It has not been an easy integration into Premier League football for Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders.

His first start in the English top flight was a disaster. Chelsea lost 2-0 to London rivals Tottenham Hotspur that day, with Penders at fault for Spurs’ opener.

Penders has recovered since then and played really well. Despite losing again on Sunday, Penders was solid against Sunderland, only conceding from a penalty.

However, there is still something in Premier League football that he does not seem to have quite come to terms with yet, and that has to change quickly.

Mike Penders discusses Sunderland’s low-block vs Chelsea

After Chelsea’s 1-0 loss to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, Penders was quick to point out the impenetrable low block his side had to go up against. The Blues finished the match with Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, Estevao Willian, Danny Welbeck, Geovany Quenda and Emmanuel Emegha on the pitch but could just not find a way past Sunderland’s backline.

“We had some chances, but it was difficult against 11 behind the ball to find the right spaces. We kept pushing, especially in the last 15 minutes, we kept dropping balls at them, but it wasn’t enough.”

Penders did envision a difficult game, but perhaps not for Sunderland to sit so deep in the second half. However, it is what the Belgian and his teammates need to expect in the majority of their games, especially when they are behind.

Low blocks have become such a common theme in the Premier League in the last few years, even beyond that. Back in September, Chelsea were actually fourth in the Premier League for percentage of time spent building up against a low block (22%).

All in all, Penders and Chelsea need to quickly get used to taking on low blocks like Sunderland’s and Brentford’s. It is something they struggled with in those games despite having Palmer and Rogers.

Perhaps things would have ended differently if Joao Pedro had played. In any case, Alonso needs to give Chelsea an attacking identity, attacking patterns, things we are yet to see since he has been in charge. That will help Chelsea deal better with low blocks in the future.