Colwill hails Alonso’s free-flowing style over “rigid” Chelsea predecessors

And the Chelsea defender isn’t shy about naming the managerial style he’s leaving behind.

“Xabi wants free flowing football, I’ve had a lot of managers who are really rigid and want you in right positions, but with him, play what you see, find the space and exploited it at a fast pace,” Colwill said, in comments widely read as a pointed reference to Enzo Maresca, one of three head coaches — alongside Liam Rosenior and Calum McFarlane — Chelsea cycled through during a chaotic, injury-hit season for the 23-year-old.

Colwill’s own campaign fell apart on the first day of pre-season last year, when the knee injury struck just months after he had helped Chelsea win the Club World Cup and Conference League. It restricted him to four appearances all season.

“When you can’t do anything to affect the game on the pitch, you feel helpless and that’s how I felt at times,” he said after a pre-season training session in Sydney.

“I had come off winning the Club World Cup feeling on top of the world and then an injury like that happens. It kills everything — kills the momentum — and you’re out for a long time.”

Alonso arrives at Stamford Bridge with a title already on his CV, having ended Bayern Munich’s grip on the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen’s double-winning campaign, and Colwill believes those same free-flowing principles can lift a Chelsea side that finished 10th last season.

“I feel like the players we’ve got in our team are ready to do that. With having a manager of this quality now, when it all comes together we’re definitely going to be able to challenge and push for the Premier League,” he said.

Chelsea have not won the league since 2017 and have finished in the top four only once under BlueCo’s ownership, and Alonso himself has been careful not to promise a quick fix.

“I don’t want to talk too early about what’s our goal. We want to have a good season. We want to deserve to be as high as possible, and for that we need to work hard. We need to develop this team with new players, new coach, new ideas. Sometimes it takes longer, sometimes it happens quicker,” he said.

“So be ready to try to develop this idea that we have, this plan. But so far, good feeling. Good energy. The players are working hard, and that’s what we want.”