Xabi Alonso says his spell at Real Madrid left a scar, but he is carrying it into Chelsea. He spent seven months in charge, managed 34 matches and won more than 70% of them before being sacked in January. The results were not the whole story, though, and Alonso has been unusually open about what he thinks went wrong.
Alonso on the lesson from Madrid
"Looking back, I take the positives and the things that didn’t work," Xabi Alonso said to si.com. "I have been very critical of myself, thinking about what I could have done better because it did not go as expected."
That self-assessment matters more than any easy replay of the Madrid exit. Alonso also said, "There are many experiences, the adaptation I had to do, some things that worked and some things that did not in terms of the game, in terms of the man-management. It is a mixture of everything."
The clearest flashpoint the source points to was the 4-0 drubbing against Paris Saint-Germain, when Vinícius Júnior was played out of position on the right wing. Gareth Bale’s view was blunt, too: "When you arrive at Real Madrid, you don’t need to be a coach. You need to manage the egos in the dressing room."
Chelsea's different test
Alonso is treating the Madrid spell as a lesson rather than a warning sign. "Because you learn from the disappointment of things that were not meant to be and you try to think that things will be better," he said.
He added that the scar has healed and that he is motivated for the next step. Chelsea have already moved in the direction Alonso is describing, targeting veteran figures such as Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson as part of a deliberate push for more seniority.
That gives his comments a practical edge. He is not walking into a squad built only on youth, and he is not pretending there is a fixed formula for the right balance. "You need the right balance of personalities," he said, pointing to different maturity stages across a squad.
Chelsea start with a Premier League trip to Fulham on 2026-08-24, then Brighton at home and Arsenal away.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →
