Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso prepare for an intriguing tactical battle in the first Premier League meeting between old friends

Control v chaos. On the one hand, the forces of order, regimented, playing in precise patterns and, on the other, something darker, more visceral, a method that acknowledges the imperfection of the human soul, the unknowability of football in all its randomness; better, that second way says, to attempt to ride the fury than to believe it might be harnessed.

When it began, a decade ago, that’s how the Pep Guardiola v Jürgen Klopp rivalry appeared. Apollo v Dionysius. Two fundamentally opposed ways of seeing the world. But in time, the two crept towards each other. Klopp moved away from the heavy metal of his Borussia Dortmund years to something more conservative. Guardiola experimented in multiple directions, slowly abandoning the possession-oriented idealism of his past to something less radical but also less predictable.

The Gunners will have a look at what they could have won when the former Villa man lines up against them, having made a flying start for Xabi Alonso’s team

Chelsea thought they had little chance of signing Morgan Rogers at the start of the summer. Xabi Alonso and the club’s recruitment team had the England international as a priority target but a deal seemed unlikely. Chelsea had endured a disappointing season, missing out on European football after finishing 10th, and their expectation was that Rogers would leave Aston Villa for Arsenal.

It was towards the end of the World Cup that Chelsea were made aware of a window of opportunity. Although Arsenal could claim to be London’s top dogs after winning the Premier League they dithered in talks with Villa, raising the prospect of another club stepping in.

Xabi Alonso’s side have scored seven and conceded five in two wins so far, a product of the squad’s constant churn

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Two Premier League games played for Chelsea under Xabi Alonso: two wins and seven goals scored. It’s the sort of start that would delight many new managers – only two other clubs can boast about a six-point start this Premier League season (albeit with Arsenal to play later on Monday). Points gained in this odd transitional phase, when almost nobody seems quite ready, could prove extremely valuable come the end of the season. And yet, for all the attacking potency, there must also be concerns about Chelsea’s openness and the five goals conceded.

Context must also be considered, and it projects both ways. It’s early in the season. There has been, as ever, a lot of change at Chelsea. They will get better; they will achieve greater coherence. But equally there has to be a sense of realism about the nature of the teams they’ve played. Brighton may have thrashed a shambolic Aston Villa 4-0 last weekend, but they were missing seven frontline players at Stamford Bridge and still put three past Chelsea on Sunday. And while Fulham looked very lively as Chelsea won 3-2 on the opening weekend, they couldn’t muster a shot on target against Sunderland on Sunday.

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The failure to replace Robert Sánchez remains a mystery but the new-look front three should buy time for the new manager’s principles to bed in

After a weekend on which pretty much every potential challenger to Arsenal had demonstrated their flaws, there was a sense, perhaps even a need, for Chelsea to emerge as a serious contender – if only to prevent the title race becoming a procession. And while they were far from flawless, there were at least some indications that they could mount some kind of challenge.

They looked extremely dangerous in the final third, and Cole Palmer was involved in all three Chelsea goals, perhaps benefiting from a first summer off in three years. But they were rather less impressive through midfield or at the back, despite Josh Acheampong’s all-action performance, while goalkeeper remains the problem it has been since Thibaut Courtois left.

• Delap scores twice from spot in 3-3 draw with JDT

• Manager made 11 changes against Malaysian champions

Chelsea’s problems mounted as their pre-season tour came to an end in a strangely fiery draw against the Malaysian champions Johor Darul Ta’zim. The omens do not look promising with a bloated choice of forwards, echoes of their inexperience and indiscipline last season, and fewer than two weeks for the new manager, Xabi Alonso, to reintegrate key players and work with the entirety of his squad before they kick off the Premier League season against Fulham – managed by his old friend Álvaro Arbeloa – on 24 August.

Alonso, tasked with transforming a club that finished 10th in the Premier League last season into Champions League qualifiers, made 11 changes for the friendly against JDT. He rested players after beating Milan with a strong lineup only 24 hours earlier, 600 miles away.

• ‘There will be a lot of transfer links, a lot of rumours’

• Chelsea hit back to beat Western Sydney Wanderers 6-4

Xabi Alonso refused to confirm Chelsea are interested in signing the veterans Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson after his first game in charge of the team, a 6-4 pre-season victory against Western Sydney Wanderers on Tuesday, but said he was looking to build a squad that had “proper balance”.

Chelsea are understood to be in talks over a surprise move to sign the 35-year-old Welbeck from Brighton, with the club also reportedly interested in signing the 36-year-old Henderson from Brentford. The links to two Premier League stalwarts reflects a revised transfer strategy under Alonso, with Chelsea seeking to recruit more experienced players into their squad as opposed to focused solely on signing young players, often tying them to lengthy contracts.

The England attacker thrives when he can gallop into space but Xabi Alonso’s best team built attacks slowly

By Opta Analyst

It quickly became apparent this summer that Aston Villa would not be holding on to Morgan Rogers. Having helped the club finish fourth in the Premier League and win the Europa League, the 23-year-old was in demand.

Arsenal looked like his likeliest next destination, with the champions eager to strengthen the left side of their attack. The charm offensive came from many angles, with Martin Ødegaard, Mikel Arteta and the club’s England players trying to sell the idea to Rogers. But, with Arsenal reluctant to meet Villa’s asking price, Chelsea intervened and made Rogers the most expensive British player ever, surpassing the £116m that Manchester City paid Nottingham Forest for Elliot Anderson earlier this summer.

• England international signs seven-year contract

• Xabi Alonso was key factor in Chelsea’s record signing

Morgan Rogers has joined Chelsea from Aston Villa for a fee of £117m, signing a seven-year deal to become the Blues’ record signing.

A deal was agreed on Saturday for the 23-year-old to move to Stamford Bridge as the club stole in ahead of Arsenal, who had been in talks to sign the England international and had appeared to be favourites to secure his signature.

Only time will tell if the former Leverkusen manager will become yet another victim of the constant churn at Stamford Bridge

If Xabi Alonso arrived at Chelsea under any illusions about the expectations awaiting him, they were staring out from picture frames hung around Stamford Bridge’s Drake Suite. During his unveiling as Chelsea’s new manager, on either side of the room hung large, gleeful photos of José Mourinho and Antonio Conte holding Premier League trophies.

Chelsea’s last two managers, Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior, were not afforded the Drake Suite treatment previously reserved for Mauricio Pochettino and Frank Lampard before them. But the blue carpet was rolled out once again for one of the most decorated midfielders of his generation, an integral part of Spain’s victories in two European Championships and one World Cup and a coach who has made a strong start to converting that talent to the touchline.

The former Real Madrid manager’s desire to sign and create mentality monsters breaks with previous club policy

The Chelsea end was mostly empty by the time the players went to collect their losers’ medals. There was no grand ovation for the beaten team. The disconnect was evident after defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup final, underlining how one of Xabi Alonso’s first challenges as Chelsea’s new manager will be to lift the mood and get players, fans and owners pulling in the same direction after a hugely disappointing season.

Many people are wondering why Alonso has agreed to take over on a four-year deal. Why, after running into player power and reluctance to build a project at Real Madrid, would you choose Chelsea? Just how big is the payoff?

• Former Real Madrid manager likely to be offered job

• Reece James fit to face Manchester City in FA Cup final

Chelsea’s players believe Xabi Alonso is the ideal candidate to become their next head coach. Talks with the Spaniard’s camp are moving in the right direction and the feeling in the dressing room is that the former Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen head coach is the man to get the team back on track.

No agreement is in place and Chelsea are keeping an open mind as they work to appoint a successor to Liam Rosenior, who was sacked last month after 106 days. Alonso is the frontrunner but others on the shortlist include Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola, Fulham’s Marco Silva, Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner and the former Flamengo manager Filipe Luís. Cesc Fàbregas has indicated that he wants to stay at Como.

• Club also interested in Silva, Glasner and Filipe Luís

• Alonso undecided on future after leaving Real Madrid

Chelsea have held encouraging discussions over a move for Xabi Alonso but are keeping their options open and are closely monitoring Andoni Iraola’s situation.

The west London club are looking for a permanent head coach and it is understood that Alonso and Iraola have emerged as the top picks for the role. Other managers are still under consideration, though, and Chelsea are not expected to rush a final decision on who to appoint.

Real Madrid and Manchester United put their faith in familiarity but the lesson of Ferguson is dynastic greatness rests not in tradition but ditching principles

“It is all too easy to make mistaken inferences unless the process involved is already very well understood.” Francis Crick, molecular biologist

“This club is about winning, winning and winning again. It’s in our DNA.” Álvaro Arbeloa

Hired as a systems coach, the manager was undermined at a club where players – and Florentino Pérez – call the shots

Pep Guardiola sat in the press room at the Santiago Bernabéu and told Xabi Alonso to do it his way but around here, he knows, it tends not to work out like that, which is precisely why he said so. Saying it is one thing, doing it another, doing it successfully something else entirely and a month and day after being offered that advice, handed that defence, Alonso was gone. On Monday afternoon, not long after landing from Saudi Arabia, a meeting was held at Valdebebas and then came the statement, short and unsentimental. He was a “legend” as a player, but no longer coach at Real Madrid.

Alonso is the 11th manager to last less than a year in two decades under the president, Florentino Pérez. He had begun work only seven months before, and that was earlier than he intended. It had started with the Club World Cup in the US, his first big decision to accept the demand to take over sooner than he wanted, and it ended with the Spanish Super Cup in Jeddah, where it was an open secret that final judgment awaited. For a month it had been impossible to avoid the feeling of a manager on borrowed time, especially for the manager himself, exposed and undermined, and you cannot go on like that. There will be hurt pride, regret, but release too.

• Super Cup final defeat by Barcelona spells the end

• Madrid are four points off Catalan club at top of La Liga

Xabi Alonso has left his job as coach of Real Madrid, only seven months after arriving for his first day at the club’s Valdebebas training ground. A brief statement announced his departure “by mutual consent” on Monday evening after Madrid’s 3-2 defeat in the final of the Spanish Super Cup against Barcelona the previous night.

He will be replaced, at least in the short term, by his former Real Madrid and Liverpool teammate and friend Álvaro Arbeloa, who was coach of Castilla, Madrid’s B team.

Despite signs of renewed intensity, Real Madrid fell to their second loss in four days against Manchester City. How long can a positive reaction make up for negative results?

No attacker in Real Madrid’s history had gone without a goal for as long as Rodrygo but at last he was released and he had a message to deliver, performed for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had not scored in nine months and was starting only his fifth game this season, beat Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the lead against Manchester City. Then he turned and ran towards the touchline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the manager on the edge for whom this could prove an even greater release.

“It’s a difficult moment for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo said. “Things aren’t coming off and I wanted to show people that we are together with the coach. People say a lot of things and I just wanted to show that we are united. We need that unity to keep going.” By the time Rodrygo spoke, the lead had been taken from them, another loss taking its place. City had turned it around, going 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso said. That can happen when you’re in a “delicate” state, he added, but at least Madrid had reacted. This time they could not complete a comeback. Endrick, on as a substitute having played 11 minutes all season, hit the bar in the dying moments.

The hosts battled against Manchester City but a second successive home defeat pushes manager towards exit

On the night they were going to sack him, Xabi Alonso watched his team rise against their fate and perhaps his, but fall again. He listened to the fans whistle and the final whistle, embraced the man who had been his mentor and then, defeated for the second time in four days here, disappeared straight down the Bernabéu tunnel without looking back. Real Madrid had taken the game to Manchester City, going ahead first and chasing another comeback later. But in the end, in the words of Rodrygo, whose first goal in 33 games had given them hope, “it was not enough”.

The question now is whether it will be enough to rescue the coach Rodrygo had run to embrace, a gesture of solidarity on the edge of the abyss. Late last Sunday night in one of the offices here, some in the club’s hierarchy had been determined to get rid of the coach who had presided over two wins in seven. The sentence was suspended but this was set up as something of a final judgment and, having extended that run to an eighth game, there is no guarantee Alonso will be back. Nor though is there any guarantee that he won’t.