The chain of events that brought Xabi Alonso to Chelsea began before it was even clear Liam Rosenior’s disaster reign would end prematurely.
Form and confidence had been plummeting for weeks. Chelsea’s owners, who had been so convinced in January that Rosenior’s compelling communication and Strasbourg’s stellar results would translate at Stamford Bridge, were giving the young Englishman time but could see which way the wind was blowing.
