Martinez debuts in 4-3 win at Stamford Bridge but Chelsea’s defensive issues persist

Emiliano Martinez made his Chelsea debut at Stamford Bridge against Brighton on Friday, coming on just five hours after his signing was confirmed, as Chelsea secured a 4-3 victory despite continued defensive frailties.

Martinez had completed only one full training session with the squad before the match and said he was "fit and ready" to play; the £7.5m signing from Aston Villa had in fact trained with team-mates after his move was completed prior to Friday's registration deadline, with public confirmation delayed for marketing reasons. Chelsea remain undefeated after two league games, their attacking output producing seven goals, but they have conceded five across those matches.

The Argentina international arrives with significant individual honours: Martinez is a two-time Fifa Best Goalkeeper winner and can point to those individual honours having helped Argentina win the World Cup in 2022 and, more recently, Aston Villa lift the Europa League in May. Manager Xabi Alonso said of his first appearance: "I am happy with his first impact. He has been in the building for 48 hours so now we will have the whole week to prepare for the next one and day by day we will feel his presence because he has this charisma, this aura to influence and to have a very positive connection with the rest of the team." Ex-Premier League goalkeeper Shay Given described the signing as a coup, telling BBC Sport: "Martinez is interesting. He's only just signed but Alonso's thought 'I'm not messing about, I'm getting him straight in the team'. The manager clearly thinks he needs someone of that sort of stature."

There was little criticism levelled at Martinez for any of the three goals conceded in the 4-3 win, unlike on Monday when Robert Sanchez was judged to be at fault for the first goal, and arguably the second, in Chelsea's 3-2 victory at Fulham; that sequence leaves Chelsea with five goals conceded in their opening two fixtures. After the Brighton match Martinez told Sky Sports: "A win is a win. I know it wasn't a perfect game. But in the end, winning and moving on is what we need. "I am here for a reason. The front three is amazing. When we go forward, we can hurt teams. We had a lot of chances to finish the game. Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro had chances to kill the game. At the back, we need to bring the goals down."

Sanchez, signed from Brighton for £25m in 2023 and who had not won major silverware before joining Chelsea, has been judged prone to errors in recent seasons and temporarily lost his place before regaining it; last season he made one error leading to a goal compared with three by Martinez at Villa. Chelsea's head of goalkeeping Ben Roberts had retained faith in Sanchez for a long period, but Sanchez is now considered available for transfer and has dropped to fourth in the goalkeeping pecking order at Stamford Bridge. On Sanchez's future Alonso said: "We will see. Sometimes you have to take tough decisions."

Alonso will also be worried by Chelsea's struggles to keep possession and their vulnerability from set-pieces; they recorded 25.9% possession against Brighton, the lowest share in a league match managed by Alonso across his spells at Chelsea, Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid, and completed just 146 passes, Chelsea's lowest figure on record (beginning in 2003-04) in a Premier League match. Midfield selection issues continue: Enzo Fernandez remained absent from the first team for a second match as Manchester City were expected to make a bid before Tuesday's transfer deadline, Malo Gusto and Romeo Lavia started in central midfield, Jordan Henderson was unavailable through injury and Valentin Barco was not yet trusted to start. Chelsea are exploring a move for Lamine Camara and want a replacement lined up should Fernandez join City in a deal expected to be worth more than £120m.

A shift to a back three after predominantly operating with a back four last season left centre-backs Wesley Fofana, Maxence Lacroix and Levi Colwill exposed at times, contributing to the defensive fragility that has seen Chelsea go 18 games without a clean sheet, their longest run since the 1960s; they have nonetheless scored seven across the opening two league games. Moises Caicedo also raised concerns when he was forced off just 11 minutes into his substitute appearance.

Alonso will face Arsenal next, and he said after the Brighton match: "No, I would say it is quite normal. It happens in many teams, other teams that they have already worked for and they are together and they have more games together." He will need to find ways to control matches if Chelsea are to maintain their early momentum ahead of that trip.