I have a good feeling about this one. Lots of important players have had a good rest and are here since day one of pre-seasons. Others like Caicedo and Hato will join soon and play a large part in the pre-season.

This squad surely is not dog sh*te, but the environment they worked in was so toxic for the past years. Hopefully Alonso brings some calmness into this club and the most important thing is that we build some confidence. Sports clubs thrive on that. We must start the season well and I bet that things will just kick on from there.

Gallery: Xabi Alonso's first day at Cobham!

Has he not walked yet?

1 hour ago, The Boehly Babes said:

Has he not walked yet?

Give him some time FFS. 😂

Interview behind a paywall, good old BlueCo.

Doubt he said anything interesting though tbf, just the usual cliches I guess.

1 hour ago, Term_X said:

Interview behind a paywall, good old BlueCo.

😁

Reminds me of a stadium announcement during a friendly when we toured the US few years ago "This corner kick is brought to you by Universal Studios".

3 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

I can't believe he said something that no one has ever said when they are the new manager !

😂

10 minutes ago, The Rising Sun said:

I can't believe he said something that no one has ever said when they are the new manager !

😂

Whole interview is behind a paywall.

Hopefully the first thing he changes is how lazy our players are. Outrun by every single club is honestly too ridiculous to be true.

Ended up seeing the full interview on social media, but to force fans to subscribe and pay is a disgrace.

Xabi Alonso outlines ambitions and gives message to Chels...

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by Jezz

21 minutes ago, Jezz said:

Ended up seeing the full interview on social media, but to force fans to subscribe and pay is a disgrace.

It's quite incredible how they continue to get everything so badly wrong LOL.

2 hours ago, Term_X said:

Interview behind a paywall, good old BlueCo.

Doubt he said anything interesting though tbf, just the usual cliches I guess.

Listen, they either charge us to watch the interview or they sell Palmer. Times are though 😆

WTF is CFC+?

Who would pay for that?

FTS

CFC+is the home of premium CFC LDN video content. We'd like to use that opportunity to thank you for choosing us as your CFC LDN news provider. We appreciate your support.

Edited 49 minutes ago49 min by abramovich

CFC+ appeared as a new option in the membership range. I decided against it 🙄

Hey, Xabi. Lovely to meet you. Settled in?

Yeah, yeah. Settled in, good vibes, and I'm looking forward to it.

Exciting times.

Yeah, sure. Exciting.

So, Xabi. Chelsea manager. How does that sound?

It feels great, but it's a big honour. To be part of this great club that is one of the best in the world, with great success in the last decades. And it's a big privilege to be a part, and now it's looking forward to the challenge. We have challenges - nice challenges - ahead of us. But this is the beauty of the moment.

Obviously, the appointment was announced very early in the summer. How important was that for you?

The timings are always important, and it came in the right timing for all the parts, and for sure, believing that the potential and the opportunity to come to this club was the right one. The potential of the team and the squad made me very excited to find a squad to work with, to create a football idea, and to bring excitement to the stadium and to connect with the fans, and that they really like what we're doing. I've been there, at Stamford Bridge - mostly on the other side. But I know the energy that this stadium has and we need to create that energy and this bond with all the parts.

It's interesting you talked about the potential as well. What is it about this club at this time that made it such an exciting proposition for you?

The way they have, not so long ago, played, competed on the highest level, gave me assurance that the potential of the team was there, because of the quality of the players, because of the quality of the way they have played. So now it will be the work to carry on many of the things that they've done and to know that we come in a very competitive level, from Premier League, but that's the challenge. But I'm sure that with the commitment of everyone, with, for sure, hard work - that's a must, and with the quality on the decisions that we have to take, for sure, we will be there to enjoy a great season. That's what we want.

It's interesting you talked about the history and the winning mentality. And that's something that's been evident from yourself throughout your playing career, your managerial career. Is that something that's always been instilled in you, that mentality?

Absolutely. Because I loved and lived for football. Because I was born and raised around football. So that's in my veins. And that's something that - I did it as a player, and now I do that as a coach. And I feel that I want to transmit that to the team. I want to transmit that to the players, that we feel that passion for the game, that hunger to be better, to be competitive, to feel that wherever we can go we can win. And that's all about when you have that feeling. I was doing this as a player, and now I'm enjoying it, doing that on the sidelines when I see that "okay, these players are doing that" - that gives me a lot of excitement.

And this is your office now. This is your canvas. Talk to us about pre-season-

Oh, it's brilliant! The setting, it's wonderful. The standards of the club are the highest quality. The structure is great, but you need to give soul. You need to give purpose. You need to bring a good work, good energy, positiveness, that we are in a nice place to work. And now, we have all the ingredients for that. So, looking forward to it. Tomorrow I will be with the guys. And you start creating this connection, because this is all about the human connections, for them to feel good. And when you feel good, normally you perform good.

That's a fascinating point. How important is getting those bonds, those connections, those relationships in place-

It's the most important. And I know the qualities they have, but now we need to share a common view, a common belief for what we want to do. And this is what I like, this is what I want to create with them, and that they feel this excitement about how can we compete in this, in all competitions when we have to play.

Tell us about standards and what you demand and expect from your players. Not just within training sessions, but just in behaviors and on match day. What are your expectations as a manager?

For me, there are football principles that are unnegotiable. To feel passion for what you do. In football, you need to be willing to pay all the prices to compete on the highest level. So you can't hold back anything. You need to give everything you have for the benefit of the team. And the team is always the most important thing. We need to create that culture which is the process. And the process is on a daily basis here in Cobham, training every day to prepare for when we have to perform in front of our fans. But on the daily basis, we need to be the best and we need to know that the team is the most important.

You use that word "culture". How important is it to get the right culture throughout the whole of the football club?

I think that there's a strong culture already built. There's an important core of the team. And those players that they have established throughout the years, they need to help the young ones to feel that. And that's with their professionalism, with their work ethic, with knowing that the team is the most important thing, and on a daily basis, we will be able to have that perception and that we create that culture, because that culture that we are able to build here, 100% will be transmitted onto Stamford Bridge and wherever we play on the weekends. So we will have time for that.

Let's talk about Stamford Bridge then, because you touched on it already. You obviously had experience there as a player already. How much are you looking forward to walking out as a manager for the very first time?

Absolutely. It's going to be like - I will feel goosebumps, for sure. Those days, they are special. When you are in the new home and you want to perform good. So that day, it will be in the Carabao or against Brighton. But you want to have that feeling from the first day that's marked on our calendars. We will get ready for that, but the stadium is - it can create this heat. It works both ways. It's the people with us, and it's the team with the fans and with the crowd. We need to create that bond to feel that when we play at home, we are strong.

And obviously you have so much experience from your playing career of the Premier League. How much do you think the league has changed and I guess evolved in that time?

Yeah, yeah. It has changed. I played there a long time ago-

No, no, no, no-

Yeah, yeah (laughs), few years ago, but they were good years, I have to say. They were good years, and Chelsea were top in these years. But I follow a lot and - I haven't been on the ground, but I have been following. I have many friends that have been playing, they have been working. So it's the most competitive environment to find in the world. This is what excites me, this challenge. This chance to prove that we can do great things, that we can create a solid base to be competitive as soon as possible. And we want to start good in the first years and the first games. I'm not thinking about May. I'm thinking about September. More going in short blocks. And we want to start good. And for that we have a good pre-season for that.

So you were talking about the Premier League. Do you think it's an exciting time to come back to the Premier League, especially at this stage of your managerial career?

Yeah, I think that before we mentioned about the timings. Timings for everything are important, and I thin that the timing for me, after my experience in Germany and Spain, I was excited about trying sometime in the Premier League, and it came in the right moment, in the right club, with a good opportunity feeling and the Premier League, it's exciting. But yeah, now I'm really looking forward to feel it. On the sideline.

It's interesting you were talking about your playing career. You've played under so many big managers, big personalities. Did you find that throughout your career you're almost taking elements of their coaching and management styles, as you were maybe thinking about that stage of your career as well?

Always. Always, because I have always had a collective vision, even when I was playing. So I had almost the need to understand the game when I was playing it. And that way of understanding football has helped me to want to try to be a coach and now taking the steps to be where I am right now, in Chelsea. And that's very common in midfielders.

Is that right?

Yeah, it's common in midfielders, and it's common when you have had big influences from many coaches. In San Sebastián, Real Sociedad, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and the national team as well, so they have helped me, all of them. But at the end you need to be your own coach, your own style, and you need to be authentic. You need to be able to transmit with authenticity and to have your own way of understanding football.

So we spoke about growing up in the game. It's incredible that you and obviously some close friends have now grown up with similar times, and you'll be facing some familiar faces this year, won't you?

Yeah, it's a pretty unique case, I would say, that in such a - we have spoken about the competitive environment that is Premier League that three kids coming from almost the same neighborhood in San Sebastián, that we end up being managers of three of the biggest clubs in the Premier League. So looking forward to it. But I'm sure that everyone is, each of us, we are really focused on our clubs.

Absolutely. It's interesting talking to you about your upbringing because like you said, football has been very much part of your DNA, hasn't it?

Always. Because I had the influence of my father, he was a player, he was a coach later. So throughout my childhood I've been really close to football. My brother, a couple of years later, wherever we went we were playing football, we have both a chance to become professionals. We are very close. He likes the coaching, so he's someone I trust his opinion on, so football has been in the house, always.

It was interesting you talking about almost coaching throughout your playing career. Was there a moment in your career where you thought, "that's the path I want to follow, I want to go into management".

Probably my last years in Germany helped me a lot to know that I was coming closer to the end, but feeling that I was coming closer to a beginning, to a start. Because, as I said before, I have always been around the game and I knew that I was gonna try it, and later you start feeling more, you start liking it more, things are going well, and I have been lucky enough to be now where I am, feeling that this is a great opportunity. I see a big, big chance to do great things here and I'm looking forward to it, working and having clear what we want, and now we are here for that.

Big move for you. Must be a big move for the family as well?

Yes, of course, but they have always been a massive support. My wife, Nagore, my kids, my parents, all the family around. But I come here with my wife and the girls. My older son, he's starting university in Spain but it's always great to h ave the chance to live in London. To live the London experience in full, not just visiting, because we have come a lot of time visiting, but now we will be able to - and them - they will have the chance to enjoy the city. I will be more focused on the work, here in Cobham but yes, they have been a great support, always.

And you know the weather is always like this in London? [it's sunny in the video]

Yes, I've been here a few years, so happy to always see the sun shining.

Absolutely. Well it's so good to have you here. It was interesting you talking about your ambitions. What do you want to achieve during your time here at Chelsea?

That we share a feeling that we are doing things the right way and that we are on the right way to success. We know that the success is a consequence of the good work, of the quality decisions, of the good culture that we want to build. And that's the beauty of such a complex but nice process with so many people involved. Always getting the best of everyone, and everyone is committed with the last goal that is being the best we can and giving our best. If we all share, day by day, that feeling, I think that we can be optimistic about the future. Tomorrow we start. Tomorrow is day one. We want to feel it. To feel that this is starting something exciting.

Exciting times ahead. It certainly is. With that in mind, what would be your message to the Chelsea fans who are super excited to have you here as part of their football club?

The message is that we want to share that belief that things, good things, will come. If we are together and we create this strength, this power that the club has. It has to come from us. To bring this energy. But together we can achieve great things in the coming years.

Exciting times ahead. We cannot wish you enough luck. Thank you so much.

Thank you. My pleasure, Lee.

Nothing about selling Garnacho.

Alonso out.

8 hours ago, petre ispirescu said:

I have a good feeling about this one. Lots of important players have had a good rest and are here since day one of pre-seasons. Others like Caicedo and Hato will join soon and play a large part in the pre-season.

This squad surely is not dog sh*te, but the environment they worked in was so toxic for the past years. Hopefully Alonso brings some calmness into this club and the most important thing is that we build some confidence. Sports clubs thrive on that. We must start the season well and I bet that things will just kick on from there.

8 hours ago, petre ispirescu said:

I have a good feeling about this one. Lots of important players have had a good rest and are here since day one of pre-seasons. Others like Caicedo and Hato will join soon and play a large part in the pre-season.

This squad surely is not dog sh*te, but the environment they worked in was so toxic for the past years. Hopefully Alonso brings some calmness into this club and the most important thing is that we build some confidence. Sports clubs thrive on that. We must start the season well and I bet that things will just k

8 hours ago, petre ispirescu said:

I have a good feeling about this one. Lots of important players have had a good rest and are here since day one of pre-seasons. Others like Caicedo and Hato will join soon and play a large part in the pre-season.

This squad surely is not dog sh*te, but the environment they worked in was so toxic for the past years. Hopefully Alonso brings some calmness into this club and the most important thing is that we build some confidence. Sports clubs thrive on that. We must start the season well and I bet that things will just kick on from there.

I'm not happy though that in preseason we play in Hong Kong, Australia , Indonesia,and Malaysia from 28th July to 9th August.i suppose every PL club does it these days, we've got a game against Spurs over there,