Xabi Alonso's Chelsea Start: Win Over Fulham and Cole Palmer's Performance
Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea reign opened with a win and a scare.
Chelsea edged Fulham 3–2, a lively, loose, very first-day-of-the-season kind of game, and for long stretches Cole Palmer looked exactly like the player Alonso wants to build around. Then, in the closing minutes, he started to labor. Hands on hips. Heavy legs. A few grimaces. Moments later, he was substituted, and the mood around Stamford Bridge shifted from celebration to concern.
Given Palmer’s recent history, the anxiety was understandable. Last season was shredded by injuries, his rhythm broken so often that he ultimately missed out on England’s World Cup squad. For a player of his talent, that cut deep. So when he came off against Fulham, Chelsea supporters feared the worst: here we go again.
Alonso moved quickly to calm the noise.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, the new Chelsea manager made it clear this was not a fresh setback, but the strain of a player pushing himself back to full match sharpness.
“I have really enjoyed his performance,” Alonso said after the 3–2 win. “He has played with responsibility, with maturity, but as well with freedom.
“So that’s very important for me that we get the best from Cole when he takes this role, but he feels the flow where he has to be involved in different positions. So happy for him. (If) we want to have a good team, we need a great Cole.”
The message was simple: cramp, not crisis. Palmer, Alonso indicated, is one of several senior players still adjusting to extended minutes again. The substitution was protection, not punishment.
Palmer back on the front foot
On the pitch, Palmer looked like a man trying to make up for lost time. After a stop-start 2025 campaign, he carried Chelsea’s attacking threat against Fulham, knitting play, demanding the ball, taking responsibility in the final third. It wasn’t just the touches; it was the authority.
Those inside the dressing room saw it too.
Morgan Rogers, a longtime friend and now a Chelsea teammate, didn’t bother with understatement when asked about Palmer’s display in his own media session on August 24.
“Yeah, well, everyone knows how good he is,” Rogers said. “Obviously, he had a difficult year with injuries and stuff last year.
“You can see in his eyes in preseason and in training that he’s ready this year and he’s ready to prove people wrong. You saw that with that performance, best one on the pitch by a mile, and that’s what he does.”
“Best one on the pitch by a mile.” From a player who’s known Palmer for years, that line carries weight. It also matches what Chelsea fans saw: a fit, sharp, hungry version of their creative hub, not a player still haunted by last season’s setbacks.
For Alonso, that combination of maturity and freedom is the foundation. For Palmer, it’s the platform he has been chasing since injuries derailed his rise. If this really is just cramp and not another chapter in a medical file, Chelsea’s new era under Alonso might already have its leading man.
