Chelsea’s Spanish left-back Marcos Alonso will be happy to stay at Chelsea it seems. There has been constant criticism over his defensive skills and the consistency of his performances. After Joining Chelsea in 2016, Alonso has been a key player for the Blues right from the very first season in London under Antonio Conte.
Craig Burley, a former Chelsea player believes the current Blues boss is doing well in his first season in charge. Lampard took a young and inexperienced Chelsea to 4th in the league this term so far and the youngsters are responding well.
“I think he [Lampard] showed enough last year to suggest that the players are responding to what he wants,” the ex-Chelsea midfielder told ESPN.
“Clearly, now there is some confidence from the ownership because owners do not spend money under managers that they are not confident in. The likes of [Tammy] Abraham, [Mason] Mount, [Fikayo] Tomori, Reece James all got good game time last year and a lot of experience under their wings, that’s a big bonus for him [Lampard] as well.”
What Will Chelsea Do?
In his first season in charge, Conte’s Chelsea was struggling to get wins on a regular basis. After losing against Liverpool in the League, Chelsea travelled to the Emirates to face city rivals Arsenal that season. In the first half, Chelsea conceded 3 goals and Conte decided to change playing system to 3-4-3, bringing on Marcos Alonso in the left wing-back position and they did not concede.
After that, there was no stopping Conte’s Chelsea which went on to win the Premier League by some big margin. Since then, Alonso’s overall form has dipped and he has to start from the bench most of the time. Chelsea is getting irritated by their issues at left-back and they are looking for a better option there. Leicester star Ben Chilwell might be expensive as Foxes are demanding £80m for him.
Alonso recently liked a fan tweet on Twitter, about stats comparing to him and Chilwell. The tweet says how Alonso has a better successful tackles rate, chances created and clean sheets per 90 min than Chilwell.
What Next For Alonso?
“The other signing we talked about, Ben Chilwell I really, really like him. I looked at clubs in England that might need a left-back, I thought Man City who has got full-backs but is having a problem in that area might go for him.” – Burley added.
“If Chelsea can get Ben Chilwell that would be a huge signing as well because he has got the unbelievable pace to get up and down that wing. ‘When Lampard likes to play [Marcos] Alonso, it is in a back three, he does not like him as the full-back, he has to play [Cesar] Azpilicueta there, but he is a right-footer.”
“Ben Chilwell will give them great balance down that left-hand side and if he can get those two signings on top of all those other players we’ve mentioned, Chelsea will be in the mix for it [the league title] next season, there’s not a doubt about it from me.”
Other than Chilwell, Chelsea can go for FC Porto’s Alex Tellas and Ajax left-back Nicholas Tagliafico. They are looking to spend big in the summer transfer window. With that being said, quite a few players could be set to move to Stamford Bridge soon. Things are getting interesting now.
