Alonso admits 'I’m not going to go there' when quizzed on Chelsea absentee

Xabi Alonso admits he made a mistake with Moises Caicedo, having been without the midfielder for the clash with Arsenal. The Blues took on their London rivals on Sunday afternoon, slipping to a 2-1 defeat.

Morgan Rogers had given Chelsea the lead, only for Arsenal to turn the game around via Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard. Xabi Alonso was without key midfielder Caicedo for the game.

The Ecuadorian has endured a frustrating start to the season, having missed the opening day win against Fulham. He returned to make a 14-minute cameo against former club Brighton before being taken off again.

And Alonso has now suggested that his appearance against the Seagulls might have been an error of judgement but has assured that Caicedo is not dealing with a serious issue. The Chelsea boss said: “It is not longer term but it’s about assessing the risk.

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“Probably, last week, we took him too early and I don’t want to make the same mistake again. It’s easy after defeats to talk about the players that you are missing.

“I’m not going to go there, I am happy with the players that we have. For sure all the managers need to deal with injuries, with suspensions.

“To have all the players available for all the games is impossible. But we need [Caicedo and Colwill] because they are top players and with them we are a better team.”

Despite having Caicedo out, Alonso was satisfied with the display of his squad, albeit recognised there needs to be improvement.

He said: “I want to compete in the best possible way to win. Today we didn't want to sit deep from the first minute and to wait and to make a long game.

“We wanted to be active, we wanted to be protagonists in the pressing, sometimes to go higher, sometimes lower, to have good possessions. And we have done many right things.

“We need to make it better, we need to learn from them, because this is the top level. When we have to play top level, we want to be as efficient and as accurate in all the phases of the game.

“But this is where we are, this is game three for us of this new start, this new phase that we are starting with Chelsea. But I'm happy with the spirit and the attitude from the players. They have given everything, they have tried and they fought really hard.”

Alonso and Chelsea face another quick turnaround this week, with the Blues scheduled to take on Premier League rivals Leeds in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening.