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Alonso entered the Drake Suite, which celebrates Chelsea<\/a>‘s league title-winning managers, and said it was a “privilege and honour” to lead a club with such a successful history.<\/p>\n He has been training a large squad, including Cole Palmer, Joao Pedro and Levi Colwill, at Cobham, with only eight Chelsea<\/a> players away at the World Cup.<\/p>\n The 44-year-old explained his reasons for joining Chelsea<\/a> after Enzo Maresca left in January, and his successor Liam Rosenior was sacked after less than four months in charge.<\/p>\n “The excitement is the club, the squad and the opportunity, through this ownership, to be at this great club, create a bond with the supporters, win games and be successful,” he said.<\/p>\n “I want to enjoy it, be part of this group and work together with the sporting directors, the players and the staff here.<\/p>\n “We need to make important decisions – the right decisions – but I think the foundations have already been built.<\/p>\n “We need to keep building a mentality to be competitive on the pitch, win games and enjoy doing it.”<\/p>\n Chelsea<\/a> typically target Champions League qualification as a minimum requirement each season and, when asked whether he needed to secure European football, Alonso said: “For sure, that’s a goal. But to reach that goal you have to do many things right.<\/p>\n “I will be part of that process. How we play, how we see ourselves and how we approach each game is my job, and that is why I am looking forward to having the whole squad available.<\/p>\n “We have only just started and these have been happy early days so far, but for sure we want to be there [in Europe].<\/p>\n “Time will tell, but we are ambitious, and at Chelsea<\/a> you need to share that energy and hunger to succeed.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n