One game a week: The Chelsea season preview

What to expect from Alonso

As many of you will know, Xabi Alonso properly kickstarted his managerial career when overseeing Bayer Leverkusen, and he did so in some style. In his first full season with Leverkusen - 23/24 - Alonso’s ridiculously well drilled side went on to win the Bundesliga and DFB Pokal, all the while, remarkably, losing only 1 of the 53 matches they played in all competitions that year - the Europa League Final - which turned out to be the very last game. Shockingly, Alonso was almost immediately wanted and subsequently was snatched up by Real Madrid, seemingly only needing 2 full seasons to prove his worth to the world. However, this time in Spain for Xabi Alonso will be disregarded in this article. This is because, on paper, his tenure in Spain was largely successful (with a 72% win rate and 45 points from 19 La Liga matches) but undeservingly came to an end due to power struggles with the notoriously egotistical Madrid dressing room. This led to him having to change his normal tactics, to a more conventional 4 at the back. 

Now that you’re familiar, let's move on to how the Spaniard plays his football and what it could look like at Chelsea. Interestingly, when compared to the former Blues manager, Enzo Marseca, and his style of play, Alonso’s tactics look rather similar:

To give you the exact figures from the table, during the highly impressive 23/24 campaign, Alonso’s side ranked first in the Bundesliga for possession, on average, with 62.1%, first for accurate passes per match (597.8) and first for passes per sequence (5.01). Despite this, Leverkusen placed last for direct speed - how fast a team plays the ball straight forward toward the opponent's goal during a possession - where, on average, the ball moved at 1.71 m/s. In the same fashion, Maresca’s Chelsea of 24/25 ranked 3rd for average possession (57.2%), 3rd for accurate passes per match (451.5), but 17th for direct speed (1.64). If this tactic does transfer into English football smoothly, we should expect Xabi Alonso to request that his players play with precision yet simultaneously in a more relaxed manner. Resultantly, Chelsea may play unlike the sweeping football of the more modern top-flight managers such as Andoni Iraola, instead preferring to dominate and slowly suffocate their opposition as opposed to hitting them on the counter. Furthermore, Alonso’s system utilises extremely attacking wingbacks, who act as senior goal contributors to their team. In 23/24, Leverkusen’s left-wingback, Alex Grimaldo, racked up 12 goals and 17 assists in 51 games over all competitions, whilst his right-sided counterpart, Frimpong, registered 14 goals and 10 assists in 47 games over all competitions. This ranked them 1st and 2nd for g/a amongst fullbacks, in the 23/24 Bundesliga season.

Summarisingly, by looking at the system in the grand scheme of things, Xabi Alonso takes the best of both tactical worlds, from opposing ends of the tactical spectrum. Firstly, by morphing this formation into a possession and match dominating focussed set up, he mimics the system of his managerial father Pep Guardiola, which won handfuls of Premier League titles and embarrassed countless oppositions. Whilst this, Alonso also uses highly offensive fullbacks like his Chelsea predecessor Tuchel who took the Blues to the top of Europe, with Chilwell and James, who combined to provide 37 goals and assists in all competitions, over the 20/21 and 21/22 seasons. Making, undoubtedly, a thoughtfully crafted recipe, destined for success.

Made in Chelsea - the real-life West London drama

In recent years, “coincidently” since the involvement of BlueCo in 2022, who would need a whole other article to dissect their failings, Stamford Bridge has been one hell of a chaotic place. From off-pitch dramas such as the Mykhailo Mudryk doping incident, to the 12th placed finish of the 22/23 season (and that’s just the tip of the iceberg), the Blues have been simply unable to avoid any drama that comes their way, largely due to their incompetent ownership and higher-ups. As enticing as it looks, we will save the piece where we can laugh condescendingly at Chelsea’s miscalculations for another day and instead turn our attention to the miserable season of last, which, trust me, still has its fair share of juicy drama.

All was running smoothly at Stamford Bridge, until the turn of the new year, that was. Upon January 1st 2026, it was announced by Chelsea that they had parted ways with head coach Enzo Maresca as he publicly complained he didn't have full control of his squad and when he could play them, amongst other disagreements between him and the board. That was what kickstarted the beginning of the end. Between then and the end of the Premier League, times were pretty dismal. Shortly afterwards, with the severely underqualified Liam Rosenior at the wheel, who made more of a meme of himself than a name for himself, Chelsea lost 5 of their last 5 games under Rosenior, without scoring a single goal, as the Englishman was dismissed in April after presenting a record of 5 wins, 2 draws and 6 losses in the Premier League. Consequently, Callum Macfarlane was the next poor soul to acquire the Chelsea job, who performed even more embarrassingly, putting up a meager 17% win rate in the Premier League. By the end of Macfarlane’s tenure the Blues found themselves in 10th position on 52 points, looking at a season next year without European football. 

To make matters worse, Alonso has picked up a team, who last year regularly showcased their severe lack of discipline, immaturity and larger than life egos, which more often than not cost them crucial points. For instance, before a match versus Newcastle last year, the starting 11 decided to intimidatingly and unnecessarily huddle around the referee (shown below), which to me exposed their almost bullyish traits. Unsurprisingly, they lost this match.

According to Transfermarkt, Chelsea had the youngest average player age in the Premier League last year of 23.5 years, which could indicate why this behaviour occurred, with the oldest player being Tosin Adarabioyo, who hardly acts as the talismanic role model which the oldest would normally, underlining their absence of leaders and guiders in the dressing room. And this problem hasn’t emerged recently: the Blues haven’t fielded any player over the age of 30, for even a single minute, in any of their last 123 matches in all competitions, since 39-year-old Thiago Silva’s last appearance in May 2024. Unfortunately, the repercussions of lacking a leader don’t end here. 

In the Premier League last term, Chelsea were first for red cards (8) doubling the 4 which second placed Spurs racked up, whilst also picking up a red in both the Champions League and EFL Cup, bringing the grand total to an eye-watering 10 red cards in all competitions. Even in the years prior, this issue still was still the thorn in Chelsea’s side. In the 23-24 season, in a win at Brighton, a red card for Reece James paired with a yellow each for Moises Caicedo and Raheem Sterling, took the Blues up to a record setting 107 cards in total, across the entire Premier League season, topping the previous record Leeds set in 2021-22 - 104 cards. This disciplinary difficulty is rapidly escalating at a concerning rate, and as Chelsea begin to once again play matches with higher stakes, daft decisions will no longer cost them mere points, but instead trophies and titles. However, as we will soon learn, the Chelsea recruitment team have come to their senses…

Where can Alonso’s and Chelsea’s paths cross?

When inheriting the Bayer Leverkusen team from Gerardo Seoane, he was tasked with dealing with the third youngest team in the Bundesliga, which had an average age of 24.6 years. Despite this, by the end of the following campaign, he had led this team of ‘kids’ to the German title, without losing a single game. It is extremely unlikely Xabi Alonso will take Chelsea to the title in his first year, invincibly, but nevertheless, he has been dealt with this scenario before. After getting the best out of the 3rd youngest side in the German top flight, he now has valuable lessons learned in his backpocket and a most likely improved skill set ready to be put into action, so who’s to say that the Spaniard can’t, in a relatively similar situation, produce the same if not similar results once again?

Cole Palmer bursted onto the scene during the back end of 2023, after he left City at 21 years young, to swap Manchester for the capital, where he would eventually become ‘Chelsea’s man’ as Peter Drury once wisely said. Immediately, we were made aware of his game-changing influence and footballing intelligence, which were deployed many times during that year, but most memorably against Manchester United, where Palmer netted twice in the 10th and 11th minutes of stoppage time, to complete his hattrick, as Chelsea won the match 4-3. Unfortunately, over the couple of terms between now and then, Cole has been unable to rereach those heights and has regularly underperformed - he has been a shadow of the man we saw 2 years ago, the man who gave his nation a lifeline in a European final.

However, after having completed a full pre-season under his new gaffer, Xabi Alonso, the manager revealed how he’s ‘Sure that his level is top-class, world-class’ going on to claim that ‘he will have a great season.’ Evidently, the talent is still there and the ability hasn’t ceased, despite all of the setbacks and criticism he has faced, arguably unfair criticism. During the past two ‘poor’ campaigns, Palmer’s numbers have been far from mediocre. Chelsea’s number 10 ranked 3rd and 1st out of all attacking midfielders for goals scored in the Premier League, over the 25/26 and 24/25 seasons respectively. Speaking on his playmaking stats, Cole Palmer totalled 89 chances created in the 24/25 Premier League campaign, placing him 2nd for that index out of all players. What’s more, he also accumulated 99 line-breaking passes for the Blues in the year after, despite only managing to start 24 league matches. Clearly, it's not that Palmer is no good anymore, it's just that he’s not as good. For now.

Moreover, with no European football to be seen in the near future for Chelsea, Palmer now has an incredibly light workload on his hands, in comparison to previous seasons, allowing him to hopefully avoid injuries, which have so cruelly hindered his path back to his very best, many times before. For instance, last year, Palmer suffered 6 separate injuries, causing him to miss 26 games for club and country, over the span of 114 days. So, if all goes to plan, and Chelsea’s main man is able to string together a good amount of games together, with no midweek matches to stress about, the game-changing and ominously fearsome version of Cole Palmer could well and truly be back.

Old heads and familiar faces - building a proper squad

Of late, it has been clear to see that Chelsea’s recruitment team were instructed to scout and sign exclusively younger players, in abundance. If you take a glance at Chelsea’s recent Premier League finishes, you’ll quickly understand that this plan failed. Consequently, the higher-ups have come to their senses, which is a genuine miracle, and made some very impressive signings, 3 of which we will cover in this section.

Firstly, I'll start with the addition of Jordan Henderson, which raised many sceptical eyebrows. Over the course of the 8 years he wore the armband for Liverpool, Henderson captained Liverpool to 1 FA Cup, 1 Premier League, 1 champions league and 2 EFL cups. During that time, the England international has picked up bags of experience and now takes pride in his role - infamous for being one of the footballing world’s most talismanic figures. This 36 year old possesses a special power, a power which he utilizes to glue his squad together with a contagious demeanor, but also a power he uses to push himself and others through ceilings which were previously thought unbreakable. This unique ability could be just what Chelsea are looking for to combat the problem of immaturity and lack of leaders in the dressing room. 

Whilst in an interview with England during the recent World Cup, Jude Bellingham had his say on Hendo and those who questioned his England call up. Very seriously, Jude stated that ‘They don’t have a clue what they’re talking about.’ Shortly after, Bellingham explains how ‘He gets everyone laughing, he gets everyone together. If there’s ever an issue… he’ll do it for you. If there’s a problem between two people he’ll bring them together… even the staff will go to him to sort out issues, he’s got no ego.’ Not only this, Jude went even further to reveal ‘everyday in training he’s relentless in wanting to be better and wanting to push everyone else to be better, he drives the intensity up.’ Henderson is an admirably selfless man, who’s first priority, in football, is to ensure that his dressing room lives without any tension whilst simultaneously assuring that all players work and develop at an excellent rate. However, due to the increase in focus on science used to maximise every player’s fitness and ability, the role that Henderson plays has become underappreciated and has been somewhat forgotten. But, the work of Henderson and many others like him will forever be crucial when constructing an efficiently functioning football club.

Next, Danny Welbeck, who will be starting his 19th Premier League campaign this year. However, age seems to be having the opposite effect on the striker , as with each year Welbeck has become more consistent in front of goal - the 13 goals he netted for Brighton in 25-26 was his most in a Premier League term, improving on his previous best from the season before (10). 

Building on this, Welbeck was the 2nd highest goalscorer, out of all current Chelsea players, last year in the Premier League, only topped by Joao Pedro’s 15, even though Welbeck played 411 minutes fewer than the Brazilian over the course of 25/26. From where I am, Danny Welbeck was signed by Chelsea not to be their regular source of goals, but instead to operate as a mentor for all other Chelsea strikers, as after all he is 35 years old. In fact, Welbeck is so much of an experienced veteran, that when he debuted for Manchester United in 2008, his student striker, Joao Pedro, would’ve only just turned 7 years old. So, after previously working with the Brazilian before, when they played together at Brighton, the chemistry between the two will not be lacking in the slightest. Therefore, Welbeck can focus on passing down his knowledge and expertise, just like he would have done at Brighton, without having to build a relationship beforehand, maximising Pedro’s development, fulfilling his role with the greatest efficiency.

Lastly, we must cover the record-breaking, £117 million recruitment of 23 year old Morgan Rogers, from Aston Villa, which makes him the most expensive British player to date. In terms of what he brings to the team, on the pitch, there is almost too much to cover, so lets get cracking. The Englishman is, despite his youth, an unafraid, attacking midfielder, whose primary weapon is that wicked shot of his, which we would see unleashed roughly 2.3 times a match last year in the Premier League. He ranked joint second in the league for total shots (excluding blocked ones) out of all CAMs that year. As already mentioned, Rogers is quite the fan of a shot, but usually the most challenging and unlikely entice him the most. Consequently, since debuting in the top-flight in early 2024, Rogers has overperformed his xG by 6.3 - scoring 21 goals from an xG of 14.7. The overachievance of +6.3 ranks him 10th in the league between his debut and now. Many would put this down to mere luck, however, after consistently managing to score the most improbable of shots for over a year now, Rogers has now surpassed being in favour of luck, just merely a brilliant striker of the ball. Additionally, Rogers recorded 3 match winning goals last term, also proving his ability to swing the game in his favour, which will always be an essential attribute in football. He was 1st out of all CAMs in the division for this metric. Going even further, Chelsea’s new man also tallied 3 individual braces in 25/26, ranking joint 2nd out of all midfielders in Premier League history, only topped by Frank Lampard with 4. Evidently, the boy is not one to shy away from making a match his own and will without doubt reproduce those moments, in a far better Chelsea side. 

Once again, the Blues have brought in a player who already has relationships within the Chelsea squad, with Morgan Rogers. Famously having a dispute over who truly owns the ‘cold’ celebration is how most know of their connection, however, they have truly known one another since childhood, after growing up together in the Man City and England youth ranks. Palmer, during the process of Rogers coming to Chelsea, was even accused of ‘non-stop ringing’ Rogers’ phone. This pre-fabricated relationship is especially handy as we already know of Rogers and how he thrives alongside teammates he shares good relationships with. He created 20 open-play chances for Watkins last season, which placed him second for most from one player to another in the Premier League. As a result, Chelsea are likely to have another boost in squad morale, which is always a plus as, in attacking positions especially, Palmer and Rogers will be operating in the attacking midfield areas of the pitch, for the majority of the time.

The blessing of no European football

In order to put the forthcoming season for Chelsea into perspective, I would like to compare it to the back end of Manchester United’s 25/26 campaign. With a new manager, in Michael Carrick, in the dugout, after Amorim was relieved of his duties, the Red Devils had no games left to play other than those in the Premier League. Thus, a very capable side was allowed to focus purely on how they performed in their domestic league. The results were league leading, as shown by the table below, and Chelsea now find themselves in a similar position. Resultantly, Man United managed to land a 3rd placed finish in the league, granting them the opportunity to play Champions League football, once again, for the first time in 2 years.

New manager, check. A very capable side, check. No European football, check. In my opinion, Chelsea have a squad of a similar level to Manchester United, arguably even better. However, what differs is that on this occasion, Chelsea have a more experienced head coach, that this time is with them for the entirety of the season, as opposed to half of it. 

To really sell my case, I have some more for you. Between Chelsea’s first Premier League game (24.08.26) and the final game of the season (30.05.26) there are 280 days. Within these dates, Chelsea can play, at fewest, 40 games - improbable but not impossible - as we saw with United last year. This means that, in this best case scenario, Chelsea could end up playing on average a game every 7 days exactly, which nicely aligns with my headline. Assuming the Blues do go on to have a 40 game season, Chelsea players will have a whole week between each game to fully recover, rest and prepare for the next coming game. Consequently, all players will be highly equipped for the forthcoming match: completely in the know with tactics and fully understanding of their role they must execute the match. More, with no other games to play other than those in the Premier League, there is no need to rotate, when instead the best team can be fielded by Alonso each and every week, giving them the best shot at a good finish. Honestly, I don’t see what can go wrong.

The final verdict

You may have noticed the complete lack of negative talk over the course of this article. This is most likely going to reflect rather nicely, for Chelsea fans that is, in my closing prediction. As previously explained by my rather suiting headline and calculations, you should know now that Chelsea can quite literally play one game a week this year. Xabi Alonso can use these long breaks to properly integrate hard to comprehend and complex tactical setups into his squad, which can be mastered and used to outsmart other teams. However, it is not just Manchester United that have benefitted from this before, as my table below explains.