According to a report by Metro on Saturday October 24, 2026, after Saturday's disappointing 2-0 Premier League loss to Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge, former Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge criticized Xabi Alonso's team selection.

Impressively, Tottenham beat their London rivals at Stamford Bridge, a rarity, and moved up to 12th place in the Premier League rankings.

Joao Pedro, Chelsea's leading goalscorer, was ruled out of the match due to an injury. Alonso started Geovany Quenda, Cole Palmer, and Morgan Rogers up front instead of Danny Welbeck.

Unfortunately, Chelsea's home performance was disappointing as they failed to create much danger or match Tottenham's intensity and struggled to establish an offensive rhythm throughout the match.

Alonso waited until the 88th minute to introduce Welbeck, the veteran forward, even though his team had already scored twice, despite their struggles in the final third.

Sturridge raised concerns about the Chelsea manager's choice to start the game without Danny Welbeck, claiming that the forward's skills and experience would have been an asset to the team.

When asked about Alonso's strategy in the London derby, the former England international spoke his mind on Sky Sports.

Disappointed by the decision to alter Chelsea's offensive configuration, Sturridge expressed his belief that the manager was mistaken.

Although Sturridge saw promise in Quenda, he implied that the addition of the adolescent disrupted the team's dynamic and had an impact on Palmer and Rogers' play.

Quenda is an excellent young player, no doubt about it, but he felt the team was ready to play Joao Pedro after their recent performance.

According to Sturridge, the attacking relationships within Chelsea were disrupted when Pedro's ability to play as a central forward was changed, since the defense's established approach had been based on that.

He went on to say that Welbeck had been around the block, and that Chelsea could have benefited from his knowledge of the game even though the forward lacked Pedro's dynamism and speed.

How quick is Welbeck compared to him? My bad. Is he just as lively? Indeed, he is not. What we do know is that he is a talented and seasoned football player who could have filled in for us," Sturridge continued.

Ultimately, the pundit stated that Welbeck should have started against Tottenham, which led to questions regarding Alonso's selection and tactical choices following Chelsea's disheartening loss.