Who is the Chelsea manager?

Xabi Alonso is in charge at Stamford Bridge and spoke at length about the role in an interview published on 23 October 2026.

Who interviewed Xabi Alonso?

Jamie Carragher, who played alongside Alonso at Liverpool, conducted the interview with the Chelsea manager.

What did Xabi Alonso and Jamie Carragher discuss?

They talked about Alonso's appointment at Chelsea and his aims for the season, and looked back on their time as team-mates at Liverpool.

When was the Xabi Alonso interview published?

The interview was published on 23 October 2026 and covered his Chelsea appointment and his aims for the season.

Has Chelsea commented on the interview?

Chelsea have not commented on it, and the club has not set out targets against which Alonso's aims can be measured.

Football

Xabi Alonso discusses Chelsea appointment and season aims with Jamie Carragher

The Chelsea manager has given his own account of the job he holds and the campaign ahead, in conversation with a former Liverpool team-mate.

By Sportsback1h ago

Ank kumar · CC BY-SA 4.0

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso has discussed his appointment at Stamford Bridge and his aims for the season in a wide-ranging interview with Jamie Carragher, published on 23 October 2026. The conversation also covered the years the pair spent playing together at Liverpool.

The interview is reported to have covered how Alonso sees the job he has taken on at Chelsea, what he wants from the campaign and the period he and Carragher shared as team-mates at Anfield. Carragher, who played alongside Alonso at Liverpool, led the conversation.

Alonso's Stamford Bridge appointment

Bill Shankly trophy in front of Anfield stadium

Alonso is the man in charge at Chelsea, and the interview gives him room to describe the job in his own words rather than through results alone. A manager's stated priorities are one of the few ways supporters can judge a tenure while a season is still being played out, and they become the standard he is later held to. That is analysis rather than a claim from the club: the interview carries Alonso's view, not Chelsea's.

Two former Liverpool team-mates

The shared history at Liverpool gives the conversation its second strand. Carragher and Alonso were team-mates at Anfield, and the interview returns to that period alongside the present-day subject of Chelsea. For Chelsea followers the reminiscence is background; the part that matters is what the manager says about the club he now leads.

Why the interview carries weight

It lands with the season under way, at a point when a manager's plans are still being tested by results rather than settled by them. Interviews of this length give a coach room to explain method and ambition that a post-match press conference rarely allows, and they travel further than a few lines of reaction after a match.

What is not yet known

Chelsea have not commented on the interview, and the club has not set out the targets or the timescale against which Alonso's aims should be measured. No further public appearance by the manager has been announced. Whether the hierarchy at Stamford Bridge shares the ambitions he describes has not been made public.

What happens next

Results will do most of the work from here. Aims set out in the autumn are read back at the end of the season, and the distance between what a manager promises and what a team delivers usually becomes the story of a campaign. Alonso's words will be weighed against how his side performs, starting with the next fixture and continuing across the months that follow.

Frequently asked questions

Who is the Chelsea manager?: Xabi Alonso is in charge at Stamford Bridge and spoke at length about the role in an interview published on 23 October 2026.
Who interviewed Xabi Alonso?: Jamie Carragher, who played alongside Alonso at Liverpool, conducted the interview with the Chelsea manager.
What did Xabi Alonso and Jamie Carragher discuss?: They talked about Alonso's appointment at Chelsea and his aims for the season, and looked back on their time as team-mates at Liverpool.
When was the Xabi Alonso interview published?: The interview was published on 23 October 2026 and covered his Chelsea appointment and his aims for the season.
Has Chelsea commented on the interview?: Chelsea have not commented on it, and the club has not set out targets against which Alonso's aims can be measured.