Chelsea have been praised for their appointment of Xabi Alonso following a disappointing season that saw them go through two managers and miss out on European football altogether.
Alonso arrives this summer after a disappointing spell with Real Madrid, but his work at Bayer Leverkusen before that, along with his achievements as a player, have helped preserve his reputation as an up-and-coming top coach.
Marcel Desailly praises Xabi Alonso appointment
Former Chelsea star Marcel Desailly is firmly on board with the Alonso appointment, believing the Blues have finally got it right with this appointment. He told TeamTalk: "This time, yes."
“Because Bayer Leverkusen was a family club. What they achieved happens once every 10 years at a club where nobody expects it—going through the Bundesliga with strong management. So he has shown great skills and great ability there.
“But when I say Chelsea is a perfect club for him… look at when Chelsea started this project of buying young players. They initially brought in Mauricio Pochettino to lead it. Pochettino is a top coach, but he wasn’t given time. He wants immediate success; he doesn’t want to just develop players. He needs players who are already at the required level within his system. Afterwards, Chelsea had different types of coaches."
“But for Alonso, I feel he’s the perfect coach who can handle top-class players—without the overwhelming numbers he dealt with at Real Madrid—but who can also develop talent. You can already see it at Chelsea.”
Chelsea need guidance
According to Desailly, some of Chelsea's key players are in need of guidance that Alonso can offer, given his experience in developing players.
“There are around nine players in the squad who still need development,” Desailly added. “Joao Pedro still needs guidance. Pedro Neto and Cole Palmer as well. The attack should be built around these players.
“The defence also needs guidance. Are any of them automatic starters for their national teams? No. That means there is still room for progression, and Alonso is the ideal coach to help them reach their potential.”
Desailly is not wrong when he discusses the need for guidance at Chelsea. Some of these players have burst onto the scene only to drop-off pretty quickly in the absence of a figure who is willing to truly push them.
Enzo Maresca did a good job of developing players like Cole Palmer and demanding that such players continue to improve even when the rest of the world was busy being star-struck by their form.
Since the departure of Maresca, we have seen a noticeable drop-off from several players, and Alonso is going to have to hold them accountable from day one to get the best from them again.
The concern would be that Alonso lost the dressing room all too quickly at Real Madrid, and he is going to have to prove that he can run a very different operation at Stamford Bridge.
However, there are far fewer politics involved in managing Chelsea compared to Los Blancos, so things should be a little more comfortable for the Spaniard.
There is also an onus on Chelsea's board to get things right this time around. In Maresca, Chelsea already had their ideal manager from the point of view of having a manager who would go along with the board's strategy, not step out of line and still develop the young players to a high standard.
The moment Maresca stepped out of line and made it clear he needed one player - just one - the board ruined the relationship and ended up losing him. Any relationship is based on the concept of compromise, and if this board cannot understand that, this seemingly never-ending cycle of managers is not going to end any time soon.
The vast majority of managers are going to ask for even more than what Maresca did, especially ambitious managers like Alonso. Chelsea fans will be hoping that whole episode was a learning curve for this board and not something they haven't learned from at all.
Alonso may put that to the test, though it's likely he has already told the board what kind of signings he wants before agreeing to take the job. The Spaniard was a man in demand, which means the Blues chiefs likely had to compromise off the bat to get their man.
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