumbed to a fightback from the reigning Premier League champions at The Emirates.

It had all started so well for Chelsea after Morgan Rogers’ strike just 77 seconds in, before former Blues frontman Kai Havertz equalised for the Gunners and then had a role in Martin Odegaard’s second-half winner for the home side.

Chelsea have now conceded seven goals in their three league outings to date, and Neville is convinced they will need to make major improvements to Alonso’s defence going forward.

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Indeed, after watching events in north London, the Manchester United legend told the Gary Neville Podcast: “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. 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, Leonardo 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 Xabi 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.”

Neville still thinks Chelsea can push for top-two finish

Neville did, however, have praise for other aspects of Chelsea’s display at Arsenal on Sunday, with wing-backs Pedro Neto and Jorrel Hato earning plenty of plaudits, alongside the dynamic attack.

Indeed, the Sky Sports pundit believes the Blues are firmly in the mix to finish runners-up this season, and cannot see them ending the campaign any lower than third.

“I think they can finish second – third is the absolute lowest I can see Chelsea finishing,” said Neville. “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. It’s not perfect, they were always going to be [against Arsenal]. I wouldn’t have expected them to win – but that was as good as I felt they could have done in the game.

“They can go home tonight thinking: ‘yeah we can take that confidence out of that defeat’. That doesn’t sound right does it, when you’re at sort of the elite level?

“But I think that those Chelsea fans over there in the corner of the ground that have travelled from Stamford Bridge will be thinking: ‘yeah I can buy into what I’m seeing. I like this.'”

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