Xabi Alonso has spoken to the media for the first time since becoming Chelsea’s new manager.<\/p>\n
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The 44-year-old has already overseen his first training session which included several key players, including Cole Palmer after the midfielder was not selected to go to the World Cup with England.<\/p>\n
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And although the Spaniard spoke about a lot, including how the Premier League is ‘the most competitive league in the world’, Palmer was a particular area of focus.<\/p>\n
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Xabi Alonso buzzing to work with Cole Palmer<\/h2>\n
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Despite the 24-year-old having a disappointing campaign last time out, he remains the Blues’ most important player, and Alonso is tasked with getting him back to his best.<\/p>\n
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“We have had a few training sessions already. From the first day, you can see he’s a special talent, a special player. It’s not easy to have one of those. And you can notice his quality, how he’s able to play, the right decision in the right spot,” <\/strong><\/em>he told BBC Sport on Monday.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “So I’m happy that he has come in a good mood, a good mindset to have a great season, and we are really looking forward to getting the best from him.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “If we are able to build a strong team with the proper stability to find the key players, for sure, Cole is going to be one of those key players in the attacking part.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Even though Palmer has been heavily linked with joining both Manchester clubs this year, he’s certain to remain a Chelsea player and will no doubt be relishing the opportunities his new manager will give him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The most interesting part of Alonso’s comments on Palmer weren’t just the fact he rates the Englishman highly, it was how similarly he compared the 24-year-old to the stars he managed while at Real Madrid.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n During his first Real Madrid press conference, Alonso said:“Ive done an analysis of the team, but I’ll use that to inform the ideas I have and the project I’m undertaking. As coaches, we depend on the players and they’re at the very highest level. The challenge is to build a team and get everyone moving in the same direction. That will be an incredibly powerful force.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n He added: “We have great players to work with and I want to get down to the day-to-day work so we can\u00a0fulfil the potential of each one of them and\u00a0start putting the pieces in place to build a team.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Even though Alonso didn’t achieve everything he would’ve hoped to at the Santiago Bernabeu, his time in charge saw him look after some of the sports’ biggest stars, and it’s clear the 44-year-old sees the same quality in some of Chelsea’s players.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chelsea fans will certainly be hoping Alonso can draw on his time at Madrid to bring out the best in his new bunch of players \u2014 Palmer especially \u2014 and restore the Blues back to their former glory.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Follow<\/span>Parallels to his Real Madrid philosophy<\/h2>\n
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