The Chelsea fans are certainly making it very obvious what kind of football they prefer to see.

New manager Xabi Alonso has been in charge of just three competitive games, and his record reads: played three, won three, scored nine, conceded five. If you are a neutral and figuring out what team you want to watch on TV right now, then Chelsea should probably be at the top of your list, for better and for worse.

Alonso is the fifth permanent head coach (manager, in his case) to be hired by the Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium since they bought the club in May 2022. None of his predecessors got the kind of reception the Spaniard received at his first home Premier League game, against Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday. Not only was his name sung on several occasions, a large banner was unfurled at the Shed End of Stamford Bridge which read “Not too Xabi, Alonso is a blue”.

The contrast to how Alonso is already being regarded compared to the longest-serving and most successful Chelsea manager/head coach in the post-Roman Abramovich era — Enzo Maresca — is the most striking of all.

Maresca won the UEFA Conference League and Club World Cup during his 18 months in charge. He got Chelsea back in the Champions League for the first time under this ownership group, too. Yet he never got a response like this from the supporters.

Alonso has brought a new style to Chelsea (David Ramos/Getty Images)

Maresca ordered the team to play a very possession-based form of football. It was effective on many occasions, but it did not win the hearts of the crowd.

Chelsea’s best playmaker, Cole Palmer, seemed to be operating with the handbrake on, something the England international inferred when speaking to Sky Sports after scoring in the season-opening 3-2 win against Fulham last Monday, although one should reflect that Liam Rosenior and interim Calum McFarlane also had spells in charge during the 2025-26 campaign.

When asked about the nature of his goal that night, when he ran onto a lay-off from Joao Pedro, Palmer said: “He (Alonso) just said I’d have more freedom (this season) to drift about the pitch. Just like you saw with the goal I scored. Last season, I wouldn’t have even made that run, because it’s not a ‘safe zone’. He’s (Alonso) saying, ‘Move across that zone, drop into play, come get on the ball, create and just do what you do’.”

Any popularity Maresca earned among Chelsea followers has probably evaporated completely, following the manner of his departure at the start of this calendar year and new employers Manchester City, who he joined in June as Pep Guardiola’s successor, having to pay the London club compensation for what took place.

But despite what occurred with the Italian, perhaps it is now being viewed as a blessing in disguise. Chelsea fans want to watch Chelsea games right now, rather than endure them. There are certainly a lot more ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ coming from the stands as Joao Pedro, Morgan Rogers and Palmer show off their tricks.

To further emphasise the difference thus far, Palmer and Joao Pedro combined for just two Premier League goals last season across the 38 matches. We are just two games into this campaign, and they have beaten that mark already, with three.

There is a price to be paid, as the goals-against column demonstrates.

Alonso’s first two league fixtures are more akin to the end-to-end encounters regularly seen under Mauricio Pochettino in 2023-24. Chelsea finished sixth that campaign, with the most league goals scored in a season under the current owners (77) but also a club-record amount conceded (63) since the Premier League era began in 1992. Pochettino did not win universal approval either, though that was partly due to his strong connections with previous club Tottenham Hotspur — who are among Chelsea’s fiercest rivals.

It is very early days, but keeping the ball is clearly not as much of a priority for Alonso as recent Chelsea bosses. It is a very small sample size but he sits a distant last among the five men hired by the Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium on a permanent basis to lead the team with 32.4 per cent possession after these first two league games.

The lack of control was there for all to see during yesterday’s 4-3 win against Brighton.

Despite coasting into a 3-0 lead in the first half, Chelsea ended up hanging on for the three points. They finished the game having conceded the most possession against them (74.4 per cent) since records began in 2003-04. Chelsea also completed only 146 passes in the match, which is their lowest home or away in a Premier League fixture in that time, too.

In fairness, there were always going to be teething problems as Alonso moved the system to a three-man defence. Personnel has changed too, while influential midfielder Moises Caicedo, who limped off again here 14 minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute, has yet to start under him.

Alonso made it clear afterwards that Chelsea’s desire to seemingly prioritise the counter-attack against Fulham and Brighton was not preconceived. He explained: “It is never that approach; I don’t say today we need to have 60 per cent or 20 per cent. I never talk about those things. It is about how to prepare, how to be more competitive. But the good thing is that you need to adapt; even during the game, there are different moments and some moments that we have done really, really well, and other moments that we can do better.”

That is certainly going to be the case when they face their first real test of the new era against a major side, next Sunday away to defending Premier League champions Arsenal — opponents they have not beaten since 2021. Surely Chelsea cannot afford to play this same open way at Emirates Stadium?

“I want to win, whatever it takes to win, and each game can be different, so we need to prepare for the best, we need to train for the best and be prepared for whatever scenario we have,” Alonso added. “So it’s not that this is going to be replicated against Arsenal. Today (Brighton) it was a big challenge, and it was a big test, and next Sunday it’s going to be a big one, but we can continue progressing on the good things and correcting the other ones that we can do better.”

There are bound to be some setbacks along the way. Arsenal on their own pitch might be one of them.

But you suspect Chelsea fans will get to enjoy the ride under Alonso a lot more.

Brighton & Hove Albion were 3-0 down at Chelsea after 32 minutes when Malick Yalcouye showed the visitors why they hope he can develop into their next midfield goldmine.

The 20-year-old won a challenge for the ball with Pedro Neto just inside the Chelsea half, advanced and slipped a pass through to Charalampos Kostoulas who got a shot away.

Yalcouye then collected the rebound to score with a twisting right-foot volley, which went in off the far post as the ball looped back to him after goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez had blocked the shot from Kostoulas.

Yalcouye, who became the fourth-youngest African player to score on his first Premier League start, did not celebrate wildly. He ran back towards the halfway line, beckoning his team-mates to ready themselves for the restart to continue an improbable comeback. It was a demonstration of intensity, quality and personality rolled into one.

Yalcouye in the moments after his goal (John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images)

The spirited recovery that had seen Fabian Hurzeler’s side score again in the 63rd minute effectively ended when Cole Palmer scored Chelsea’s fourth goal just after Yalcouye had been substituted 11 minutes later. However, his contribution to a crazy contest was the highlight for Hurzeler’s side from a 4-3 defeat that ended with a Pascal Gross consolation goal in added time.

Gross, at the opposite end of his career at the age of 35, and Yalcouye are part of the midfield remix for Hurzeler after the £70million ($95m) sale of Cameroon international Carlos Baleba to Manchester United, which was completed last week.

Baleba was bought from French side Lille in August 2023 to replace Moises Caicedo after the Ecuadorian’s £115m move to Chelsea in the same summer transfer window.

It is too soon to call Yalcouye — signed from Swedish club IFK Gothenburg for £7.6m in the summer of 2024 — the next Baleba or Caicedo, but his breakthrough performance at Stamford Bridge was an indication of his potential.

Hurzeler had just taken over then from Roberto De Zerbi as head coach in that summer two years ago. Yalcouye featured as a substitute in two friendlies during a pre-season tour of Japan before excelling on loan at Sturm Graz during the 2024-25 campaign, making 38 appearances; including eight matches in the league phase of the Champions League.

Hurzeler told The Athletic in January of that season: “I’m a big, big fan of him. Because I experienced (in Japan) a young player who comes from a different culture, who was not speaking the language perfectly, and understands the game in a really special way.”

Yalcouye is a typical Brighton signing. The Mali-born Ivory Coast youth international had only played 11 senior matches as the central cog in Gothenburg’s 4-3-3 system when he was signed. He started out at ASEC Mimosas in Ivory Coast, where he grew up. Legendary former Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure also went through Mimosas’ academy before beginning his career in Europe.

It did not work out as well for Yalcouye last season in Wales, on loan at Championship side Swansea. He only made 10 starts in the second tier, but a strong showing in pre-season prompted his promotion to the starting line-up at Chelsea on Sunday, with Swedish international Yasin Ayari ruled out by injury.

“It was an impressive performance,” Hurzeler told reporters after Sunday’s defeat. “We know since pre-season what he is capable of doing. He is a very young player. He needs to improve his physicality, but he showed personality, stepping into a tough environment and performing well. That shows me what he is capable of doing.”

Yalcouye was part of an inventive rejig of the midfield setup by Hurzeler after the late withdrawal of Ayari due to a slight ankle injury sustained in training on Saturday.

Yalcouye challenges for the ball against Chelsea (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Yalcouye and Gross pushed forward in support of Kostoulas, with Olivier Boscagli deployed deep in front of the back four. The Frenchman, normally a central defender, had been deputising at left-back for Ferdi Kadioglu; who returned from a minor injury that had ruled him out of successive 4-0 home wins against Aston Villa in the opening league fixture and in the Conference League against Tromso.

“It was another big change we had to make, but players react to these kind of changes in an impressive way when we try to find solutions,” said Hurzeler. “We wanted to have three midfielders and a clear No 6. I know Boscagli is capable of doing this, because he has played there in the past.

“(And) I know Malick (Yalcouye) has this desire to score. He can be very good at attacking the box, but also defending the box. He can run a lot. He was always in the danger zone for Chelsea. It was difficult for them to handle and manage him. That was the idea, to have three clear midfielders to dominate the game in possession. That’s what they showed.”

Hurzeler expects Ayari to be available to return for the visit of Leeds United to the Amex Stadium on Saturday. Colombian midfield prospect Matias Orozco has been added to the ranks from Deportivo Cali in his homeland. The 18-year-old completed a £3.5m move on Sunday evening. He is not ready for first-team involvement yet and will be loaned out in Europe, but Yalcouye has emerged into the midfield mix in Brighton’s post-Baleba era.

Nuno Espirito Santo makes a point after every away game of approaching the travelling West Ham United fans and thanking them for their support. But the Portuguese was stopped in his tracks in the drizzle at Vicarage Road on Saturday as those in the visitors’ section turned on him.

After the underwhelming 1-1 draw against Watford, West Ham were booed off the pitch as those in the away enclosure targeted Nuno with chants of: “You’re getting sacked in the morning”.

It was the first time they had expressed their frustration at the manager en masse at a ground. The head coach walked on to the field to thank the match officials and, standing away from his squad, briefly applauded the fans before turning to head down the tunnel.

“The fans are the most important part of our club and I respect them so much,” Nuno told reporters in his post-match press conference. “I understand everything. I just ask again: keep believing, keep trusting us, keep going and we’ll try to revert it. Hopefully, the win will come on Tuesday (against Wolverhampton Wanderers) at our ground. We need it.

“I’ve been in football for so many years. I understand everything and I respect every opinion.

“Pressure is every day. We are a big club and we are favourites to go up. We have three games, we have two points, (so) who’s happy? But me, I believe. I trust my boys, I work very hard with them. We are building a team and things will change. I’m positive.”

Nuno walks through the rain – and towards a chorus of boos – at full time (Elli Birch/Getty Images)

Former managers Graham Potter, Julen Lopetegui and David Moyes all preached patience and togetherness when they were subjected to similar chants, but it ultimately accelerated their departures.

On September 20, 2025, fans called for Potter to be jettisoned during a 2-1 home loss to Crystal Palace. He was sacked a week later. On December 3, 2024, fans turned on Lopetegui during a 3-1 loss to Leicester City. The Spaniard, only six months into his stint at the club, was sacked 34 days later.

Only Moyes retained the backing of the board, remaining a further 14 months and memorably winning the UEFA Conference League after a toxic afternoon against Brighton & Hove Albion in March 2023.

History suggests Nuno could have the same fate. His pleas for patience are falling on deaf ears, with West Ham looking anything but promotion favourites. They let a two-goal lead slip in the season opener against Burnley, struggled defensively in the 2-1 home loss to Charlton Athletic and are yet to keep a clean sheet across five fixtures this season.

The head coach had already lost most of the crowd’s backing long before a ball was kicked against Watford.

Discontent has been brewing for months after Nuno presided over relegation from the Premier League. Daniel Kretinsky, the club’s major shareholder, played an important role in Nuno remaining as head coach when others were in favour of a managerial change. The impending arrival of 21-year-old Viking Stavanger winger Edvin Austbo, for a fee in the region of £18million ($24.4m), shows the board are trying to give Nuno more options ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.

A £12million offer has also been submitted for 19-year-old FC Midtjylland winger Mikel Gogorza.

West Ham need experience and players who can make an immediate impact. It is early days, but midfielder Arne Engels is yet to justify West Ham’s sale of Freddie Potts to Club Brugge. At the weekend, the £22m summer arrival from Celtic started alongside Mohamadou Kante, but struggled offensively and seldom tested Watford’s defence with his set-piece delivery.

A dejected Arne Engels at the final whistle (Elli Birch/Getty Images)

A common criticism of Nuno centres on his tactical decision-making. After the exuberance of youth carried the team to success in the midweek EFL Cup tie against Southampton, only Kante, Divine Mukasa and Airidas Golambeckis retained their places in the side. Surely the in-form Lewis Orford, who registered two assists at St Mary’s, was equally deserving of a place in the starting XI.

Joshua Ajala scored twice in that fixture but was an unused substitute at Vicarage Road. When West Ham were chasing a late winner, Nuno made a like-for-like change in the 86th minute, bringing on left-back Ollie Scarles for Kyle Walker-Peters. It was a missed opportunity given Ajala’s new-found confidence.

“It’s hard to say that it’s positive when you don’t win a game, but it happened to us again,” said Nuno of West Ham’s performance. “We conceded first, then the reaction was really positive, the way we pressed and kept believing. Overall, I believe we were more dominant… We created a lot of situations but still require improvement.

“I have nothing (bad) to say about the attitude and the belief of the players. This is more important for us moving forward; believing in the process, the way we are doing things, admitting that the results are not happening.”

Ahead of Tuesday’s fixture against Wolves, who dropped down to the Championship with West Ham at the end of last season, Nuno needs to repay the faith shown from the hierarchy. Otherwise further scrutiny will heighten the uncertainty around his future.