New Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso said Monday he has found "good energy" at the club but stopped short of defining what success would look like in his first season.
The Spaniard officially began the job on July 1 and will take charge of his first competitive fixture in Sydney Tuesday when they face Western Sydney Wanderers.
He faces a huge task to get Chelsea back in the running for major honors after their disappointing 10th-place finish last season and failure to make Europe.
They last won the Premier League a decade ago, under Italian manager Antonio Conte.
Alonso, who has made a series of pre-season signings headlined by Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa, said he liked what he had seen so far.
"We want to build a competitive team. We are in that process. We have great quality, great talent," he said.
"We need to know what it takes to compete in the Premier League, and we want to have a squad with the right balance between quality and mentality.
"But I think that we are starting the new season with good energy, that's going to be important."
The former Liverpool and Spain midfielder rose to prominence as one of Europe's brightest coaches by guiding Bayer Leverkusen to an unbeaten German league and cup double in the 2023/24 season.
However, he lasted just seven months in the Real Madrid hotseat. Appointed last year, he departed the Spanish giants in January.
Alonso is associated with a short-passing game and implemented a 3-4-2-1 system at Leverkusen that proved so successful.
But he has also shown pragmatism in his tactics, a trait he plans to bring to Chelsea.
"We will be flexible in our tactics, in our approaches, game plans," he said, conscious of not trying to impose a completely different system from last season.
"It's not that I'm changing everything. It's about updating. It's about developing something that they have done with new concepts that each manager has.
"But the good thing is that many things that I like they have already done. So now it's about changing or updating a few other things."
Since Chelsea last won the Premier League, several managers have come and gone after failing to repeat the feat, and the pressure is on Alonso to snap the drought.
But he said it was too early to say what would be considered a successful season.
"I don't want to talk too early about what's our goal," said the 44-year-old, who signed a four-year contract.
"We want to deserve to be as high as possible, and for that we need to work hard. We need to develop this team with new players, with new ideas, but sometimes it takes longer, sometimes it happens quicker.
"But so far, a good feeling, good energy. The players are working hard, and that's what we want."
Alonso said Morgan Rogers was "a great signing" who would make the club more competitive and expected the England midfielder to "link really well" with Cole Palmer.
The versatile Rogers was signed from Aston Villa last week for 117 million pounds ($157 million), a record for a British player.
Alonso said he was "delighted" to lure the 23-year-old to Stamford Bridge ahead of the pre-season friendly Tuesday.
"It's a great signing. I think that in that position, we needed an important player, and I'm sure that there were not many more better options than Morgan," the Spaniard told reporters.
"So we are delighted. It means a lot for everyone."
Alonso, however, will have to find a way to accommodate Rogers, Palmer, Pedro Neto, Estevao Willian and another close-season signing, Geovany Quenda, into his attacking midfield positions.
"I have a plan. I have an idea. I can see them linking really well," Alonso said on how Morgan could fit in alongside Palmer. The pair are close friends who have similar playing styles.
"You need to have a good mix, good stability players, and players that can play with more freedom," Alonso added.
"And if we get that balance right, and we get those special players in the right positions, with good control, I think that we will be more competitive with the ball and against the ball."
Chelsea had reportedly been chasing Rogers for two years and beat Arsenal to his signature after the Premier League champions refused to match the eye-watering fee demanded by Villa.
