Alonso looking forward to first Chelsea-Spurs clash
Xabi Alonso wants Chelsea to feed off the passion of Saturday’s derby against Tottenham at Stamford Bridge while keeping their emotions under control.
The Blues go into the game fourth in the Premier League after a 2-0 win at Everton last weekend, when Pedro Neto scored twice and they kept their first league clean sheet since January.
Tottenham are 16th but beat Coventry 3-1 on Monday. It will be Alonso’s first taste of the rivalry as Chelsea head coach.
“Every derby is special,” he said. “You feel the energy and the excitement from the stands. We need that energy to be used on the pitch, because that will connect well and we know it will be a boost.
“We need to have a good mentality for that, and good emotional control as well, because in a derby there’s a lot of passion and a lot of commitment from both sides. We want to play football with heart.”
Chelsea have lost only once in 41 home games against Spurs in all competitions, but Alonso does not believe that record will count for much.
“I knew about it, but tomorrow is another game,” he said. “We need to prove again that we can continue that run, knowing that it’s a special game.
“We need to play with heart, with our heads, with intelligence, passion and energy. We need many things tomorrow.”
Spurs have had a difficult start under Roberto De Zerbi, but Alonso, who has come up against the Italian before, including in pre-season this summer, expects a tough afternoon.
“I have seen a good Spurs team, even in bad results,” he said. “We are expecting a tough game against good opposition who do many good things, so we need to be well prepared – with the ball and in the different moments of the game.
“De Zerbi has very clear ideas. It’s still early days, with so much to play for this season, but you can see his blueprint in the way he likes his teams to play.”
Alonso believes the battle in midfield will be important, and he wants a complete performance from his side.
“Midfield is a key part of every game,” he said. “We have been stronger in the last few games, and they have a good midfield as well.
“We need a very complete game – offensively, defensively and in terms of mentality – and we need to get through the difficult moments, because there will be moments for everything. But we have good momentum and we want to keep it going.”
Spurs are the first of three big games in a week for Chelsea, who then face Liverpool and Manchester United.
“This happens in the Premier League – it’s not news,” Alonso said. “It was a matter of time before we had big games, and this week we have three massive games against top clubs. So we go step by step, starting tomorrow.”
Malo Gusto is fit for the game, but Pep Chavarria and Emmanuel Emegha will miss out.
And Alonso has backed Mike Penders to step up in the absence of the injured Emi Martinez.
