Alonso: "I Have a Scar Left From My Days at Real Madrid"
Xabi Alonso is preparing for his debut as Chelsea's head coach for the 2026/27 season. The Spanish manager opened up about his disappointing tenure at Real Madrid and his ambitions for the new project.
In about 20 days, Xabi Alonso will make his debut on the sidelines for Chelsea in the Premier League, as the Blues open the 2026/27 season in a derby against Fulham. These days, he is with the team at a training camp in Australia, where he recorded a loss yesterday in another derby, against Manor Solomon's Tottenham (1:2).
Alonso, who arrived at Chelsea with the goal of getting the club back on track after a disappointing season that ended in tenth place in the Premier League, held a relaxed press conference in Sydney. There, he shared his feelings about his disappointment in the past season — his unsuccessful tenure as coach of Real Madrid.
"Luckily, there aren't many scars in my professional career, — said Alonso. — But yes, I have a scar left. Now it has healed, and I am very excited and determined to enjoy the next stage, just as I enjoyed it when I started in Madrid. But you have to move on."
The 44-year-old Spaniard added: "When you look back at Madrid, you take the positive things and also the things that didn't work. I was very critical of myself and thought about what I could have done better, because it's clear it didn't develop as I expected. But you have to move on to other things."
Alonso, who played under some of the greatest coaches in the world like Carlo Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, and Rafael Benitez, said that it was precisely during his time as a player at Bayern Munich that he began to study the coaching profession in depth:
"I was very curious. I was at a stage in my career where I could enter Pep's office and ask him: 'Why is this happening? What is the game plan?'. Maybe at age 20 I didn't have the confidence to do that, but at that moment I felt I had to and wanted to ask."
At Chelsea, they believe that the experience he gained, along with his success as a coach at Bayer Leverkusen, make him the right person to lead the club's new project.
"Many things must come from both the head and the heart, — said Alonso. — I felt the timing was right for Chelsea and for me too. This is a good opportunity. This is a team that played very well recently, and the situation was not as bad as it seemed at the end of last season. There is great potential here, and we will see how long it takes. I felt I had an opportunity to enjoy the work as a coach."
