{"id":12486,"date":"2026-05-25T21:48:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T21:48:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=12486"},"modified":"2026-05-25T21:48:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T21:48:35","slug":"this-cheat-code-means-chelsea-should-be-fourth-at-a-minimum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=12486","title":{"rendered":"This &#8220;cheat code&#8221; means Chelsea should be fourth &#8220;at a minimum&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Chelsea have Xabi Alonso coming in as their new manager and that\u2019s got fans very excited about their prospects for next season.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><em>If you enjoy Chelsea News coverage and want to see more of it, add us as a preferred source on Google to make us a favourite and see more of our content.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Football is an amazing thing. You can have a season as bad as Chelsea\u2019s but the existence of the transfer market means that even the most pessimistic fans can convince themselves that everything can change over the course of a summer. That\u2019s especially true when a promising new manager comes in as well as new players.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s what the summer is all about \u2013 it\u2019s optimism season. And Chelsea are right in the middle of it.<\/p>\n<h2>Pundit backs Chelsea to jump up the table next season<\/h2>\n<p>A prime example is Jason Cundy on TalkSport. He\u2019s been as negative as anyone over the last season about how bad things are at his old club. But now look at him<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cXabi Alonso coming, no European football\u2026 it\u2019s a cheat code,\u201d he said this morning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe saw Antonio Conte do that, came in and won the title. Now, I\u2019m not saying we\u2019re going to win the title, but I think that he now needs to get us, minimum, fourth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>We love that attitude, and we\u2019d be lying if we said we didn\u2019t feel more and more positive ourselves\u2026<\/p>\n<h2>In other news\u2026<\/h2>\n<p>Chelsea see Alonso as the man to change the culture at the club as well as the tactics.<\/p>\n<p>Axel Disasi is set to leave Chelsea this summer and there are a number of teams interested him according to reports today.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL CHELSEA NEWS APP FOR ALL THE LATEST UPDATES \u2013 STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON THE APP STORE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Check out the latest edition of Simon Phillips\u2019 SPTC podcast here:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SPTC Podcast! Fresh Xabi Alonso to Chelsea news! Summer Transfer Plans! FA Cup Final Preview!\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yiYy60DQcxI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<section class=\"more-stories std-mgn-b\">&#13;<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<header class=\"col-s-12 std-mgn-t\">More Stories about <span class=\"topic\">Xabi Alonso<\/span><\/header>\n<div class=\"post-container col-s-4\">\n<p>\t\t\t&#13;<\/p>\n<div class=\"img-cntr\"><picture><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/chelsea.news\/wp-content\/themes\/fanatix-3\/fanatix\/static\/source\/img\/featured-image-missing.png\" class=\"lazyload wp-image- lazyload\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-container col-s-4\">\n<p>\t\t\t&#13;<\/p>\n<div class=\"img-cntr\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-190x107.jpg.webp 190w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-245x138.jpg.webp 245w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-320x180.jpg.webp 320w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-414x233.jpg.webp 414w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-630x354.jpg.webp 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 250px, (min-width:1020px) 20vw, (min-width:920px) 290px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:394px) 130px, 33vw\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235.jpg\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-160476 has-webp lazyload\" alt=\"Xabi Alonso on the touchline.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-190x107.jpg 190w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-245x138.jpg 245w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-320x180.jpg 320w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-414x233.jpg 414w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-630x354.jpg 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 250px, (min-width:1020px) 20vw, (min-width:920px) 290px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:394px) 130px, 33vw\"\/><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-container col-s-4\">\n<p>\t\t\t&#13;<\/p>\n<div class=\"img-cntr\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-190x107.jpg.webp 190w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-245x138.jpg.webp 245w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-320x180.jpg.webp 320w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-414x233.jpg.webp 414w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-630x354.jpg.webp 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 250px, (min-width:1020px) 20vw, (min-width:920px) 290px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:394px) 130px, 33vw\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235.jpg\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-160476 has-webp lazyload\" alt=\"Xabi Alonso on the touchline.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-190x107.jpg 190w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-245x138.jpg 245w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-320x180.jpg 320w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-414x233.jpg 414w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-05-19T203033.235-630x354.jpg 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 250px, (min-width:1020px) 20vw, (min-width:920px) 290px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:394px) 130px, 33vw\"\/><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/section>\n<p><!-- Article End -->\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chelsea have Xabi Alonso coming in as their new manager and that\u2019s got fans very&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}