Xabi Alonso called it a “performance to build for the future”.The 3-2 win for Chelsea under their new head coach, away to west London rivals Fulham, was a performance of brilliance and blunder.Let’s start with the good. The system works, at least in attack.Alonso has copied and pasted the 3-4-3 he used to win the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen in 2023-24 (when they ended 11 years of Bayern Munich dominance), providing a straightforward solution to the main question of Chelsea’s pre-season: how do you get Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer in the same team?Using them as dual ‘No 10s’ (attacking midfielders) behind Joao Pedro proved decisive, as they all scored and Palmer ran the game. He had plenty of licence to roam, sometimes out on the right, where the pitch opens up for a left-footer.Palmer showed his technical quality in the build-up to the first two goals: he threaded a first-time through ball for Joao Pedro to put Chelsea ahead after 30 seconds, and later spun away from Jorge Cuenca to find overlapping centre-back Maxence Lacroix, who provided the cutback to Rogers for 2-0.Chelsea’s right side operated with dynamism, as players interchanged positions seamlessly. Below, midfielder Reece James has dropped in as a centre-back to switch the play to wing-back Jorrel Hato. Palmer, showing for the ball, is a deep-lying ‘No 6’ temporarily, and right centre-back Josh Acheampong provides the width.Systems, on the simplest level, are about putting your best players in their best situations as frequently as possible — even if Alonso insists he will not “build around” this front three but create his side “with them”.“We need to have good links to reach them, and they need to help the team to be solid,” the head coach told the media after the victory.Palmer only scored and assisted in the same league match once in 2025-26 (against Leeds United in February), while he and Rogers were involved in eight of Chelsea’s 18 shots.The other area of strength for Chelsea was their 5-2-3 press and transitions from regains.It is how they carved open Fulham inside a minute, as their hosts tried to build up with wide centre-backs (in an effort to stretch Chelsea’s front three). When Lacroix headed Cuenca’s long ball back where it came from, Fulham’s centre-backs could not narrow themselves quickly enough, leaving space for Joao Pedro to run and Palmer to pass.Chelsea made five final-third regains in the first half, more than in 36 of their 38 Premier League matches last term, with Palmer and Rodgers energetic at shutting down opponents.