Gary Neville reveals where Chelsea need EVEN MORE signings after ‘all over the place’ Arsenal showing

Gary Neville criticised Chelsea’s “all over the place” back three in their loss to Arsenal on Sunday, revealing why Xabi Alonso will likely have to dip back into the transfer market to upgrade his backline.

Alonso suffered his first loss as Blues boss at The Emirates, as the reigning Premier League champions came from a goal down to snatch victory, despite Morgan Rogers’ strike after just 77 seconds of the heavyweight showdown.

Chelsea have now conceded seven goals in their three league outings to date, and Neville is convinced they will have to make major improvements to Alonso’s defence if they are to challenge for major honours down the line.

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.”

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Neville still predicts top-three Chelsea finish

Neville did, however, have praise for other aspects of Chelsea’s performance over the weekend, with wing-backs Pedro Neto and Jorrel Hato earning plenty of plaudits, alongside the dynamic forward line.

Indeed, the Sky Sports pundit still believes the Blues will finish third at least – and could even strive for second place on the basis of their start under Alonso.

“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.'”

Meanwhile, former Arsenal centre-back Matthew Upson sees Chelsea as Arsenal’s main competition for the Premier League title this season, detailing why they can contend with the Gunners despite Sunday’s defeat.