Another reset has arrived at Chelsea, and this one comes with Xabi Alonso in charge after what the club viewed as its lowest point in recent years. Under BlueCo ownership, the feeling is that the side has moved through several distinct phases already, but this summer has brought a sharper change in tone, helped by a fresh transfer approach.<\/p>\n
That does not mean the tension around the club has disappeared. Supporters remain deeply unconvinced by the direction of travel, and 2026\/27 already carries the feel of a season that could define the next stage of the project. The task for Alonso is straightforward in theory, if not in practice: restore credibility, lift standards and make Chelsea hard to face again.<\/p>\n
Last season\u2019s 10th-place finish left them 13 points off the top four and 33 behind champions Arsenal, so a title push is not the benchmark. The immediate aim has to be a return to the Champions League places, with a domestic trophy adding value rather than serving as the main objective. Reaching the semifinals in either the FA Cup or Carabao Cup would at least suggest progress.<\/p>\n
The fixture list offers plenty of familiar tests, with Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham all among the key opponents. The opening match against Fulham also carries an added layer, given \u00c1lvaro Arbeloa now leads them after replacing Alonso at Real Madrid in January.<\/p>\n
Chelsea\u2019s summer business has been eye-catching. Morgan Rogers arrives from Aston Villa for $157 million, while Alejandro Garnacho has gone the other way on an initial loan deal. The squad has also been strengthened by Maxence Lacroix, Marco Palestra, Jordan Henderson, Danny Welbeck and Pep Chavarr\u00eda, with Geovany Quenda, Emmanuel Emegha and Valent\u00edn Barco now added as well.<\/p>\n
There is no shortage of intrigue in the squad. Est\u00eav\u00e3o enters his second season, Quenda is expected to make an impact, Mike Penders and Robert S\u00e1nchez are competing for minutes, Josh Acheampong hopes for a breakthrough, and Jo\u00e3o Pedro is being backed to build on a strong debut campaign.<\/p>\n
With no European football, Chelsea can focus on domestic competition. That may not be enough for glory, but it does give Alonso a platform to push the club back toward relevance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Alonso inherits a Chelsea side aiming to rebuild trust, climb the table and chase a Champions League return.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18587,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190],"tags":[1047],"class_list":["post-18588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea","tag-champions-league"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}