The Xabi Alonso rumours have managed to pick up some serious momentum over the past couple of days. All the fingers are starting to point in that direction. Unless something concrete was not going on behind the scenes, one would not think that the most reliable voices in football journalism would back up the speculation and confirm the interest.
At the same time, BlueCo know that they need to get this appointment right. Most fans view Alonso as that candidate. So, unless they were confident about their chances of landing him, would so many rumours leak to the media?
Anyways, just because Alonso is the most popular choice does not mean that he is going to be a guaranteed success. Far from it. We have actually seen him fail already this season, as he was sacked midway through the campaign by Real Madrid.
That has led some to reach the conclusion that he might not have the personality to manage a top club and egos. Should Chelsea look somewhere else as a result?
Is Xabi Alonso ready for the Chelsea job?
Ian Herbert does not seem to think so. He suggests that Alonso does not have ” the force of personality” required for the Chelsea job. He also feels that the “egos of the Real Madrid dressing room seemed a little too much” for the Spaniard, and he would not do well at Stamford Bridge.
Herbert is not impressed by the other rumoured candidates for the job either. The likes of Andoni Iraola, Marco Silva and Oliver Glasner. Instead, there is a former Chelsea player who stands out to him.
In his piece for the Daily Mail, Herbert seems to argue that Cesc Fabregas would be the right man for the job. He wrote:
There was a reason why Arsene Wenger entrusted Cesc Fabregas with the Arsenal captaincy at just 21 and why Mourinho later described him as ‘a coach on the pitch’ during Chelsea’s 2014-15 title-winning season.
Cesc Fabregas might not even be open to leaving Como
For many Chelsea fans, Fabregas would be a good choice as well. But from everything that has come out over the last few weeks, it does not seem like he is ready to leave Como yet.
And even if he does, Chelsea might not be the job that he wants. Fabregas might not view it as the right environment to take his coaching career forward. Most rising managers would not after what we have seen over the last four seasons.
There has been all this talk about the long-term BlueCo project. But since the takeover, the club have had five different permanent managers in four seasons as well as two interim ones with lengthy spells to see out campaigns.
As things stand, Alonso seems like the most realistic option for Chelsea, and arguably the best one as well. He is a proven league-winning manager, which none of the other candidates is when it comes to management, including Fabregas.
