Xabi Alonso is a completely different character in the dressing room, according to Chelsea sources
On Saturday afternoon, Chelsea had just brushed Bournemouth aside with ease, and Xabi Alonso exuded a calm, composed, almost informal manager, relieved his side were back to winning ways.
The gaffer watched his Chelsea side take a 2-0 lead inside the first three minutes, eventually picking up a 5-1 win. His three changes worked, as Chelsea ended a run of three league games without securing a win.
Alonso laughed with reporters after the match, seeming his relaxed, unaffected self as he always does, while the cameras are rolling. But what is Chelsea’s new manager like in the dressing room on matchday?
Xabi Alonso is a different person behind the scenes
According to The Mail’s Kieran Gill, Alonso is a completely different character behind the scenes, in comparison to the man he presents in front of the camera. Alonso can turn it on in the dressing room.
Aside from the loss at Brentford, Chelsea have scored in the first seven minutes of their five other league games so far – with Jordan Henderson and Morgan Rogers scoring in the first two minutes on Saturday.
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Gill compared Alonso to former Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez, explaining that Benitez is largely placid, while Alonso is more than happy to blast a firework up the backside of his players if it is required.
Gill said, in his latest piece: “While Benitez was the unemotional type, we are told Alonso is capable of much more animation in the changing room than that which he projects in his press conferences.”
Standards are high, and it’s exactly what Chelsea needed
Liam Rosenior, Graham Potter, and even Enzo Maresca, to a degree, all saw some attitude problems while in charge at Chelsea. All three are capable of getting shirty, but it is Alonso’s calibre that sets standards.
There were times during the aforementioned trio’s time in charge that Chelsea’s players looked like they didn’t care, almost downing tools. Rosenior’s final game as manager at Brighton was absolutely woeful.
But Chelsea’s owners and Behdad Eghbali have now realised that managing a club like Chelsea requires a certain calibre, reputation and aura to get Chelsea’s biggest egos to listen and conform on the pitch.
Alonso has it. Yes, he’s been named manager, but Alonso has the dressing room onside, in stark contrast to Rosenior’s time in charge, when one unnamed Chelsea player nicknamed him the ‘supply teacher’.
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