'This was the easy part for Alonso'

[BBC] The Drake Suite at Stamford Bridge is adorned with pictures of Chelsea managers holding trophies. Many of these pictures are of Jose Mourinho, but fellow Premier League winner Antonio Conte also features. Xabi Alonso motioned to these as he answered a question on his illustrious predecessors during his unveiling news conference on Monday, saying he is "really honoured and privileged" to follow in their footsteps. Alonso will want to emulate their success, but first he must calm the noise around a perpetually chaotic football club and imprint his style on a squad still to fully take shape. The attention of the football world this week may be firmly on the World Cup semi-finals, but Alonso's star quality still drew a significant media crowd at Stamford Bridge. [BBC] The Spaniard breezed through questions on what drew him to the Blues, his ambitions for the squad and, with minimal awkwardness and a declaration of his "love" for London, his status as a Liverpool legend from his playing days. There was a glowing appraisal of Cole Palmer, an assertion that he wants Enzo Fernandez to stay at the club and positive reflections on his first few days of pre-season at Cobham, all delivered with a calm, relaxed demeanor – often with a half-smile. He elicited some laughs with a few wry remarks. There were also repeated references to being "aligned" with the club's much-maligned sporting directors, who he stressed he does want to work with. It was the breakdown in relationship between them and previous head coach Enzo Maresca that contributed to the Italian's exit midway through last season. The title of manager given to Alonso has been stressed by the club and may allow him more control and this new relationship to prosper with less strain. In this era of Chelsea, working within the football structure set out is a pre-requisite. Another theme running through the 20-minute media session was the "hunger" and "ambition" that exists within the club and the playing squad. Those are just words of course, but they are words that Blues fans will cling to after the meek, timid way the 2025-26 campaign ended. This was the easy part for Alonso. No pressure. No bumps in the road to reflect on or big decisions to justify. A blank canvas on which to paint his vision. However, although it is a cliche to say a new manager spoke well at their unveiling, Alonso inarguably spoke well at his.