Can Xabi Alonso remake Chelsea in his image? The former Real Madrid manager searches for control in the chaos

Xabi Alonso built his reputation on dominant possession, but early signs at Stamford Bridge suggest a willingness to adapt his system to fit the Premier League's frantic pace. Aug 28, 2026 at 3:15 pm ET • 6 min read Xabi Alonso, the coach, has never quite fit into the image that many would have had of him when he brought his illustrious playing career to an end. The former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich midfielder was in many ways the embodiment of tiki-taka, the man who broke up the great Barcelona midfield on the international stage so that Spain could apply more control, and yet it is a label that he himself rejects. Too much "defensive possession," he insists.Alonso the player was all about control, and his teams have largely displayed that quality, but you would not have seen that deep-lying playmaker apply the remorseless high pressure that he is so committed to that it cost him his job at the Santiago Bernabeu. The 44-year-old can still ping passes with the best of them, and yet, at least before he came to Chelsea, his early weeks in coaching roles have been defined by a commitment to build strong defensive foundations before his side can get carried away with expressing themselves in attack.Much of Alonso's playing career was spent in teams where the idea of compromising one's playing style was an anathema. Spain, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid changed for no one. Rafa Benitez's Liverpool might have been a bit different; perhaps then it is notable that for much of the five years he spent in England he was intrigued by a switch to Arsenal and that great refusenik Arsene Wenger. And yet from the micro -- the shuffle to a back four that outfoxed Thomas Tuchel and handed Bayer Leverkusen the Bundesliga ascendancy -- to the shift in his own formation at Real Madrid, Alonso has proven himself a manager willing to change. Premier League Power Rankings: Chelsea off to strong start under Xabi Alonso; Man United, Spurs woeful Pardeep Cattry That then means that what we saw in Chelsea's season opener against Fulham is liable to change. Alonso's squad is still in flux, a new goalkeeper due to arrive in the form of Emiliano Martinez, Enzo Fernandez likelier than not to move to Manchester City. Even the formation remains in flux, a back three in the Premier League followed by what looked more like a 4-2-3-1 as Luton Town were slowly but convincingly dismissed from the EFL Cup. It may be some time before we see the manager's vision made plain at Stamford Bridge. And yet from his public utterances we are already getting a sense of what he wants most of all... and how hard it might be to apply.In his post-match press conference after Monday's visit to Craven Cottage, Alonso used the word "control" on four occasions. Asked to reflect on a customarily hectic English game, he said: "We can expect that in the Premier League, we can expect all other contexts as well. But to manage in different moments what to do, not to lose this control, this emotional control. "You know that the Premier League is fantastic because sometimes the games are out of your hands. You just don't control them so that the players on the pitch, they know what to do, they know how to manage it. For me it's as important as the tactics being right and this is a process." Control was probably the word that best defined his Bayer Leverkusen side, who posed the Bundesliga an unanswerable question in their unbeaten domestic season by asking what might happen if a team did not run aimlessly around midfield and instead tried to keep the ball? In the winter of 2025, Alonso told CBS Sports that he wanted his team to slow down, to make more passes in the opposition half so that when possession went astray it could immediately be recovered. "If we move too quickly and too far into the other half," he warned, "we'll be further from each other and it would be impossible to gegenpress properly."There were certainly plenty of opportunities for Chelsea to press on Monday night, which they did, their 329 high pressures a watermark that only Hull, Bournemouth and Everton sat above. That number in itself might be indicative of a newfound commitment to go and get the ball back -- the Blues ranked 17th for high pressures last season, averaging 27% fewer than they did against Fulham -- or it may just be that they had only 38% possession, the fifth lowest mark for a league game in Alonso's career. The only other times he dropped so low, Bayer Leverkusen were playing high-grade German opposition in the form of RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.Again we are firmly in the realms of small sample size. Chelsea might have seen so little of the ball because they raced out into a first-minute lead and spent all but the 18 minutes after Josh King's goal defending it. Or maybe it is a reflection of the talent they have. When your front three is as dangerously direct as Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro, get them the ball as fast as you can. Here again you might see the first signs of Alonso's adaptation to the situation he lands himself in. Much to their disappointment, Chelsea don't have a Granit Xhaka who can run play from the midfield pivot, particularly if Fernandez does indeed leave. Nor is it certain they have pockets of attacking talent as ultra-technical as Florian Wirtz and Alejandro Grimaldo, nominally a left 10 and a wing back but really a duo who could read and react to each other's movements and cause chaos at will. Cole Palmer and a fit Reece James might be an approximation of that, but even then their qualities might be better displayed at greater pace. The same is true for a great many of this energetic, expensively-assembled young side. CBS Sports The average possession sequence when Alonso was in charge at Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid contained around 4.5 passes. In his first game in charge of Chelsea it was just three passes. Compare the Blue's opener with how Leverkusen were operating when they were at their peak under Alonso, say the game where they won the title, and it is striking how much wider they played. It is notable too that they were able to move the ball forward more frequently, perhaps a sign that the delta of talent between Leverkusen and Werder Bremen in 2024 is greater than Chelsea and Fulham two years later.Of course, in 2026 possession is not necessarily a prerequisite for control. The link between possession and points no longer seems as tight as it did half a decade ago. Do Arsenal, for instance, seem any less in charge when they don't have the ball? A solid defensive shape and a back eight that can unleash the front three no one over the age of 14 should label either JP Morgan or CPR. You can see how that might work and how, during his time in the Spanish capital, a manager like Alonso could have seen the benefit of easing the workload on his forwards. For now, all we have are hints. A clearer picture might emerge against Brighton on Sunday, particularly if Moises Caicedo returns from injury. If the Ecuadorian midfielder were to return then it would be only Jordan Henderson and Marco Palestra unavailable with Wesley Fofana also returning from suspension. Does captain Reece James continue in central midfield? If so, does he serve as the focal point in possession? No one registered more touches or passes attempted than James at Craven Cottage. Chelsea's second goal featured the sort of powerful overlapping run from center back Maxence Lacroix, the middle man in the trio, that would have been familiar to Leverkusen fans. Will that, and the back three system that enables it, continue?Time will tell. The evidence of his managerial career so far, however, is that Alonso will be prepared to adapt in his pursuit of control.Chelsea vs. Brighton and Hove Albion viewing informationDate: Sunday, Aug. 30 | Time: 9 a.m. ETLocation: Stamford Bridge -- LondonTV: NBC SNOdds: Chelsea -125; Draw +280; Brighton +290