'Familiar story' as Alonso 'still appears to be experimenting'

[Getty Images] It was a familiar story for the Premier League's top scorers. Chelsea's entertaining 2-2 draw with Hull on Saturday means the Blues have now found the net 10 times this season - but they have also conceded two or more goals in each of their opening four league matches for the first time in 11 years. Only Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town have conceded more than Chelsea's nine goals in the top flight so far this season. The issue predates manager Xabi Alonso's arrival. Chelsea are now without a clean sheet in 20 league matches stretching back to January, their longest such run for 65 years. Alonso still appears to be experimenting. This week alone, he changed shape in three successive matches - from the defeat at Arsenal to the 6-3 Carabao Cup win over Leeds in midweek and again against Hull. Yet it was Hull who looked more likely to find a winner. No wonder there was a subdued mood at Stamford Bridge. Alonso summed up the feeling afterwards, saying his side needed to be "competing better" and avoid being "soft" in duels. There were also individual errors. Jorrel Hato misjudged a cross before Hull scored their equaliser, while Mohamed Belloumi's second goal came after Chelsea failed to clear a corner. Despite an early goal from Morgan Rogers and a second-half equaliser from Joao Pedro, with Cole Palmer involved in both strikes, Chelsea had to settle for a point. With Rogers, Palmer and Pedro in fine form offensively this season, the Blues know they need to find solutions defensively. Meanwhile, with Moises Caicedo out injured, Chelsea have looked short of quality and numbers in the middle of the park. Monaco pulled the plug on Chelsea's £47m deal to sign midfielder Lamine Camara on deadline day, having made attempts to sign Roma's Manu Kone and Fulham's Sander Berge as alternative options. Key defensive signing Maxence Lacroix was left out on Saturday but none of the defensive options have excelled this season, although their attack remain in blistering form. It will be on Alonso to fix these problems on the training pitch with no more opportunities to sign players until the January transfer window. Read more on Chelsea's familiar defensive failings here