By agreeing to be Chelsea manager, Xabi Alonso is putting his career on the line at chaotic Premier League club

Last summer, Xabi Alonso was considered one of the top managers in football. His hire at Real Madrid was believed to be a masterstroke, as the former Bayer Leverkusen boss had elevated the Bundesliga club to new heights.

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Yet he barely lasted seven months on the job, let go by Florentino Perez amidst a topsy-turvy campaign at the Santiago Bernabeu that saw the club eventually finish without a significant trophy for the second straight season amongst myriad off-field controversies.

The Spanish boss has found his next destination, and it’s a head-scratcher, as he heads from one poorly run club to another.

The Sporting News explains why Alonso could be putting his managerial future at extreme risk by accepting the Chelsea job.

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Xabi Alonso appointed next Chelsea manager

Alonso was announced as the new Chelsea boss on May 17, with his contract officially starting on July 1. It is a four-year deal.

An interesting element of the agreement is that Alonso has been given the title of «manager», rather than «head coach,» which reflects the fact that he will be empowered with broader responsibilities, such as transfers.

Such a hire is considered a coup for Chelsea, as Alonso is thought of as one of the top available managers in the game.

Chelsea still have an outside shot at qualifying for some European competition, but they are well out of the Champions League running and are considered outside contenders to qualify for the Europa League or even the Conference League. In all likelihood, they will not be participating in Europe next season.

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Xabi Alonso taking massive risk to career by accepting Chelsea job

In football, and indeed all of professional sports, the right environment is everything.

One player or coach who thrives at a particular club may not necessarily have enjoyed the same level success at a different home. And conversely, a player or coach who fails to impress under one roof may have missed an opportunity to thrive somewhere else. It’s all about being put in the best position to flourish.

For managers, selecting the right gig is essential to career-long success. Building a resume of failures can catch up with even the most talented and brilliant coaches as it becomes harder and harder to convince others around them that they are the right man for the job.

By all accounts, Alonso is brilliant; his successes at Bayer Leverkusen speak for themselves. At this current juncture, there is no reason to doubt his ability to elevate a club to successes above their reach.

Even after failure at Real Madrid, the way that club finished the season under his replacement Alvaro Arbeloa lifted much of the blame off Alonso’s shoulders. The perception is, rightly, that any manager would find it difficult to succeed in such circumstances, and a specific profile of head coach is required to bring that club forward.

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Alonso, the prevailing theory goes, is a tactical genius and a strong football mind, but his lack of desire to babysit the Real Madrid dressing room full of divas led him to fall out with the club and squad. No matter, he will surely land on his feet.

That is precisely what makes Alonso joining Chelsea so baffling.

The Blues bear a striking resemblance to the issues Alonso faced at Real Madrid. The Premier League club struggled to a disappointing finish this season thanks to a lack of direction from ownership conglomerate BlueCo, multiple misfires in hiring the right coach, and a squad with leaders who are acting out.

Enzo Maresca fell out with the club’s executive hierarchy after reportedly growing unhappy with the lack of organisational control he was afforded. After Liam Rosenior was brought in, malcontent built in the dressing room, with Enzo Fernandez and Marc Cucurella both disciplined for speaking out about their thinly veiled frustrations.

After Alonso got away scot-free from his Real Madrid stumbles, why does he want to put himself in the same situation once again? If he fails to convince at Chelsea, he could in theory be once again overlooked for much of the blame for it going belly-up, but the football community would find it more difficult to give him another free pass.

At some point, Alonso becomes the common denominator across multiple unsuccessful spells at big European clubs. Even if, in a vacuum, each individual situation did not fall apart because of him, the collective combination of failures becomes a burden on his resume.

If Alonso falls short of expectations at Chelsea, would a top club be able to overlook two successive unsuccessful stops when considering the Spaniard for future employment? His career could require significant rehabilitation in the event it goes poorly.

Chelsea aren’t likely to be playing in Europe next season. As such, expectations will be sky-high, and supporters will be starving for a return to the top echelon of the Premier League standings. There are ongoing fan protests regarding club ownership. The squad is young, bloated, and unsettled.

Sure, success at Chelsea would make Alonso a hero, but with such potential reward comes enormous risk. The likelihood of failure comes at too great a potential cost to his career for this to be a sensible move to make, while the potential gain fails to offset that risk. One strong season of — in all likelihood — only domestic football would not be enough to make Alonso a success at Chelsea; he would need to put two successive campaigns of impressive results together to be considered a hit. Does that feel likely?

There are multiple big clubs with job openings this summer. For starters, it feels only a matter of time until Arne Slot and Liverpool, a club Alonso played for during his career, to part ways, even if it doesn’t happen before next season. It makes little sense for Alonso to put himself right back in the same situation he flopped at in Madrid by accepting a similarly toxic role in London.

For all of Alonso’s brilliance, he is proving stubborn when it comes to picking his next job. Any top manager will admit this is almost as important — if not more so — than performing the job itself.

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