{"id":8279,"date":"2026-05-14T10:31:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T10:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=8279"},"modified":"2026-05-14T10:31:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T10:31:12","slug":"chelsea-urged-to-hire-xabi-alonso-over-cesc-fabregas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=8279","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea urged to hire Xabi Alonso over Cesc Fabregas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Former Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo has suggested that it would be the best choice for the Blues to hire Xabi Alonso as their replacement for Liam Rosenior.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Speaking to Ladbrokes at the launch of Ladisfaction, Di Matteo made it clear that he\u2019s a big fan of Alonso, praising him for doing \u201cwonderful things\u201d during his time in Germany with Bayer Leverkusen.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL CAUGHTOFFSIDE APP FOR ALL THE LATEST &#038; BREAKING UPDATES \u2013 STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON <span role=\"presentation\"><u>APPLE<\/u><\/span> &#038; <span role=\"presentation\"><u>GOOGLE PLAY<\/u><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Di Matteo, who won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2012, also praised Alonso\u2019s style of football and the useful experience he\u2019d have gained from managing the big names and egos in the Real Madrid dressing room.<\/p>\n<p>The former Chelsea boss is also a fan of ex-Blues midfielder Cesc Fabregas, but seems to be leaning towards Alonso as his preferred choice.<\/p>\n<h2>Xabi Alonso over Cesc Fabregas for the Chelsea manager job?<\/h2>\n<p>Alonso did remarkable work during his time in charge of Leverkusen, winning them their first ever Bundesliga title, whilst also reaching the final of the Europa League.<\/p>\n<p>The Spanish tactician was a little unlucky with the Real Madrid job this season, having won 24 out of 34 games in charge before being dismissed.<\/p>\n<p>One imagines Alonso could surely get his coaching career back on track at Chelsea, and it seems Di Matteo is a big fan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn terms of managers, I actually think there are so many good names around,\u201d Di Matteo said.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Want more CaughtOffside coverage? Add us as a <\/i><\/b><b><i><span draggable=\"true\">preferred source on Google<\/span><\/i><\/b><b><i>  to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p>\u201cCesc Fabregas is one of them, Xabi Alonso also did wonderful things in Germany\u2026 these are the kind of names I think Chelsea should be looking at.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are both progressive managers who like to play a certain style. Both have proven they\u2019re capable \u2013 Alonso probably a little more than Fabregas, who is still early on in his managerial career.<\/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 \/ <span class=\"topic\">Latest News<\/span><\/header>\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.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-1-30-190x114.jpg.webp 190w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-1-30-245x147.jpg.webp 245w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-1-30-320x193.jpg.webp 320w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-1-30-414x249.jpg.webp 414w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-1-30-630x379.jpg.webp 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 237px, (min-width:1020px) 190px, (min-width:900px) 280px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:414px) 125px, 30vw\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1495\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-1-30.jpg\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-1635975 has-webp lazyload\" alt=\"Man City breaking news\" srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-1-30-190x114.jpg 190w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-1-30-245x147.jpg 245w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-1-30-320x193.jpg 320w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-1-30-414x249.jpg 414w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-1-30-630x379.jpg 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 237px, (min-width:1020px) 190px, (min-width:900px) 280px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:414px) 125px, 30vw\"\/><\/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><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1495\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-88.jpg\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-1659137 lazyload\" alt=\"Alisson Becker in action for Liverpool\" srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-88-190x114.jpg 190w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-88-245x147.jpg 245w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-88-320x193.jpg 320w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-88-414x249.jpg 414w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-88-630x379.jpg 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 237px, (min-width:1020px) 190px, (min-width:900px) 280px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:414px) 125px, 30vw\"\/><\/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><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1495\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-87.jpg\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-1659134 lazyload\" alt=\"Arne Slot looks on during Liverpool vs Chelsea\" srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-87-190x114.jpg 190w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-87-245x147.jpg 245w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-87-320x193.jpg 320w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-87-414x249.jpg 414w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-87-630x379.jpg 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 237px, (min-width:1020px) 190px, (min-width:900px) 280px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:414px) 125px, 30vw\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/section>\n<p>\u201cAlonso has certainly shown he can bring trophies, though, and now has the experience of a big dressing room, from his time with Real Madrid. So there are certainly managers out there who would be a good fit for our club.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If Chelsea don\u2019t move for Alonso then another top club surely will \u2013 do you see the Blues winning the race? Give us your thoughts in the comments!<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End -->\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo has suggested that it would be the best choice&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8279","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\/8279","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=8279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}