Xabi Alonso at Chelsea Is Not the Manager You Think He Is!

Six games into the Premier League season, Chelsea had just 25.6% possession against Brighton. Fans asked whether Xabi Alonso had abandoned his philosophy. But what if we’ve misunderstood what his philosophy actually is? In this video we go back to Leverkusen in October 2022, when Alonso took over a team in the relegation zone and turned it into Bundesliga champions. Then we look at the data behind his teams, including the Bayern match where he deliberately gave up the ball, and what it tells us about how to judge Chelsea. Chapters 0:00 Chelsea’s possession problem 0:44 What if we’ve misunderstood Alonso? 1:23 Leverkusen in the relegation zone (October 2022) 2:28 The philosophy everyone expected 2:56 The transformation: the unbeaten double 4:13 February 10th, 2024: Leverkusen vs Bayern 5:08 The benching and the plan 6:51 The numbers behind the Bayern win 8:03 What the data says: weak vs strong opponents 9:50 Is he just a counter-attacking manager? 11:25 Possession is a means, not the goal 11:45 What he learned from Benítez, Mourinho, Ancelotti, Guardiola and Del Bosque 15:44 Is Alonso better than Pep? 16:35 Dublin, May 2024: the Atalanta defeat 17:49 Back to Chelsea: what to judge 19:10 The question Chelsea fans should be asking If you enjoyed this, like, share and subscribe. #XabiAlonso #Chelsea #PremierLeague #FootballTactics #BayerLeverkusen