Ahead of Chelsea's away Premier League fixture in Gameweek 5 against Brentford, Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso gave an interview to Sky Sports, discussing his performance since taking over Chelsea, his plans for the club, and other topics. The following is the first part of the interview.
Xabi, let's start with the big news: Clearlake Capital has now taken full control of the club. From your perspective, does this change anything?
For the club, it's good to have this clarity and full control over decision-making. For me, I think not much has changed because my relationship with Behdad (Eghbali) is very close and important. He came all the way to Madrid to meet me, presented the club's vision to me, and convinced me to join. We've always worked in alignment, making decisions together. But now everyone understands that the club needs to take more steps in terms of management and team building. Therefore, I want to be involved, enjoy the process, and pursue success with the ambition we should have.
As you mentioned, Behdad came all the way to Madrid to speak with you and convince you, and you also said that you two are aligned. Can you tell us what coaching philosophy and team-building vision you both share?
We share the same ambition: to continuously improve and develop our team and squad to be competitive across all competitions. We know where we are now and where we want to be, and all of this requires time. However, we've made some important decisions regarding what technical qualities our squad needs and the overall balance we should seek to improve our competitiveness. We must work towards this to realize our vision, while also being clearly aware that we're just getting started.
Every time a new manager joins a club, people immediately talk about: "Is this a complete reset, a total overhaul, or a gradual, soft transition?" Is there really such a thing as a "reset" at Chelsea? Or is this just a continuation of Chelsea's existing management plan?
In my opinion, it's not a reset. I see it more as an "upgrade"—making changes in certain areas or shifting decisions in another direction. For me, my primary focus has always been on the squad and team itself—the players we have, what stage of their careers they're at, when we brought them in, what we have now, and where we can still improve. This is an important decision and deep analysis I needed to do before coming here. Once we agreed and determined the direction forward, the next step is to implement those decisions firmly. Some of these decisions have already been implemented, and others are waiting for the future. But what's most important is that we're all on the same page and have strong belief in these decisions, which is crucial.
It's been just two and a half months since your appointment as manager was announced. Are you satisfied with the direction of the team right now and the decisions you've made?
I'm quite satisfied, in fact very pleased. You know, some decisions you can implement as you wish, while others you want to push through might not materialize immediately, but that's part of football. Overall, we're very satisfied with the changes and decisions made at this stage. Now we're entering the serious phase of the season; it's no longer just about talking about improvement, but about working hard and continuously improving based on the personnel we have, and understanding that we must learn from our mistakes while also building confidence from positive performances. We're in that phase right now.
The positive aspect of the team right now is clearly the performance of the three forwards, but you've always been honest and have mentioned issues that need to be addressed, clearly in the defence. What's your take on the team's current defensive shortcomings?
The key is that we must show more consistent performances throughout matches. We need to understand that the game has different rhythms at different stages and find a better balance between midfield and defence to make our overall defence more solid. I think we're not far from the goal, but this is an area we need to examine and address seriously.
People always love to talk a lot about tactical formations, especially in English football. During your time at Leverkusen, 3-4-3 was your system of choice and brought you great success. If, in ideal conditions, the personnel here suited it perfectly and everyone performed at their best, would that be the tactical approach you'd want to pursue in the future?
No, I'm actually quite pragmatic; I prefer to be flexible based on the characteristics of the players. Therefore, what I try to analyse and evaluate is: how to bring together the best players based on their qualities, build the best chemistry, and thus maximize their potential. It's never rigid—"I must always play 3-4-3, or I must play 4-4-2." For me, the essence is tactical philosophy, coaching principles, and subtle understanding among the players that drives chemistry. In some areas, we're developing very quickly; in others, it takes a bit more time to develop a cohesive group unit within the system.
At Chelsea, you clearly have a group of talented young players, and you've also added impactful senior players. However, in Leverkusen's 3-4-3 system, you relied heavily on wing-backs. But Chelsea's squad now has many pure wingers. Will it be difficult for them to adapt to such a system? Or do they need to learn to adjust?
No, I'm not just talking about wing-backs. Wingers can play as wing-backs, and full-backs can also play as wing-backs. For me, the key is whether they can develop good understanding and form a tight group unit within the team. I will never force them to do something that makes them uncomfortable, because if players are uncomfortable, they can't perform at a high level. What I pursue is helping them improve and adapt, but the premise is placing them in a tactical environment suited to their performances.
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