SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — Xabi Alonso has asked for patience as his new coaching era at the helm of Chelsea kicks off in Sydney this week.
As he was for most of his playing career, Xabi Alonso is in no rush. The former Liverpool midfielder became an icon for his metronomic style of play, his calm and considered passes, and his patient reading of space, time, and angles.
17 years on, that same thoughtful and rhythmic approach to his football is evident still, with the now 44-year-old delicately navigating a throng of excitable global football media as his stint as head coach of Chelsea begins with a friendly series in Sydney.
But while Alonso the coach has the same steadiness as Alonso the player, the footballing universe he is now stepping back into has morphed into something else entirely.
“It has changed a lot,” he told reporters on Monday. “It was a long time ago, I left in 2009. We’ve seen the progression and the development of the league, of the teams, of the clubs, the coaches as well, the players.
“They were good years, but now I hope that I can enjoy it as well as a manager. So far, I think that we have great qualities to work with. For sure, we are not the whole squad, but the ones that are training, they are doing well. They have good energy.
“We are spending time with the players from the academy that, to be honest, I didn’t know that well, and they have really impressed me. The quality and even being really young, they have top quality and are great projects to develop. So we are using this time to get there.”
One of those ‘great qualities’ is Morgan Rogers, who became the most expensive British player in history after signing for Chelsea earlier this month for a record-breaking £117 million ($157 million.)
The first half of Alonso’s short media appearance was about the English forward, who has not joined the team for their Australia tour, and who Alonso has not yet met.
Instead, he has brought a squad of young and peripheral players, with a sprinkling of bigger stars, for a pre-season series against Western Sydney Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur.
Its aim, for him, is to start understanding how these pieces can fit together, creating the same time and space he had done as a player for his squad to soak up and learn as much as they can before the Premier League kicks off on August 22.
“The idea is not to think too early about what’s going to happen in May,” he said, referring to the end of the Premier League season. “We need to go step by step. We want to have a good start, but for that we need to create good energies, good chemistry within the team, clear ideas, and that will develop for sure.
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“I’m sure that the team that will start in August won’t be the same team that we finish in May, and I’m sure that team in May will be better than the first day.
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“I don’t want to talk too early about what’s our goal. We want to have a good season. We want to deserve to be as high as possible, and for that we need to work hard. We need to develop this team with new players, new coach, new ideas. Sometimes it takes longer, sometimes it happens quicker.
“So be ready to try to develop this idea that we have, this plan. But so far, good feeling. Good energy. The players are working hard, and that’s what we want.”
Chelsea kick off their Sydney Super Cup against Western Sydney Wanderers on July 28 at Accor Stadium, kick-off 7:45 p.m. AEST (10:45 a.m BST.)
