Chelsea looked very pedestrian, and maybe even a bit pragmatic in their FA Cup title game loss to Manchester City. From a Blues perspective, there is little else to say about Saturday’s tedious cup defeat at Wembley Stadium. Sunday, however, brought major news, as Xabi Alonso is your new manager. He made history in 2024, leading Bayer Leverkusen to an unprecedented undefeated domestic double, and the club’s first ever league title. However, this season saw him totally flop as Real Madrid boss, with his getting the sack pretty early on in the campaign.
Tottenham Hotspur at Chelsea FC FYIs
Kickoff: May 19, 8:15pm, Stamford Bridge, London, UK
Team News: Chelsea Tottenham Hotspur
Premier League Standing: Chelsea 9th, 2 pts outside of UECL qualification Tottenham Hotspur- 2 points above West Ham for safety
Result Probabilities via Google: Chelsea win 46%, Draw 25%, Tottenham win 29%
Alonso, who signed a four-year-deal, takes the reigns of the club starting July 1. Interim boss Calum McFarlane remains in charge until then.
“Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in world football and it fills me with immense pride to become manager of this great club,” reads a statement attributed to Xabi Alonso.
“From my conversations with the ownership group and sporting leadership, it is clear we share the same ambition. We want to build a team capable of competing consistently at the highest level and fighting for trophies.”
“There is great talent in the squad and huge potential at this football club and it will be my great honour to lead it,” Alonso added.
“Now the focus is on hard work, building the right culture and winning trophies.”
Chelsea sacked not one, but two coaches this season in Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior.
Blues Team News
Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto both overcame knocks to feature yesterday, at the national stadium, leaving Jamie Gittens as the only injury absentee with a chance of still featuring before season’s end. Maybe he makes the matchday squad here…maybe his return comes on Championship Sunday.
Or maybe not again until next term, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Jesse Derry and Estevao have already been ruled out for the season.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, Ratings and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.