Chelsea consider FA Cup final back three – Xabi Alonso’s favoured system
Chelsea are considering sticking with the favoured system of Xabi Alonso – one of the frontrunners for the club’s permanent head coach post – for Saturday’s FA Cup final against Manchester City .
Interim head coach Calum McFarlane switched to a back three for last week’s draw against Liverpool at Anfield and early indications have been that he is considering sticking with the same formation at Wembley.
There remains time for that to change. But starting again with a back three may provide Alonso, who has favoured a 3-4-2-1 formation in his coaching career, with the perfect chance to assess how Chelsea ’s current squad could adapt to his set-up.
Chelsea lined up with Levi Colwill , Wesley Fofana and Jorrel Hato as their three central defenders against Liverpool and could do so again at Wembley. Captain Reece James is ready to give Chelsea a boost by starting his first game since March and could either play in midfield or as a right wing-back.
James replaced Andrey Santos in midfield for the final 27 minutes of the draw with Liverpool and McFarlane said: “We were confident he was able to play those minutes in Liverpool. He came through them well. He’s trained well this week. So, yeah, largely positive around Reece.”
Alonso is one of the leading candidates to permanently succeed Liam Rosenior at Chelsea, along with Andoni Iraola , Marco Silva and Oliver Glasner . Like Alonso, Glasner has also played with three at the back with Crystal Palace .
Chelsea want a new head coach with top-level experience, either in the Premier League or overseas, and Alonso is said to be open to the possibility of restarting his coaching career at Stamford Bridge.
McFarlane has said that wingers Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho have trained this week, but the pair may have to be content with a place on the substitutes’ bench if Chelsea stick with a back three. Goalkeeper Robert Sánchez is available again.
The FA Cup represents Chelsea’s last chance to salvage something from what has been a turbulent season and may be their best chance for qualifying for Europe, with the winner receiving a place in the Europa League.
McFarlane said: “I think our recent form in the league has been way below the standard we’d expect and that we’d shown previously. It’s an FA Cup final, so we want to win it. It’s a massive competition, prestigious, and the club’s got history in the competition as well, winning it eight times. So, yeah, our focus is on that, performing as well as we can against a top side.”
