What Xabi Alonso can bring to Chelsea as Calum McFarlane reveals incentive for final games

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Evening Standard

·18 Mei 2026

What Xabi Alonso can bring to Chelsea as Calum McFarlane reveals incentive for final games

Spaniard has signed a four-year deal at Stamford Bridge

Calum McFarlane has admitted that regularly changing the manager can “cause problems” at football clubs, as he welcomed the stability that Xabi Alonso may bring to Chelsea.

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The Blues have appointed the former Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid head coach as their new manager, with the Spaniard to begin work on July 1 after McFarlane has guided them through to the end of the season.

Alonso has signed a four-year contract, and Chelsea believe his appointment comes after they learned lessons from the failed three-month tenure of Liam Rosenior and the frictional end of his predecessor Enzo Maresca’s reign.

Alonso will become the third man to lead Chelsea from the dugout in a full-time capacity since December.

“I think it is always difficult with change,” McFarlane admitted.

“Changing managers, changing ideas — you’ve seen it many times: it can cause problems. Sometimes it works well, sometimes it doesn’t.

“It is not my place to say what the club needs. I know what this club is capable of. They’ve shown it. It’s not my place to say what the club needs, moving forward.”

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Alonso has been given the job title of manager rather than head coach as part of a process that will see the Spaniard given greater decision-making powers than many of his predecessors.

McFarlane said: “I’ve got no idea on what his exact role will be or where the difference will be between manager and [head] coach.”

It was put to the interim head coach that Chelsea’s performances and results in their two remaining fixtures this season against Tottenham on Tuesday and Sunderland on Sunday might be better for the clarity around Alonso and their desire to impress the new manager.

“Potentially,” McFarlane said. “I do think that these are top-level professionals, elite athletes that only get to this level by having a certain mindset — and they will want to win those two games regardless of if there is a manager in place or not.

“You saw that at Liverpool, you saw that in the [FA] Cup final. There's a professional pride there that we need to tap into. But, yes, maybe it gives them a little bit more incentive to know that their manager is watching.”