Former Chelsea captain Gary Cahill has expressed his belief that Xabi Alonso is not yet under significant pressure, despite the challenges facing the team.
However, Cahill points out that the next few weeks will be crucial in determining the Spaniard's ability to turn things around.
Speaking on the matter, Cahill stated:
He is not under pressure. I have seen with my own eyes that Alonso is a coach who actively engages with the team on the pitch. He fully understands the situation. He just spoke about it and knows better than anyone that improvements need to be made in training and with the right players.
This doesn’t happen overnight. I think he will be assessed over the next five, six, seven weeks. He will have time to work with the team on the training ground, and after that, we should start to see results from his methods.
The former defender noted that Alonso's impact is already visible in Chelsea's attacking play, but highlighted the urgent need for similar progress defensively:
We have already seen his ideas in attack, how fluidly and cohesively the team has played at times with the ball, how they attack and occasionally press. Now defence is the area that truly needs serious work from the entire team.
