Wilshere will relish pitting his wits against ex-Real Madrid chief Alonso

Hatters boss Jack Wilshere is relishing the opportunity to pit his wits against a fellow manager he had masses of respect for as a player in Xabi Alonso when he takes his Luton side to face Chelsea this evening.

The 44-year-old had a glittering near 20-year career, as after beginning at Real Sociedad, he then headed to Liverpool, going on to have five years at Real Madrid, eventually finishing his career in Germany with Bayern Munich. Alonso lifted plenty of silverware during that time too, winning the Champions League twice, plus the La Liga title and the Bundesliga on three occasions, an FA Cup winner when at Anfield as well.

He also won 114 caps for Spain, part of the side who were crowned World Cup champions in 2010, along with the Euro Championships in 2008 and 2012. Although Wilshere didn’t ever cross paths with him on the pitch, discussing his huge admiration for Alonso’s talents, he said: “He left Liverpool maybe in 2009 and I’d made my debut (for Arsenal) at that point, but I didn’t really get into the team until 2010, so we never crossed that way.

"I remember playing against him once in the Champions League, but I was injured, so I was watching him, but some player, some player. Actually when I was playing for England in 2014, we changed our shape and we started playing a diamond. I was playing bottom of the diamond and I remember sitting down with Gary Neville and watching clip after clip of Xavi Alonso and how he played, so a player that I liked and had a lot of respect for.”

When hanging up his boots, Alonso quickly moved into management, taking charge of Real Sociedad B and then Bayer Leverkusen, winning the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and DFL Supercup in the 2023-24 campaign, also finishing as Europa League runner-up, a campaign which he ended up being named Soccer Best Coach of the Year, VDV Bundesliga Coach of the Season and Football Manager of the Year in Germany.

He then had five months at Real Madrid, leaving in January, and was appointed Chelsea head coach in the summer, as he will now have his first home game in charge of the Blues tonight. On going up against him in such a scenario, Wilshere continued: “Great! We were aware of that, we knew that going into the game. Xabi Alonso was a player that I love, but he’s also a coach that I love. He’s someone I’ve watched quite closely over the last few years with his Leverkusen team and then got the opportunity to go to Madrid. It didn’t quite work out for him, but I’ve no doubt he’ll be a success at Chelsea and I really enjoy watching his teams.”

With Alonso having had one competitive game in charge of Chelsea so far, that coming in the 3-2 triumph over Fulham at Craven Cottage on Monday evening, asked he has prepared for the contest, Wilshere admitted to looking back at his time in charge of both Leverkusen and Real Madrid to get some tips on how the Blues might approach the tie.

He said: “We’ve watched them, it’s the same process as we always do whether it’s a League One game, whether it’s an EFL Trophy, whether it’s a Carabao Cup game, and you can only react to the opposition you’re playing. They like the ball, they want to look after the ball, they want to dominate the ball, which means it will be a different game for us I would say. I have watched some clips of his teams over the years, we’ve got a really good analysis team.

"I don’t think that’s necessarily to show the players as they want clarity. I’ve been there as a player, they would have watched Monday night and they want to see stuff from Monday night about what they were doing tactically and stuff over the pre-season. I think pre-season is quite a good thing to watch as a new manager coming in, he’ll probably try three or four different things that he might try throughout the season, then you have to pick what you think is important for the players to see.

"For players to have clarity, the coaches have to have even more clarity so you have to prepare for everything. When you have those types of games you learn things that you wouldn’t be able to learn against League One opposition. Definitely we’ll learn a lot about the team, how we cope with difficult moments and I’ll learn some stuff about myself as well.”

Although there will be a huge difference in quality between the two sides, the Blues’ squad dwarfing Luton’s in terms of financial value and transfer fees, on how the Hatters can go about trying to make it more of an even playing field on the pitch, Wilshere added: “You bridge it how you can tactically and you try and stop them from doing what they’re really good at and then it’s belief, it’s togetherness.

"There’s going to be some moments where we might not touch the ball for three or four minutes and then it’s about discipline, communication, focus, all of those things that you need in any game, but especially against a team that’s playing at the highest level. I would say the biggest one is belief though. We have to have belief, have to have courage, have to have personality, I want the players to show that more than anything. We can have all of that stuff and still lose the game, but I’d be happy if we show that.”