Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso says the Blues are entering the new season with renewed confidence and positive energy as he begins the task of restoring the club to the top of English football.
Alonso made the remarks on Monday, July 27, 2026, ahead of his first competitive match in charge against Western Sydney Wanderers in Sydney on Tuesday.
The Spaniard officially assumed duty on July 1, 2026, following Chelsea’s disappointing 10th-place finish in the Premier League last season, which saw the club miss out on European competition. The Blues have not won the league title since lifting the trophy under Antonio Conte a decade ago.
Having strengthened his squad during the summer, with Morgan Rogers arriving from Aston Villa among the headline signings, Alonso expressed satisfaction with the progress made during pre-season.
“We want to build a competitive team. We are in that process. We have great quality, great talent,” he said.
“We need to know what it takes to compete in the Premier League, and we want to have a squad with the right balance between quality and mentality.
“But I think that we are starting the new season with good energy, and that’s going to be important.”
Alonso established himself as one of Europe’s most highly rated young managers after guiding Bayer Leverkusen to an unbeaten Bundesliga and DFB Pokal double during the 2023/24 season.
The 44-year-old is widely recognised for his possession-based style and preferred 3-4-2-1 formation, but he stressed that tactical flexibility will be key to Chelsea’s campaign.
“We will be flexible in our tactics, in our approaches and game plans,” he said.
“It’s not that I’m changing everything. It’s about updating. It’s about developing something that they have done with new concepts that each manager has.
“But the good thing is that many things that I like they have already done. So now it’s about changing or updating a few other things.”
Despite the expectations surrounding his arrival, Alonso declined to set specific targets for his first season, insisting that building a competitive team remains the immediate priority.
“I don’t want to talk too early about what our goal is,” he said.
“We want to be as high as possible, and for that we need to work hard. We need to develop this team with new players and new ideas, but sometimes it takes longer, sometimes it happens quicker.
“But so far, it’s a good feeling, good energy. The players are working hard, and that’s what we want.”
