The chalice down to the dregs. Sunday, during the 38th and final day of the Premier League, Chelsea ended a cataclysmic 2025-2026 season by losing to Sunderland (1-2). As a result, the Blues will be content with a poor 10th place in the league and will not have the chance to compete in any European competition next season. A terrible failure for the residents of Stamford Bridge but also for BlueCo, which is currently struggling to get its project off the ground. Despite this blank season, the London management intends to restore Chelsea to its former glory. To do this, the Blues have already named their new coach. His name? Xabi Alonso.
Restore a real tactical identity
“Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Xabi Alonso as Manager of the Men’s Team. The Spaniard will take up the role on July 1, 2026, having signed a four-year contract at Stamford Bridge. Welcome to Chelsea, Xabi”indicated, as such, the Blues press release on May 17. Renowned for his tactical demands and his ability to build solid teams, the 44-year-old Spaniard arrives at Stamford Bridge with an immense mission: to restore an identity to the Blues and bring them back among the English and European leaders. Drawing on his experiences acquired at Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid, the former midfielder, who was granted the status of manager rather than simple head coach (proof of the confidence placed in him), now hopes to quickly make his mark.
The first mission of the Tolosa native will certainly be to provide the Blues with a real tactical identity. Indeed, since the departure of Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea have made numerous changes of direction, system, philosophy, without ever finding continuity. One of Xabi Alonso’s first objectives will therefore be to restore order to the tactical chaos. Renowned for his offensive play and his organized teams – capable of switching from a 3-4-2-1 to a more hybrid system depending on the opponent – the ex-Bayern Munich player should have full powers at this level. A room for maneuver which could therefore lead Chelsea to evolve in Alonso’s preferred system, with a three-way defense and very offensive pistons. But that’s not all. In addition to the purely tactical dimension, the new boss of the Blues will also have to take the full measure of a very young squad and most certainly… too large.
The summer transfer window, a major issue
As Chelsea prepare to play only one small match per week, reducing this XXL group seems to be an essential condition for imposing a coherent structure. As a direct consequence of the recruitment strategy carried out by BlueCo since 2022, Chelsea have, in fact, accumulated young talents without necessarily building a clear hierarchy. It is now up to Xabi Alonso to make the cut. Some players will have to be revived, others sold. With this in mind, Marca claimed in recent days that the Blues coach had already designated his five untouchables, namely Reece James, Marc Cucurella, Moises Caicedo, Tosin Adarabioyo and Enzo Fernández. An inevitable rebalancing to allow Chelsea to become a truly competitive team and not this simple addition of talent which has not actually given any encouraging results in recent months.
One of the recurring observations around Chelsea in recent seasons also concerns the lack of character in major events. Therefore, several sources close to the club indicate that Alonso wants to build a team of “mentality monsters”a phrase once popularized by Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool. Clearly, Chelsea have a lot of talent but few real experienced leaders and the new Blues manager intends to create this solid spine. To achieve this, Alonso will have the mission of identifying players capable of carrying the project on the pitch and in the locker room, but this approach could also reshape the London team’s strategy on the transfer market. Thus, contrary to the club’s recent policy, the recruitment of more experienced profiles this summer is widely considered across the Channel.
Identify leaders
Lately, The Athletic assured, in this respect, that the last transfer window of the Blues was considered internally as a major failure, in particular with the disappointments Liam Delap and Alejandro Garnacho. More generally, Chelsea have spent colossal sums since the arrival of the new owners but the observation remains the same: the Blues collective is still as unbalanced. Here too, Xabi Alonso will therefore be expected at the turning point to set a new dynamic where recruitment is part of a clear sporting logic, and no longer solely based on potential or market opportunities. THE Daily Mail also indicates that four needs have already been targeted: a reliable central defender, an attacker capable of guaranteeing 20 goals per season, more depth in the corridors and a more physical midfielder. Potential arrivals which will also be conditioned on future departures, at a time when several files remain uncertain (Fernandez, Caicedo, etc.).
One thing is certain, after another disappointing season in the Premier League, Chelsea must react. While many observers have set the top 4 objective for Xabi Alonso, the latter is tackling a project that is ambitious to say the least. Relaunching players who are losing momentum, shaping a real tactical identity, giving soul to this London team, balancing a group that has suffered from the excesses of the BlueCo project and obtaining immediate results… so many missions that the Spaniard seems ready to take on. The good news for Xabi Alonso is that the absence of European competitions will allow him to work more calmly on a daily basis, as Antonio Conte did during Chelsea’s title in 2017. The residents of Stamford Bridge are just waiting for that…
