Chelsea could end a disappointing season by winning the FA Cup against Manchester City this weekend, but that’s not expected to be enough to keep Calum McFarlane in the managerial role beyond his interim capacity.
Ben Jacobs has reported that the club has already started speaking with prospective candidates to take the coaching role at Stamford Bridge, with ‘positive talks’ having been held with Xabi Alonso in the recent past.
Liverpool have also been linked with Alonso, formerly their player, with doubts over Arne Slot’s future but with the Dutchman now expected to retain his job by securing Champions League football, Chelsea may have an unobstructed path to landing Alonso.
Alonso’s appointment a risk for Chelsea
While many believe Xabi Alonso has proven himself at Bayer Leverkusen, where he won the domestic double without suffering a single defeat, there have been doubts over his qualities, especially man-management from his last role at Real Madrid.
From a tactical standpoint, he was unable to decide on a primary setup for nearly six months into the job at the Bernabeu, whereas his football particularly failed to yield the desired results in the end-to-end games against bigger opposition.
Xabi Alonso’s management of superstars in the dressing room was also questioned, as he was believed to have not treated players fairly in the sense that Vinicius Junior, who has rejuvenated in form since his sacking, was benched without much justification.
If Chelsea hire him, they risk facing all the issues that led to the Spaniard parting ways with Real Madrid earlier this year, but there is also a possibility that he robustly works everything out with them like he did with Bayer Leverkusen two seasons ago.
A major factor influencing their decision-making would be if Chelsea are willing take those risks and how much time they are willing to provide Alonso considering they have already let go of two managers this season for failing to yield necessary results.
