The Changes Chelsea Must Make to Convince ‘Top Manager Target’ to Join

Chelsea’s decision-makers are under significant pressure to get this call right.

Chelsea are under significant pressure. | Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar/Getty Images

Chelsea have identified former Real Madrid boss Xabi Alonso as their early favorite for the vacant manager job, a report has claimed, but have work to do to convince the Spaniard to move to Stamford Bridge.

Blues fans have grown increasingly frustrated with those making the decisions at the club, staging vocal protests against the ownership, sporting directors and recruitment chiefs in desperate pleas for a new strategy.

Recruiting Liam Rosenior as Enzo Maresca’s replacement in January has only added to the pressure after the Englishman lasted just 106 days and oversaw a collapse that has almost certainly cost Chelsea a spot in the Champions League, so getting the next manager right has become more important than ever before.

A number of names are under consideration, but according to the Daily Mail, it is Alonso who has moved out in front. Club officials are now focused on convincing the former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich midfielder to take the job, which may not be an easy task given the circumstances.

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Allow Greater Involvement in Transfer Decisions

Xabi Alonso has a clear vision. | Fadel SENNA/AFP/Getty Images

While Chelsea’s managers are not thought to be entirely distanced from recruitment conversations, it is clear they have been forced to operate under a rigid framework set by those upstairs.

Co-owner Behdad Eghbali’s plan to sign exclusively young players with high potential, overseen by sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart alongside recruitment directors Joe Shields and Sam Jewell, has not yielded the desired results and has prompted vocal opposition from the likes of Enzo Fernández, Marc Cucurella and Tosin Adarabioyo.

Convincing anyone to become the latest face of an unsuccessful, wildly unpopular project is a tough ask, not least Alonso, whose downfall at Real Madrid was partly created by the ownership’s refusal to let him introduce a vision that had turned Bayer Leverkusen into undefeated Bundesliga champions just 12 months prior.

As former boss Mauricio Pochettino recently warned, Chelsea’s owners need to listen to something other than data. Managers have an indescribable feel for players that goes beyond the numbers that have proven gospel at Stamford Bridge in the past few years, and Alonso would need to be given the chance to build a team in his vision, rather than the vision of a computer.

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Freedom to Make Tough Calls

Vinicius Junior presented the largest obstacle for Alonso in Madrid. | Alberto Gardin/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Among Maresca’s many gripes as he left the club in January was a feeling that those above him did not trust his ability to make decisions and support his judgment.

Reports suggest the Italian faced pressure from upstairs when it came to selecting certain players, revolving largely around fitness but also involving the board’s desire to accelerate the progression of their expensive project players. Teenage winger Estêvão is thought to have been at the center of that debate.

Whether you agree with Maresca’s own decision-making or not, the past few months have made it abundantly clear that those responsible for calling the shots at Stamford Bridge have massive holes in their own judgment of on-field issues. Forcing their way into certain aspects of locker-room life is clearly unsustainable.

If Alonso wants to bring in a new formation, demote underperforming players or make any other massive calls, he needs the freedom to do so. Chelsea have to put their faith in their manager, whose entire job is to manage the team. Eghbali, or any of those alongside him, may well have their own opinions, but trusting the person in the dugout is vital to any positive work relationship.

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Clarity Over Long-Term Vision

Chelsea fans want clarity from their ownership group. | Catherine Ivill/AMA/Getty Images

Chelsea’s owners evidently took an ambitious approach to the future when they first arrived. The Blues are built on success, with trophies almost mandatory at a club widely hailed as one of the best in the world over the past 20 years.

They still want that success, but have thus far challenged managers to deliver with a project designed around winning further down the line. That would be a difficult task even if there were no problems with the project, let alone one as flawed as Chelsea’s current approach.

Is Alonso expected to win immediately, or is the pressure off while he builds for the future? Only one of those answers is going to appease the fanbase, but it has been made abundantly clear at this point that Chelsea’s decision-makers have no issues upsetting the Stamford Bridge faithful.

Regardless of which avenue they choose, Alonso must be informed and must be given a suitable platform to deliver. If he fails, let it be because of his own shortcomings, rather than those above him.

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