Three Red Flags Xabi Alonso Brings to Chelsea From Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen
Xabi Alonso is the new man in charge at Stamford Bridge, but his appointment comes with some warning signs Chelsea must heed in their quest to bounce back from a miserable campaign.
The Blues went from lifting the Club World Cup last summer to winning just four of their last 16 matches across all competitions-and two of those victories came against Championship side Wrexham and League One outfit Port Vale.
Sitting ninth in the Premier League and at risk of not qualifying for European competition next season, Chelsea pulled the trigger on Alonso to be Liam Rosenior's permanent replacement in the dugout, starting next season.
The hopes of Stamford Bridge now lie on Alonso's shoulders, but there's some warranted cause for concern surrounding his first job since getting sacked by Real Madrid just 233 days into a three-year contract.
Questionable Tactics Take Center Stage
It's unfair to make an entire assessment on Alonso based solely on his time at Real Madrid. After all, the Spaniard made history at Bayer Leverkusen, leading the German outfit to an undefeated Bundesliga title one season after they were in the drop zone.
Yet warning signs were already there in that historic season concerning Alonso's poise in big matches. Leverkusen had not lost a single match in 2023–24, and then in the Europa League final they fell 3–0 to Atalanta, looking wildly uncompetitive the entire match.
In 2024–25, Leverkusen finished in the top eight of the Champions League league phase standings, but crashed out of the competition in the round of 16 to Bayern Munich. Alonso's men did not even get on the scoresheet across two legs and were eliminated 5–0 on aggregate to an opponent they knew better than anyone else in the competition.
The same trend continued at Real Madrid. Yes, Alonso led the team to plenty of league wins against inferior sides, but when it came time for a heavyweight battle, Los Blancos faltered more often than not. They lost 4–0 to Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup semifinals, 5–2 to Atlético Madrid in La Liga, 1–0 to Liverpool in the Champions League and 2–1 to Manchester City in the same competition.
Of course, Alonso cannot shoulder all the blame for such results; after all, he's not on the pitch. But there's a concerning pattern that could only get worse in the Premier League, when he has to lead Chelsea week in and week out in the most competitive league in the world.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Three Red Flags Xabi Alonso Brings to Chelsea From Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen.
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This story was originally published May 17, 2026 at 4:00 AM.