Sports Poets Society

Alonso coup shows BlueCo now see the value of aura New Chelsea manager’s desire to sign and create mentality monsters breaks with previous club policy 18 May 2026 - The Guardian Jacob Steinberg Chelsea have confirmed the appointment of Xabi Alonso as their new manager. The Spaniard has signed a four-year deal and will start work in pre-season. He becomes the sixth permanent manager of the BlueCo era. The former Real Madrid head coach will take charge of the Blues from 1 July. Calum McFarlane has been in interim charge since the sacking of Liam Rosenior last month and was on the touchline for Chelsea’s FA Cup final loss to Manchester City on Saturday. Alonso said: “Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in world football and it fills me with immense pride to become manager of this great club.” Alonso lasted eight months at Madrid before leaving the club by mutual consent in January after poor results and widespread media reports that he lost control of the dressing room. That damaged his s...

FOTO ALBERTO GARDIN/GETTY IMAGES Real Madrid-aanvaller Vinicius Junior reageert boos - „Altijd ik!” - op zijn coach  Xabi Alonso als hij wordt gewisseld in de thuiswedstrijd tegen Barcelona, eind oktober. Jonge, veelbelovende trainers worden geprezen om hun tactisch vermogen.  Toch lopen ze soms vast op het managen van grote ego’s.  Carlo Ancelotti geldt hierin als buitengewoon tactvol.  Wat is zijn geheim? «Alonso vraagt veel van zijn spelers, niet alleen qua discipline  in de  trainingen maar ook in de arbeid bij het druk zetten op tegenstanders» 26 Jan 2026 - NRC Steven Verseput Wanneer Clarence Seedorf in 2002 bij AC Milan komt spelen, merkt coach Carlo Ancelotti al snel dat de Nederlandse middenvelder „koppig” kan zijn. „Hij had voortdurend discussies met zijn teamgenoten, alsof hij dacht dat hij de leiding had”, schrijft Ancelotti in The Dream, zijn nieuwste memoires die afgelopen najaar verschenen. „Je bent niet de manager”, zeiden ploeggenoten teg...

JOSE BRETON/SHUTTERSTOCK/DEFODI Xabi Alonso (above) has been sacked by Real Madrid  this week while Michael Carrick returned to Manchester United “It is all too easy to make mistaken inferences  unless  the process involved is already very well understood.”    - Francis Crick, molecular biologist “This club is about winning,  winning and winning again.  It’s in our DNA.”    - Álvaro Arbeloa We gloss over the truth that the only reliable predictors  of football success are wealth and good decisions 15 Jan 2026 - The Guardian Jonathan Liew You return in a blaze of glory, feted in an official statement as one of the club’s “greatest legends”, entrusted with reinventing the riches of the past for a new footballing age. You leave in a maelstrom of snide briefings and chaotic performances, after losing a power struggle with star players and falling out of favour with the club’s godlike president. Let’s just say that Xabi Alonso got the fu...

KIKO HUESCA/EPA Xabi Alonso looks on during Real Madrid’s 2-1 defeat  at home to Manchester City last month Why Alonso’s Real reign ended within seven months Axed head coach was let down at every turn, as players and the president called the shots and results duly suffered Vinícius Júnior’s anger, deeper than one game, eclipsed all else and he was not the only one 14 Jan 2026 - The Guardian Sid Lowe Pep Guardiola sat in the press room at the Santiago Bernabéu and told Xabi Alonso to do it his way but around here, he knows, it tends not to work out like that, which is precisely why he said so. Saying it is one thing, doing it another, doing it successfully something else entirely and a month and day after being offered that advice, handed that defence, Alonso was gone. On Monday afternoon, not long after landing from Saudi Arabia, a meeting was held at Valdebebas and then came the statement, short and unsentimental. He was a “legend” as a player, but no longer coach at Real Madrid. ...

PEDRO CASTILLO/REAL MADRID/GETTY IMAGES Xabi Alonso is an interventionist coach, happy to lead by example Tournament offers new coach first chance to measure the task ahead at a toxic club that has become unmoored Jonathan Liew 14 Jun 2025 - THE GUARDIAN / Sport Of course he has been taking part in training. Quite frankly, it would have been deeply and offensively off-brand for Xabi Alonso not to have joined in. Darting around in the roasting heat, physically moving players into his desired positions, pinging pinpoint passes in his classic Predator boots: it was Alonso in his purest essence, and as the new Real Madrid coach oversaw his first sessions at Valdebebas this week it was hard not to feel that on some level nature was healing. As a player Alonso was a difference-maker, a details man, a midfielder who adored the ball and tried to leave nothing to chance. As a coach, the same traits define him. Sessions are high-intensity, fast-paced, but almost always with the ball at feet. He ...

https://www.bundesliga.com/de/bundesliga/news/bayer-04-leverkusen-xabi-alonso-trainer-geschichte-erfolg-deutscher-meister-abschied-real-madrid-24999?utm_source=email&utm_medium=products&utm_campaign=newsletter-cw-19&utm_term=german 09.05.2025 Xabi Alonso ha trasformato il Bayer Leverkusen, rendendolo uno dei migliori team d'Europa. Il momento-clou è stato il primo campionato nella storia del club nel 2024, con la vittoria della Coppa di Germania. Quest'estate, l'allenatore di calcio più richiesto a livello mondiale sarà alla ricerca di una nuova sfida. Un mio attuale collega ed ex mentore aveva previsto questo sviluppo anni fa. Alonso ha già superato la previsione Xabi Alonso ha già superato queste grandi aspettative a pochi anni di distanza da quell'intervista. Nella stagione 2023/24, il "Werkself" si era aritmeticamente assicurato il titolo di campione dopo la vittoria per 5-0 a Brema alla 29a giornata e non si è dato per vinto nemmeno nell'u...

FOTO: DPA Verliert das Ziel auch aus der Distanz nicht aus den Augen:  Bayer Leverkusens Trainer Xabi Alonso. Der FC Bayern ist von Verletzungspech verfolgt, bei Bayer Leverkusen entspannt sich die Personallage. Kann das den Kampf um die Meisterschaft doch noch spannend machen? Trainer Xabi Alonso gibt eine klare Zielsetzung vor. 12 Apr 2025 - Rheinische Post Opladen VON DORIAN AUDERSCH Wenn an diesem Samstag um 18.30 das Topspiel FC Bayern gegen Borussia Dortmund angepfiffen wird, wissen alle, was Sache ist. Gewinnt Bayer Leverkusen zuvor gegen Union Berlin, ist der Vorsprung des Tabellenführers vorübergehend auf drei Punkte zusammengeschmolzen. Entsprechend groß wäre der Druck auf die Bayern, den BVB zu besiegen. Doch bereits am kommenden Mittwoch wartet das Rückspiel im Viertelfinale der Champions League bei Inter Mailand, das nach dem 1:2 im ersten Vergleich gewonnen werden muss, um den Traum vom „Finale dahoam“ nicht platzen zu lassen. Eine durchaus verzwickte Lage für den Spi...