Amid the news that Joao Pedro was missing ahead of Chelsea’s clash against Tottenham, fans were then stunned to hear that it wouldn’t be Danny Welbeck replacing him – but Morgan Rogers.

For whatever reason, Alonso decided to push Rogers inside from his left-wing role to lead the line in Pedro’s absence on Saturday night. Rogers has the physique of a striker, but is largely more technical.

That is despite the presence of veteran Danny Welbeck on the bench. The England star, who has eight career goals and assists against Spurs, was overlooked. It was a gamble that completely backfired.

The alarming stat that proves Alonso got it completely wrong

Alonso’s tactics were pretty clear. Use the same tactics that saw Chelsea beat Brighton at Stamford Bridge: allow the opposition to come on to Chelsea and counter using the speed of Cole Palmer and Rogers.

The issue was that Chelsea underestimated the quality of Tottenham’s midfield. Against Brighton, Chelsea won the ball back in the Seagulls’ half 23 times. Against Spurs, it was only nine. Spurs keep the ball better.

Just 18% of his duels won, losing 82%. If Alonso was unsure about Rogers starting as a striker, he will be now. The club-record signing cannot be used up top by himself if he wins one duel every five actions.

Martin Keown brands Xabi Alonso decision as ‘strange’

The stats show Alonso got it wrong. In hindsight, the Chelsea boss will have been wishing he had just made the simple change and started Danny Welbeck, allowing Rogers to continue in his left-sided role.

Speaking on Match of the Day, Martin Keown said: “That’s a strange one. We know what Danny brings. They used him very late in the match, and I just can’t understand why they did not start with him.

“Morgan Rogers, I can’t remember seeing him start in that position while he was at Aston Villa,” Keown added, questioning the decision to go with Rogers up front instead of bringing Welbeck into the XI.

Hats off to Rogers for attempting it and throwing himself into 17 duels. But losing 14 of those is worse than awful. When Chelsea face Liverpool and Man United next week, surely Welbeck will be starting.