Xabi Alonso is taking over a Chelsea squad that finished 10th place in the Premier League table last season.
As a result, they failed to qualify for the Champions League or any other European competition.
Chelsea also finished the campaign trophyless, losing 1-0 to Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley.
Yet despite all of that, Alonso is still thought to rate this Chelsea squad quite highly.
Xabi Alonso has his SEVEN Chelsea ‘untouchables’ 👀
Do you agree with them?
- Reece James
- Cole Palmer
- Joao Pedro
- Estevao Willian
- Moises Caicedo
- Josh Acheampong
- Levi Colwill
Xabi Alonso thinks Chelsea have ‘very strong’ squad
Before he took over, it was claimed that Alonso thinks Chelsea’s squad is a good fit for him. As of now, his opinion does not appear to have changed.
According to Sky Sports, Alonso believes Chelsea have a “very strong” squad. The Blues certainly do have some quality players.
He was far from his best last season, but on his day, there may not be a better Premier League attacker than Cole Palmer.
Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez provide a lot of quality in midfield, though the latter may not be at Stamford Bridge for much longer, while Joao Pedro scored 20 goals in all competitions in the 2025/26 campaign.
But claiming that Chelsea have a strong squad is very debatable. In fact, you can argue that such a statement is just plain wrong. Once Alonso sees how badly some of these players tend to perform, he could be in for a shock.
Chelsea squad has a lot of holes in it
Chelsea have some gaping holes in their squad and in key positions. For example, goalkeeper has been an issue for quite some time now.
Robert Sanchez continues to be hit and miss, and even if that were not the case, Filip Jorgensen has not been a reliable No.2. He has made some shocking mistakes in goal for Chelsea.
In central defence, Levi Colwill possesses a lot of ability, while Trevoh Chalobah is pretty consistent. But the former missed almost the whole of last season because of an ACL injury, and some of the other centre-backs who came in for him struggled.
Chelsea do not have a left winger who is a constant threat either after Alejandro Garnacho’s struggles, and Pedro does not have reliable cover up front. Like Garnacho, another new signing in Liam Delap also failed to deliver.
Evidently, there are several areas of Chelsea’s squad that need to be addressed. You simply cannot describe this as a strong roster at this moment in time.
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