10 Nov 2026 13:28:17
Opinions on Alonso so far? ED01, I would like yours as well please.
I like the fact that he is decisive when viewing a player in the team, he acted quickly with Sanchez and has now done the same with Levi Colwill. He hasn't given the likes of Quenda or Barco many minutes so probably doesn't rate them and he clearly doesn't trust Estevao at this time nor Welbeck or Emegha as a striker. I don't agree with him on some of those players, particuarly Estevao, but at least he is decisive.
What I don't like is his negative set ups playing 4-3-3 against the likes of Sunderland and Spurs, 3 defensive midfielders was paying those sides way to much respect.
So, all in all I'm split on him but can't see any point in not giving him this season at least. That said, Real Madrid sacked him pretty quickly and no one else made a move for him.
Views appreciated please.
{Ed001's Note - I think a lot of his problems stem from his success in Germany teaching him the wrong things and now he is having to reset his ideas. In Germany the defending was awful, so he was able to take more risks, knowing the team would get plenty of chances and put them away. In the Prem, he has had to step that back as the risks just saw you ship so many goals. Now he just has to figure out the right balance.
I have to say, I can see why he hasn't give Barco much time, he looks dreadful. Ed77 told me Barco was bad, and I hate to admit it but he was right. He doesn't look top flight level at all. And that is the issue, you have a huge squad but so many are not really good enough. He needs a couple of seasons to pare the squad down a bit to workable proportions and with a higher level of quality.
It is a very mixed start, but he did have a lot of clubs interested, the issue was that very few that make a move mid-season for a new manager are in anything like reasonable shape. They are usually teams like Man Utd, on a death spiral, which is not a job he wanted to look at.}
10 Nov 2026 20:29:17
Thanks ED01 for your insight. Fair play to Alonso then for the reset and in fairness to him we are far tighter now at the back. It is going to take a season or two at least before we challenge again but my guess is patience is required? It took Artita and Arsenal 6 years of failure before getting it right!
{Ed001's Note - exactly, it is never a quick fix if you want it to work long term. It takes time to build a lasting change within a club. In the past, it was always expected that a manager would get a bare minimum of 3 years to effect change.}
11 Nov 2026 09:15:01
ED001
Alonso seems to be our new 'tinker man', not knowing what his first 11 are apart from the 3 forwards when fit.
He also seems to make silly decisions and give far too much respect to the opposition Sunderland the latest in line and playing Neto up top was rather silly.
Alonso has more or less a free week to work with the players and therefore we should at least see some resemblance of a first team.
You say a coach needs roughly 3 years but we all know he won't get that amount of time.
{Ed001's Note - I think he probably needed another job before coming to Chelsea to be honest. His time at Real Madrid seems to have affected him badly and made him question himself. He seems much less decisive than he was.}
11 Nov 2026 15:23:16
I would totally agree with what you say ED.