Chelsea enters the new season with many expectations after appointing Xabi Alonso as head coach. However, the Spanish strategist will have to quickly solve a series of personnel, tactics and transfer issues if he wants to bring the Stamford Bridge team back to the title race.
Alonso officially took over Chelsea after a period of turmoil for the London team. Last season ended in disappointment when Chelsea could not win a European cup ticket and lost to Manchester City in the FA Cup final, causing the board of directors to decide to change on the coaching bench.
Right before starting work, Alonso had to receive bad news when Marc Cucurella left Chelsea to join Real Madrid for a fee of about 55 million Euros. The departure of the Spanish defender forced Chelsea to look for a replacement in the context that the transfer market is still volatile.
Bulky squad...
Chelsea continues to be one of the most spending clubs in Europe under Todd Boehly. However, the massive shopping policy also makes The Blues' squad overloaded with nearly 40 players.
That means Alonso will have to screen the force before continuing to add new players. One of the first important decisions is to determine the appropriate tactical system.
During his time leading Bayer Leverkusen, Alonso was successful with a 3-center-back formation. However, he also used a 4-man defense when necessary. At Chelsea, this choice will depend heavily on how Reece James is used.
The Chelsea captain can play right-back, right-side center-back or deep-lying midfielder. The appearance of Marco Palestra also opens up the possibility that James will be pulled into the center of the defense to take advantage of his ball development ability.
... but there are still positions to be added
On the left flank, Chelsea has not yet found a worthy replacement for Cucurella. Jorrel Hato is a potential choice but specializes in playing center-back, while Denner Evangelista and Caleb Wiley are still inexperienced. Pep Chavarria, Gabriel Gudmundsson and Maxi Araujo are targets pursued by the team.
In midfield, Enzo Fernandez's future is still a big question mark as the Argentine midfielder is constantly linked with Real Madrid. If Enzo leaves, Chelsea will be forced to look for a midfielder capable of regulating similar play to pair with Moises Caicedo.
Headache in attack
The attack also brings a not small problem for Alonso. Chelsea currently has 13 attacking players, making the competition for positions fierce.
Nicolas Jackson could be sold if he receives a suitable offer, while Marc Guiu and Datro Fofana are likely not in the plan. On the two wings, Pedro Neto and Estevao are considered top choices, and Alejandro Garnacho has been given the green light to move to Aston Villa.
The blockbuster contract Morgan Rogers also puts Alonso in front of the problem of combining with Cole Palmer. Both perform best when playing in the number 10 position, so Rogers is likely to be pulled to the left wing to create space for Palmer to operate behind the striker.
